Empowerment and entrepreneurship: a theoretical framework

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to develop an empirically informed conceptual framework to analyse the gendered relationship between empowerment and entrepreneurship contextualised within the lives of displaced Palestinian migrant women operating home-based enterprises in Amman, Jordan. Design/methodology/approach -A longitudinal qualitative study was undertaken during which semi-structured in-depth interviews were regularly conducted with 43 women producing high-quality traditional embroidered goods within home-based enterprises. The empirical material was utilised to inform and illustrate the creation of an empowerment framework. Findings -Entrepreneurship is popularly presented as an individually focused economic undertaking. However, this paper demonstrates it is also a socio-politically situated activity; within this particular context, marginalised subordinated women were empowered through their home-based enterprises. Originality/value -This paper offers a gender informed conceptual framework to inform the analyses of empowerment and entrepreneurship. The discussion describes the necessary processes for development goals to be realised, and explains how traditionally subordinated women can utilise enterprise to contribute to social change. In so doing, the proposed conceptual framework acts as a theoretical illustration of the gendered relationship between empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Formalizing women entrepreneurs in Kathmandu, Nepal

“…Not surprisingly, developing contexts have been the focus of these debates because of the higher gender gaps in these countries and the poor (informal) labour market opportunities for women, including through self-employment . Extant research has focused on the opportunities for empowerment afforded by income generating activities in the informal economy (Kabeer, 2005;Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013) with scholars agreeing that women's participation in informal entrepreneurial activities provides them with the confidence needed to initiate change in their' s and their families' lives. This paper, however, argued that these accounts fail to fully capture the heterogeneity of women and the constraining effects of socio-cultural norms on the empowerment outcomes of their entrepreneurial activities.…”

“…On the one hand, the informal economy is a space that provides opportunities for income generation as the barriers to entry in terms of skills, experience, and capital are low. It also helps women connect with others and share their skills and abilities, facilitating communal empowerment (Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013). However, in reality, given women's predominant use of skills acquired from their domestic labour (e.g.…”

“…Despite a long history of formalization policies in the developing countries (Sepulveda and Syrett, 2007), the feasibility of formalizing the informal economy (Chen, 2007) and the benefits of formalization for business sustainability are yet not known (Ramani et al, 2013). As most of the literature on formalization generally focuses on strengthening formal mechanisms and structures that encourage formalization (ILO, 2009), the contextual and nuanced nature of the informal sector in terms of its appeal, its inter-linkages with the formal sector as well as its constraints to formalization is often overlooked (Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013;Harriss-White, 2017;Danielsson, 2016).…”

“…As such, it is primarily concerned with people lacking power, due to their specific social and structural position and how they acquire it 'to become' and to influence their life circumstances (Batliwala, 1994). Unsurprisingly, women have predominantly been the focus of empowerment debates given the social and gender inequalities in many patriarchal contexts (Kabeer, 2005;Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013) and the sociocultural constraints on women's strategic life choices, including working, education, marriage, having children and freedom of movement (Mehra, 1997).…”

“…Entrepreneurship is seen to offer 'emancipatory' opportunities beyond wealth creation (Rindova et al, 2009) to include poverty reduction, the possibility to cater for families and children and increased confidence and independence that can help women challenge gender roles in the society (Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013). However, the empirical evidence to date to support the claims about 'emancipation' through entrepreneurship is only limited and fails to critically account for the persistent socio-cultural factors in specific contexts that affect both the nature of choices women are able to make and the resources from their activities they are able to control (Kantor, 2003;Kabeer, 2005;Mahmud et al, 2012;UN HLP, 2016).…”