Empowering or Oppressing: The Case of Microfinance Institutions

Jacobs, Kerry; Habib, Mohshin; Musyoki, Nzilu; Jubb, Christine

doi:10.4337/9781781002605.00015

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Roy (2010) fears that the market-led approaches reduce the poor and marginalised to economic subjects and ignores development issues such as increasing civil society influence upon politics. Jacobs et al (2012) express similar fears, arguing that microfinance's accounting can be an instrument of oppression and exploitation, rendering the poor the financiers of poverty alleviation.…”

Section: The Rise Of Non-governmental Organisations: Accountability Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

Hopper

Lassou

Soobaroyen

2017

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

211

357

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Accounting is an instrument and an object in globalisation but its impact and manifestation is not uniform across Northern developed countries and Southern developing countries (DCs). This paper reviews contributions on globalisation and its influence on accounting in DCs, and identifies important research gaps. It examines the role of accounting in changing development policies, from state capitalism through neo-liberal market-based to good-governance policies. It then considers specific accounting issues, namely the diffusion of International Accounting Standards (now International Financial Reporting Standards) and how they promote global neo-liberalism; the development of the accounting profession in DCs in the face of competition from Northern global accounting firms and professional associations; accounting issues in state-owned organisations, and privatised and multinational corporations; government accounting reforms and the resurrection of the state in DCs; social and environmental accounting issues; and the rise of non-governmental organisations and their accounting and accountability. The discussion and conclusions reflect on achievements to date and important areas requiring further development.

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Section: The Rise Of Non-governmental Organisations: Accountability Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

Hopper

Lassou

Soobaroyen

2017

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

211

357

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“…Universally recognized as an approach towards alleviating poverty in the developing world, various models of microfinance are found across the globe. However, the contemporary microfinance movement is commonly credited to Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Jacobs et al 2012). Through his Grameen Bank, Yunus' idea of providing poor women with non-traditional credit programs gained massive attention and support from international agencies.…”

Section: Microfinance and Islamic Microfinancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Universally understood as an approach towards poverty alleviation in the developing world, microfinance is found in various models across the globe (Jacobs et al 2012). This study takes on Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil (BMT), a form of Islamic microfinance in Indonesia, as its case study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersection of Islamic Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study of Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil in Indonesia

Rahayu

2020

IJFS

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It is largely assumed that Islamic microfinance institutions (IMFIs) deal with family empowerment instead of women’s empowerment. However, women are the main beneficiaries of Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil (BMT), Indonesia’s first IMFIs. This paper aims to explore the origins, the initiators, and the visions of BMTs and the extent to which they intersect with women’s empowerment. Employing a qualitative approach, this study selected four BMTs in Yogyakarta as a case study. It found that four critical groups that have a significant role in the development of Indonesian BMTs: ICMI (Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectual), Islamic mass organizations, NGOs, and local governments. The issues of loan sharks and poverty alleviation were the primary factors driving the inception of BMTs. Despite women being crucial clients, none of the studied BMTs explicitly invoked women’s empowerment in their organizational vision. To conclude, the BMTs’ preference for women is not based on an understanding of gender inequality, but rather motivated by pragmatic business considerations, particularly the self-sustainability paradigm that underpins their practices.

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“…3. Postcolonial theory, notions of "orientalism" and "hybridity" Given the ways in which microfinance organizations introduce the expectations of finance into remote communities, the effect of these practices on the culture and development of these communities has been a matter of concern for people working within the sector (Armendariz and Morduch, 2005;Jacobs et al, 2012). While efforts to attenuate poverty aim to increase the living standards of people in less developed regions of the globe, they introduce a series of new cultural expectations that have the potential to reshape the community in both positive and negative ways.…”

Section: Accountability Intermediation and Translationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the microfinance sector developed to address financial exclusion and poverty, and to introduce and encourage entrepreneurship and financial literacy, views on the success of microfinance diverge. Some argue that microfinance has assisted the movement of cultural values associated with capitalism into communities that were previously outside its grasp (Cull et al, 2009;Jacobs et al, 2012) while others argue that microfinance provides these communities with opportunities that have previously been the exclusive privilege of a few (Armendariz and Labie, 2011;Banerjee and Duflo, 2011). Given the contested nature of this space, we show that in translating accountability practices to support the success of microfinance programs in remote communities, intermediaries become agents who are critical to both the success of the program, but also the ways in which the cultural identities of both the microfinance organization and their clients are negotiated and renegotiated in spaces of hybridity.…”

Section: Accountability Intermediation and Translationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accountability practices in microfinance: cultural translation and the role of intermediaries

Marini

Andrew

Laan

2018

AAAJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how accountability practices are affected and potentially transformed when mediated by translation. Adopting a postcolonial lens, the authors consider the ways in which translation functions and how intermediaries act as cultural translators in the context of microfinance. Design/methodology/approach The authors take a qualitative approach to a case study of a microfinance organization based in South Africa. Fieldwork allowed for the collection of data by means of direct observations, interviews, documents and a fieldwork diary. Findings The study demonstrates the presence of spaces of hybridity that co-exist within the same organizational context (Bhabha, 1994). Two spaces of hybridity are highlighted, in which translation processes were possible because of the proximity between borrowers and fieldworkers. The first space of hybridity was found locally and here translation shaped an accountability that aimed at leveraging local cultures and favoring cultural framing. The second space of hybridity was characterized by the interaction between oral and written cultures and the translation of responsibilities and expectations was predominantly unidirectional, prioritizing accountability practices consistent with organizational requirements. Originality/value This research offers in-depth insights into the links between intermediation, translation and accountability practices. It differs from prior research in considering intermediaries as active translators of accountability practices who act in-between cultures. The authors contend that the translation process reinscribes culture allowing dominant accountability practices to prevail and local cultural traditions to merely contextualize accountability practices.

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Empowering or Oppressing: The Case of Microfinance Institutions

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

The Intersection of Islamic Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study of Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil in Indonesia

Accountability practices in microfinance: cultural translation and the role of intermediaries

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