Decolonizing Empowerment: Implications for Sustainable Well‐Being

Abstract

s (2015) research on implications of market participation for Maasai women's empowerment provides an important basis for rethinking liberatory standards of psychological science and international gender development. Drawing upon their research, we apply a decolonial feminist psychology analysis to the topic of empowerment. This perspective suggests that neoliberal interventions to promote empowerment and well-being in Majority-World spaces (i) may cause harm by depriving people of environmentally afforded connection and (ii) reproduce historical and ongoing forms of (neo)colonial domination in ways that are inconsistent with the broader empowerment of humanity in general.

The Psychology of Neoliberalism and the Neoliberalism of Psychology

“…The connection to androcentrism helps to illuminate how this conception of empowerment may be counterproductive for feminist (and other forms of) liberation from social oppression. Although neoliberal empowerment may enable individuals to pursue their aspirations, it often does so at the expense of broader interdependence and solidarities (Dutt, Grabe, & Castro, ; Kurtiş, Adams, & Estrada‐Villalta, ). Rather than forms of social constraint that constitute a drag on individual growth and spectacular achievement of a well‐endowed few, these broader solidarities can constitute the basis for more collective forms of empowerment that create the conditions of possibility for broader, more sustainable well‐being.…”

The impact of husbands' involvement in goal‐setting training on women's empowerment: First evidence from an intervention among female microfinance borrowers in Sri Lanka

“…People in such a society are strongly embedded in social networks such as families and communities. Their relationships are characterized by obligations for care and support both within and outside the nuclear household with clear gender roles for women and men (e.g., Kurtiş, Adams, & Estrada‐Villalta, ). Power barriers and prescribed gender roles often inhibit women's abilities to develop stronger feelings of empowerment (e.g., Connell, ; Pratto & Walker, ).…”

A relational perspective on women’s empowerment: Intimate partner violence and empowerment among women entrepreneurs in Vietnam

“…Whereas women’s involvement in a market economy (here microfinance) may stimulate the development of more individual independence, relational interdependence remains important (for a similar argument see e.g., Kağitçibaşi, ; Manago, ). We suggest that women’s close relationship may be one important factor to consider when studying women’s empowerment (see also Kurtiş et al ., ). In line with a recent report (Picon et al , ), we argue that reducing intimate partner violence should in the long‐run increase women’s empowerment.…”

“…Relationships both within and outside the nuclear household are important to people’s sense of self (e.g., Markus & Kitayama, ) and can contribute to people’s feeling of empowerment (e.g., Stromquist, ). People, especially in cultural contexts adhering to an ecology of embedded interdependence, may even prioritize the well‐being of the group over their own well‐being (e.g., Kurtiş, Adams, & Estrada‐Villata, ). Moreover, the different social networks people belong to, such as family or community, influence how people should behave (i.e., deductive norms) and how people adhere to the social norms (i.e., inductive norms).…”