Empowerment

Empowerment is seen by many development agencies as a core aspect of their work, although definitions and approaches are varied. To some, empowerment is a political concept involving the collective struggle of the poor and disadvantaged; to others, it refers to the consciousness of individuals to address issues determining their lives. It can help to see empowerment in terms of four types of power relations

• Power over : the ability to coerce and influence the actions and thoughts of the powerless
• Power to : the capacity to act, to organise and change existing hierarchies
• Power with : Increased power from collective action, social mobilisation and alliance building
• Power from within : Increased individual consciousness, self dignity and awareness.

Under the empowerment theme, a paper on understanding and operationalsing empowerment, a selected annotated bibliography and a series of illustrative notes have been prepared. These can be read in More on Empowerment.

In Experience and Practice we highlight some of the different understandings and practices of empowerment that can be found within SDC, including recent initiatives in Latin America, West Africa and the Mekong.