ABSTRACT
This chapter details the most promising aspects of microcredit self-help group programming, that is, the extent to which these programmes improve solidarity and connection amongst women and enhance their capacity for collective action. This chapter details how important the idea is of ‘power with’ others to the notion of women’s empowerment. It details how isolation and disconnection from others occurs when patriarchal norms limit women’s movement. Through detailed case study examples, this chapter explores how belonging to a self-help group enabled avenues of connection and solidarity amongst women. This chapter concludes, however, that these ties can easily be broken by mistrust, illustrating the extent to which empowerment is always tenuous.
