Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies

From the perspectives of economic anthropology, feminist anthropology, and feminist theory, this applied anthropological study is an evaluation of a popular international development model targeting poor women. Based on the celebrated Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the so-called "microcredit"...

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Main Author: Levine, Cheryl A
Format: Others
Published: Scholar Commons 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1417
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2416&context=etd
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spelling ndltd-USF-oai-scholarcommons.usf.edu-etd-24162019-10-04T05:26:28Z Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies Levine, Cheryl A From the perspectives of economic anthropology, feminist anthropology, and feminist theory, this applied anthropological study is an evaluation of a popular international development model targeting poor women. Based on the celebrated Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the so-called "microcredit" model is designed as a poverty alleviation strategy to provide small loans to poor women in rural settings and is designed to facilitate microenterprise development. Due to the popularity of the microcredit model with the international development community, it is being replicated in different settings. Through an analysis of microenterprise development among Afro-Caribbean women, this study presents the argument that successful application of international development strategies, such as the microcredit model, requires consideration of three critical factors if the objective is to facilitate economic empowerment. First, international development policy and practice has tended to homogenize women, enforce gender-typed work, and emphasize group structure regardless of recipients' needs or preferences. Second, attempts by local governments to replicate the microcredit model may fail due to lack of commitment or inadequate infrastructure. Third, application of international development interventions, such as the microcredit model, must be tailored to fit the cultural and historical context as well as account for the needs and expectations of intended recipients. 2003-12-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1417 https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2416&context=etd default Graduate Theses and Dissertations Scholar Commons Caribbean feminist and economic anthropology international development self-employment American Studies Arts and Humanities
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Caribbean
feminist and economic anthropology
international development
self-employment
American Studies
Arts and Humanities
spellingShingle Caribbean
feminist and economic anthropology
international development
self-employment
American Studies
Arts and Humanities
Levine, Cheryl A
Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
description From the perspectives of economic anthropology, feminist anthropology, and feminist theory, this applied anthropological study is an evaluation of a popular international development model targeting poor women. Based on the celebrated Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the so-called "microcredit" model is designed as a poverty alleviation strategy to provide small loans to poor women in rural settings and is designed to facilitate microenterprise development. Due to the popularity of the microcredit model with the international development community, it is being replicated in different settings. Through an analysis of microenterprise development among Afro-Caribbean women, this study presents the argument that successful application of international development strategies, such as the microcredit model, requires consideration of three critical factors if the objective is to facilitate economic empowerment. First, international development policy and practice has tended to homogenize women, enforce gender-typed work, and emphasize group structure regardless of recipients' needs or preferences. Second, attempts by local governments to replicate the microcredit model may fail due to lack of commitment or inadequate infrastructure. Third, application of international development interventions, such as the microcredit model, must be tailored to fit the cultural and historical context as well as account for the needs and expectations of intended recipients.
author Levine, Cheryl A
author_facet Levine, Cheryl A
author_sort Levine, Cheryl A
title Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
title_short Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
title_full Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
title_fullStr Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
title_full_unstemmed Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies
title_sort mediating the model: women's microenterprise and microcredit in tobago, west indies
publisher Scholar Commons
publishDate 2003
url https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1417
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2416&context=etd
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