IP0607 Is economic empowerment the most important route to gender equality?

Is economic empowerment really the fastest route to gender equality — or have we reduced liberation to a market strategy?  In this episode of Intersectional Psychology, we unpack one of the biggest debates in gender and development: whether increasing women’s economic participation is enough to dismantle inequality.  From microfinance and entrepreneurship to land ownership, migration, climate change, and unpaid care labour, this episode explores the gap between economic inclusion and actual power. We also explore the limits of neoliberal “empowerment,” the persistence of patriarchal power structures, and why representation without structural change can become little more than optics.  🎁 Support the podcast and get exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/IntersectionalPsychology. In this week's bonus segment, we connect these ideas to current legal debates, including a landmark case before the Supreme Court of the United States on transgender girls in school sports. 📄 Download a transcript of this episode on IntersectionalPsychology.com. ⏳ Chapter Timestamps 00:00:00 Short introduction  00:01:19 Land acknowledgement  00:01:47 Title credits: S06E07 Is economic empowerment the most important route to gender equality?  00:02:20 Welcome and introduction continued  00:03:59 Gender and development: What are we actually talking about?  00:06:25 Neoliberal feminism: When empowerment comes with fine print  00:08:34 Agriculture, migration, and the multiple layers of exclusion  00:10:41 Climate change: Gendered, political, and not accidental  00:12:05 Women's issues… or power relations?  00:14:06 So… is economic empowerment the answer?  00:16:00 Beijing Platform: Progress, but not enough  00:17:05 What still needs to change?  00:21:30 End credits  Stay connected 🔗 Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 📮 Got feedback or questions? Reach out at @IntersectionalPsychology or IntersectionalPsychologyPod[@]gmail.com 🌈 If this episode resonates, please share it, rate the show, and send us your thoughts.  You can contribute to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund at https://www.pcrf.net/  References  Arun, S., Annim, S., Bose, U., & Arun, T. (2023) ‘Gendered Financial Behaviour in Ghana: A Comparative Study with South Africa’, In J.A. Peprah et al. (eds.), Financial Sector Development in Ghana. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Chant, S. & Sweetman, C. (2012). Fixing women or fixing the world? 'Smart economics', efficiency approaches, and gender equality in development’, Gender & Development, 20(3), pp. 517-529. Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (2015). Gender and the environment. In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 151-163. Routledge. Cornwall, A. (2016) ‘Women’s empowerment: What works and why?’, Journal of International Development 28, pp. 342–359. 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