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International Review of Education

, Volume 61, Issue 3, pp 343–364 | Cite as

A tangled weave: Tracing outcomes of education in rural women’s lives in North India

  • Malini Ghose
  • Disha Mullick
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This paper is based on the findings of a research study which traced 56 rural women learners 15 years after they had participated in an empowerment and education programme in North India. It attempts to understand, from the perspectives of women from marginalised communities, the ways in which participating in the programme had been empowering for them, or not. While most of the women were indeed able to transform several areas in their lives, this study illustrates that empowering outcomes cannot be assumed or articulated in categorical terms and that bringing about change requires the negotiation of power at various levels. The women’s narratives stand in contrast to the prevalent discourses around women’s literacy and empowerment, which highlight the importance of literacy only in terms of its positive impact on attaining development goals. Despite the vigorously discussed de-politicisation of the concept of empowerment, the authors show in this paper that empowerment, when informed by a critical feminist understanding, continues to provide a useful framework to analyse women’s experiences related to education, as a process enabling women to understand and negotiate structures of power – which are neither static nor wholly dominating – and to find spaces to exercise agency. There are few longitudinal studies which trace the long-term impact of educational programmes on adult women, and most studies are in the nature of impact assessments of programmes. Through this paper the authors argue for the need to analyse the complexities around the relationship between women’s education and empowerment.

Keywords

Literacy Education Women Empowerment Mahila Shikshan Kendra India 

Résumé

Une toile inextricable : déceler les impacts éducatifs sur la vie des femmes rurales en Inde du Nord – Cet article se fonde sur les résultats d’une étude de recherche qui a retrouvé 56 apprenantes rurales du nord de l’Inde 15 ans après leur participation à un programme d’autonomisation et d’éducation. Les auteures tentent de comprendre dans la perspective de ces femmes issues de communautés marginalisées sous quelles formes leur participation au programme a été ou non autonomisante pour elles. Si la plupart de ces femmes ont été effectivement en mesure de transformer leur vie dans plusieurs domaines, l’étude révèle que des impacts autonomisants ne peuvent être supposés ou exprimés en termes catégoriques, et que l’instauration de changements requiert une négociation du pouvoir à plusieurs niveaux. Les récits des femmes contrastent avec les débats actuels sur l’alphabétisation et l’autonomisation des femmes, qui soulignent l’importance de l’alphabétisation uniquement en terme d’impact positif sur la réalisation d’objectifs de développement. Malgré la dépolitisation vivement débattue du concept d’autonomisation, les auteures démontrent dans leur article que l’autonomisation, quand elle est éclairée par une conception féministe critique, continue de fournir un cadre utile pour analyser les expériences éducatives des femmes en tant que processus qui leur permet de comprendre et de négocier les structures de pouvoir – qui ne sont ni immuables ni entièrement dominatrices –, et de trouver des espaces pour déployer leur initiative. Les études longitudinales qui suivent l’impact à long terme des programmes éducatifs sur les femmes adultes sont rares, et la majorité d’entre elles prennent la forme d’évaluations d’impact des programmes. Les auteures affirment la nécessité d’analyser les complexités dans la relation entre l’éducation et l’autonomisation des femmes.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.New DelhiIndia
  2. 2.New DelhiIndia

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