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Community Development Journal Advance Access published online on July 18, 2005
Community Development Journal, doi:10.1093/cdj/bsi066
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© Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal. 2005 All rights reserved

Article

Strengthening communities through women's self help groups in South India

Frank Tesoriero 1*

1 School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, St. Bernards Road, Magill, SA 5063, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Frank Tesoriero, E-mail: Frank.Tesoriero{at}unisa.edu.au


  Abstract

This article reports on an evaluation of women's Self Help Groups (SHGs) in an area in south India. Groups were evaluated, not in terms of their success as microcredit schemes, from a financial perspective, but in relation to their contribution to gender development. Evidence emerged that women perceived changes in their identity towards working collectively to influence for change at the village and panchyat levels. They engaged in community and social action programmes, both at the local level and by joining with issues beyond the local. When considered within constructs of empowerment, capability poverty, citizenship, and participation in democratic processes, such SHG outcomes, and the community development processes that accompany their work, can be seen to make a modest but significant contribution to broader transformations of oppressive structures.


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