Women and Globalisation: Is Microcredit the Answer?

The focus of the present paper is upon the impact of globalisation upon women worldwide, with special reference to India and the viability of micro credit as a panacea to the fall out of globalisation. Will global economic integration support reduction of gender inequalities and disparities? Is providing micro credit to women the answer to the drawbacks of globalisation? Does it in reality make them “ economic actors with power” ? These are the key questions, which the present paper seeks to address. It is argued that women have suffered disproportionately from globalisation, while seeing few of its benefits. This is particularly true of India. It is, indeed, paradoxical that on the one hand, all out efforts are being made for women’ s empowerment, while on other, women are being disempowered through globalisation. Lack of access to credit is a key barrier to economic development and growth in the informal sector in which women constitute an overwhelming majority. This has led to an increasing emphasis upon micro micro credit and micro credit and microfinance for women as means for their empowerment. The present paper seeks to provide a feminist critique of micro credit, and to question the entire paradigm and strategy of development. It is argued that the proponents of this approach are merely glossing over its contradictions. Their is need to go beyond its limited range and scope, reinterpreting its objectives and methodologies in the light of the feminist framework of development and empowerment, to meet the challenges offered by globalisation and enable women to avail of the opportunities it offers as real actors in the whole process.