Abstract

AGUILAR-PINTO, E. Carmen; TUNON-PABLOS, Esperanza; ZAPATA-MARTELO, Emma  and  EVANGELISTA-GARCIA, A. Aremy. Women, empowerment and microcredit: Banmujer’s social microenterprise program in Chiapas. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2017, vol.14, n.3, pp.479-501. ISSN 1870-5472.

Stemming from Rowlands’ (1997) tridimensional model of empowerment, in this study we analyze Banmujer’s Social Microenterprise Program (Microempresas Sociales, MES) in Chiapas, with the objective of identifying the elements that, including the training received, could potentiate and favor characteristics of empowerment in the program’s beneficiaries in the personal, collective and close relations spheres. A questionnaire was applied to a total of 158 women and 108 semi-structured interviews were performed, as well as ten in-depth interviews with women who showed characteristics of empowerment, and also with eight public servants in charge of designing and operating the program during the three government periods that it has been in effect. Among the main findings, it is that training with gender perspective implemented during the first and second stage of the MES effectively contributed to developing characteristics of empowerment in many of the beneficiaries, which show up more in the personal dimension than in the collective, and in close relationships, and that Rowlands’ (1997) description is confirmed in the sense that empowerment is a process that shows advancement and setbacks, where promoting and inhibiting elements take part in parallel.

Keywords : Banmujer; empowerment; microcredit; women.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English | Spanish     · English ( pdf ) | Spanish ( pdf )