ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how empowerment is defined, enacted, and negotiated by civil society organisations (CSOs) and migrantised women in Austria. Drawing on qualitative data from three CSOs offering educational and counselling services to migrantised women in Vienna, we examine how empowerment is shaped by structural inequalities, institutional mandates, and the lived experiences of women navigating migration, trauma, and social exclusion. While policy frameworks often reduce empowerment to employability and language acquisition, CSOs strive to foster more holistic, participant-centred approaches grounded in feminist and intersectional values. Yet, staff members operate within a persistent double bind—expected to empower participants while conforming to neoliberal funding priorities. For the women themselves, empowerment is often articulated through everyday acts of autonomy, such as gaining confidence to move freely in public spaces, speak German independently, or hold a job and achieve some form of financial independence. These aspects reflect empowerment as a fragile, relational, and ongoing process. By situating empowerment within these contradicting logics, this chapter underscores the need to critically engage with the tensions inherent in empowerment discourses. Rather than offering definitive solutions, we argue for embracing discomfort and multiplicity as essential for understanding empowerment as a non-linear, collective, and contextually grounded journey.
