Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Ever since women have become the target of development programs, the way in which they are regardedby development policies has gradually changed. Recently, women's “empowerment” has been used as a means or purpose for many projects. In this paper, I will examine the problems inherent to this “empowerment, ” by observing the daily life of women in Burkina Faso, focusing on the changes in the activities of the women's group organized by development project. The article points out that project that appear to be “successful” could lead to an increase in female labor, and there is fear of collapsing the cycle of economic activities. Since women were able to access and control to those resources even before this project. There is a gap between plan and practice resulting from a project donor. Furthermore, while a signs of “empowerment” can be seen in some women through group activities, it may also have led to the “disempowerment” of others. Because many women have shown negative attitudes toward development and improvement, the reality is sometimes quite different from the image of women usually envisioned by the policies.
Source: Journal of African Studies
Author: Fumiyo ASANO
Institution: Nagoya University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3116149396