Empowerment examined

Empowerment is a term often used in development work, but rarely defined. The author explores the notion of empowerment with particular focus upon the central element of power. Different understandings of what constitutes power lead to a variety of interpretations of empowerment, and thus to a range of implications for development policy and practice. Empowerment terminology is used in analyzing power, inequality, and oppression. With regard to development practice, however, the concept of empowerment demands precise and deliberate definition and use. Sections discuss power and empowerment, what empowerment is, empowerment in practice, empowerment in a development context, economic activities and the empowerment process, the role of outsiders in the development setting, individual empowerment, and collective empowerment.