Pathways of Women's Empowerment, 2007 - 2010

Pathways is a partnership with the Institute of Development Studies, which is running a research and communications programme linking academics, activists and practitioners to find out 'what works' to empower women. openDemocracy brings you the voices and views of women working in Ghana, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Palestine, Sudan and Nigeria. Articles for the initiative include contributions by Srilatha Batliwala, Andrea Cornwall, Mulki Al-Sharmani, Cecilia Sardenberg, Takyiwaa Manuh (you can also listen to Takyiwaa's interview here), Firdous Azim, Naila Kabeer, Emily Esplen, Ana Alice Alcântara and Rosalind Eyben. See also the related blog.

 an open letter to my sistersRead also The Wrong Turn, a dialogue on feminism in American politics.

We would like to thank The Barrow Cadbury Trust and The Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University, for supporting this project.

Friday 23rd July

Not the Church, Not the State? Gender equality in the crossfire

The challenge to platforms for gender equality comes not just from actors with fundamentalist agendas, but from a conjuncture where women’s rights have been opportunistically instrumentalized to serve geopolitical goals, and neo-liberal policies have severed social justice from gender equality concerns
Friday 9th July

Spirit, hope, money and a dose of patriarchy

A growing movement of African Christians are making waves at home and abroad with their ultra conservative interpretations of scripture. Far from a naïve embrace of conventional norms or a faithful embrace of scripture, these interpretations are emerging as clear political choices and are undermining women's rights struggles across the African continent
Monday 5th July

The Tea Party and the new right-wing Christian feminism

Why have American women become so active in the right wing Tea Party movement? Could it be that they are drawn to the new conservative Christian feminism publicized by Sarah Palin? Without its grassroots female supporters, the Tea Party would have far less appeal to voters who are frightened by economic insecurity, threats to moral purity and the gradual disappearance of a national white Christian culture.
Monday 23rd February

Musawah: solidarity in diversity

In her concluding report from the launch of a global initiative to reform Muslim Family Law, Cassandra Balchin finds solidarity in diversity and a growing convergence around human rights values. 
Friday 13th February

Musawah: there cannot be justice without equality

Muslim scholars and activists from forty eight countries are today launching a global initiative insisting that in the twenty first century "there cannot be justice without equality" between men and women.
Thursday 12th February

Home truths in the Muslim family

Sky rocketing rates of women's employment in Muslim countries and recent scholarship that has developed a vision of Islam that insists on equality between men and women, mean that the global pressure to reform Muslim family law is mounting, writes Cassandra Balchin.

Thursday 29th May

Making women work for development - again

Development policy is embracing market-led growth and neglecting gender equality
Tuesday 11th March

Women and politics: the Brazil paradox

Despite an effective women's movement, Brazil has one of the lowest rates of female political participation in the world. Why?

Thursday 28th February

Men and gender justice: old debate, new perspective

The new interest in "masculinities" risks losing the gender-justice dimension. It's time to talk
Tuesday 29th January

Marriage, motherhood and masculinity in the global economy

How the feminisation of labour markets is changing women, men, and the world economy
Wednesday 19th December

Women and religion in Bangladesh: new paths

Islam's rise is also opportunity for young urban women

Monday 26th November

African women and domestic violence

To cleanse man's kingdom, law is necessary - but not sufficient
Friday 26th October

The right to abortion: briefing from Brazil

How feminists make progress - and enemies

Friday 7th September

Egypt’s family courts: route to empowerment?

The reform of Egypt's family-law system was intended to advance women's rights. Has it worked?
Monday 30th July

Pathways of women's empowerment

Women’s real, diverse journeys make a progressive-sounding orthodoxy look stale

Putting power back into empowerment

“Empowerment” was won, then lost - now women need to make it real
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