2: What is women's “economic” empowerment? Meanings and measurement
Beginning in the twenty-first century, development stakeholders began to focus on women's economic empowerment (WEE) as a key pathway to achieve global gender equality. Although interest in WEE has continued to develop over the last three decades, no unified definition of women's economic empowermen...
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| Autors principals: | , , , |
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| Format: | Online |
| Idioma: | anglès |
| Publicat: |
Edward Elgar Publishing
2026
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| Matèries: | |
| Accés en línia: | https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177375 |
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| Sumari: | Beginning in the twenty-first century, development stakeholders began to focus on women's economic empowerment (WEE) as a key pathway to achieve global gender equality. Although interest in WEE has continued to develop over the last three decades, no unified definition of women's economic empowerment yet exists. As a concept, women's economic empowerment is muddy, with understandings and applications differing amongst stakeholders. In this chapter, we aim to advance conceptual clarity surrounding WEE by providing a high-level overview of the development and current state of women's economic empowerment in global contexts. First, this chapter traces the history of women's economic empowerment, beginning with feminist women's empowerment initiatives in the 1970s and ending with the contested space of WEE in the contemporary period. Next, we provide an overview of prominent definitions of WEE and delineate between individualistic market-oriented definitions and feminist, critical human ecological definitions. Then, this chapter reviews key approaches to measuring women's economic empowerment. Based on this analysis, authentic empowerment is understood to require a contextual, structural, and transformative vision – one that enhances individual outcomes while addressing broader conditions that sustain inequality. |
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