IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/arp/ijwpds/2018p6-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Promises vs. Realities of Women in Development (WID: Microcredit and Women’s Enterprising Work in Rural Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Dr. Ishrat Jahan

    (Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh)

Abstract

This article deals about the relationship between rural women’s enterprising work and microcredit in two villages of south-western Bangladesh, named Char Khankhanapur and Decree Charchandpur. It tries to understand the local women’s perception of entrepreneurial work and examine whether it fits the microcredit lenders’ concept of entrepreneurship. Focusing on the case of Grameen bank, as one of the main microfinance institutions of the villages, I aim to see whether microcredit facilities universally promotes rural women’s enterprising work or only certain group of women can develop their entrepreneurship capacity through microcredit’s support. I also enquire whether the promise of Women in Development (WID) paradigm, which boldly claims that women’s participation in paid work will empower them, is valid in my study villages. Drawing multiple cases of rural women’s work (around 40 women were interviewed), this article attempts to reveal the politics of microcredit and development in rural Bangladesh. It finds that not all women in rural areas of Bangladesh possess entrepreneurship capacities, and microcredit has varied effect on women depending on their individual standpoints.

Suggested Citation

  • Dr. Ishrat Jahan, 2018. "Promises vs. Realities of Women in Development (WID: Microcredit and Women’s Enterprising Work in Rural Bangladesh," International Journal of World Policy and Development Studies, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(2), pages 6-19, 04-2018.
    • Handle: RePEc:arp:ijwpds:2018:p:6-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.arpgweb.com/pdf-files/ijwpds4(2)6-19.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.arpgweb.com/?ic=journal&info=archive&journal=11&month=04-2018&issue=2&volume=4
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pitt, Mark M. & Khandker, Shahidur R. & Cartwright, Jennifer, 2003. "Does micro-credit empower women : evidence from Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2998, The World Bank.
    2. M.A. Majid Pramanik & Lu Qian, 2012. "Does RDA-credit differ from others’ microcredit? A case study of Bangladesh," E3 Journal of Business Management and Economics., E3 Journals, vol. 3(10), pages 330-340.
    3. Hashemi, Syed M. & Schuler, Sidney Ruth & Riley, Ann P., 1996. "Rural credit programs and women's empowerment in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 635-653, April.
    4. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    5. Kabeer, Naila, 2001. "Conflicts Over Credit: Re-Evaluating the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 63-84, January.
    6. repec:etr:series:v:3:y:2012:i:11:p:330-340 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Maria Costanza Torri & Andrea Martinez, 2014. "Women’s empowerment and micro-entrepreneurship in India: Constructing a new development paradigm?," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 14(1), pages 31-48, January.
    8. Sandip Sarker & Mollika Palit, 2014. "Determinants of Success Factors of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh- A Study Based on Khulna Region," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(2), pages 237-250, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    2. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    3. Schicks, Jessica, 2014. "Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance – An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 301-324.
    4. Zakir Husain & Diganta Mukerjee & Mousumi Dutta, 2014. "Self‐Help Groups And Empowerment Of Women: Self‐Selection, Or Actual Benefits?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 422-437, May.
    5. Chin, Yoo-Mi, 2012. "Credit Program Participation and Decline in Violence: Does Self-Selection Matter?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1690-1699.
    6. Ngo, Thi Minh-Phuong & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2012. "Microfinance and gender empowerment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 1-12.
    7. Ashish Bajracharya & Sajeda Amin, 2013. "Microcredit and Domestic Violence in Bangladesh: An Exploration of Selection Bias Influences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(5), pages 1819-1843, October.
    8. Duvendack, Maren & Palmer-Jones, Richard, 2011. "The microfinance of reproduction and the reproduction of microfinance: understanding the connections between microfinance, empowerment, contraception and fertility in Bangladesh in the 1990s," MPRA Paper 32384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Tassel, Eric Van, 2004. "Household bargaining and microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 449-468, August.
    10. Chliova, Myrto & Brinckmann, Jan & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2015. "Is microcredit a blessing for the poor? A meta-analysis examining development outcomes and contextual considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 467-487.
    11. Johnson, Susan, 2004. "Gender Norms in Financial Markets: Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1355-1374, August.
    12. Mahmud, Simeen & Shah, Nirali M. & Becker, Stan, 2012. "Measurement of Women’s Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 610-619.
    13. Anderson, Siwan & Eswaran, Mukesh, 2009. "What determines female autonomy? Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 179-191, November.
    14. Ramu Maurya, 2015. "Gender, Power, and Conflict with Credit Choice: Rural Credit Programme in India," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 4(2), pages 80-92, June.
    15. Garikipati, Supriya, 2008. "The Impact of Lending to Women on Household Vulnerability and Women's Empowerment: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2620-2642, December.
    16. Sylvain Dessy & Jacques Ewoudou, 2006. "Microfinance and Female Empowerment," Cahiers de recherche 0603, CIRPEE.
    17. Saha, Bibhas & Sangwan, Navjot, 2019. "Credit where credit's due: The enabling effects of empowerment in Indian microfinance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 537-551.
    18. Ambler, Kate & Doss, Cheryl & Kieran, Caitlin & Passarelli, Simone, 2017. "He says, she says: Exploring patterns of spousal agreement in Bangladesh," IFPRI discussion papers 1616, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Padmavathi Koride & Anjula Gurtoo, 2019. "A Comparison of Borrowing and Default Behaviour Between Men and Women," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 7(2), pages 189-209, December.
    20. Lucy Scott, 2012. "Contested Relationships: Women's Economic and Social Empowerment, Insights from the Transfer of Material Assets in Bangladesh," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-002, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arp:ijwpds:2018:p:6-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Managing Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arpgweb.com/index.php?ic=journal&journal=11&info=aims .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.