Introduction: Negotiating Empowerment

This introduction draws out some of the dimensions and dilemmas around women's empowerment that are highlighted in the chapters in the book: the choices, the negotiations, the narratives and above all, the context of women's lived experience. In doing so, we show that empowerment is a complex process that requires more than the quick and easy solutions often offered by development agencies.

Much of the significant change happening in women's lives takes place outside of the range of these conventional interventions. In conclusion, we suggest that for development agencies to really support women's empowerment requires greater engagement with changing structures rather than accommodating women within the inequitable existing order, and a much deeper understanding of what makes change happen in their lives.

This introduction is available on the Pathways of Women's Empowerment website by kind permission of Zed Books www.zedbooks.co.uk