Role of Microfinance in Women Empowerment:A Study of Selected Experiments in Kerala

Since 1970s the attempts to redefine development in terms of women and her productive role has gained much footing. It can be visualised as a move from "integrating women into development" to "gendering the development process". The Women in Development (WID) perspective, which gained much popularity in 1970s, distinguished the practical gender needs and strategic gender needs, but when policies were designed and implemented, they ignored the latter. The 1980s witnessed the emergence of a different perspective labeled, "mainstreaming women" which called for bringing women to the mainstream of development efforts.