| Abstract: | This article reports on an evaluation of women's Self Help Groups(SHGs) in an area in south India. Groups were evaluated, notin terms of their success as microcredit schemes, from a financialperspective, but in relation to their contribution to genderdevelopment. Evidence emerged that women perceived changes intheir identity towards working collectively to influence forchange at the village and panchyat levels. They engaged in communityand social action programmes, both at the local level and byjoining with issues beyond the local. When considered withinconstructs of empowerment, capability poverty, citizenship,and participation in democratic processes, such SHG outcomes,and the community development processes that accompany theirwork, can be seen to make a modest but significant contributionto broader transformations of oppressive structures. |
