ABSTRACT
In Cambodia, women’s participation in politics and the public sphere is often viewed as limited due to rigidly defined gender roles, a gendered public-private divide and the hierarchical nature of society. This chapter presents women’s groups as ‘artificial’ seeds of community-based organizations that not only advance women’s participation in the public realm, and generate local civil society, but also provide stepping stones to national engagement. Empowerment, in contrast to the way the term is often employed in development, is not merely capacity development in the sense of livelihood improvement. In urban areas, employment with the government and state-run factories opened up new opportunities for women. The presence of strong female leadership seems to be an essential element for the success of and continuous development of women’s groups. By bringing women together and cultivating social capital that provides support, female leaders are coming out to challenge the boundaries of traditional gender norms.
