Feminist Perspectives in Development: Implications for Women and Microcredit

This article critically explores how feminist theories continue to affect development paradigms and discourses by focusing on women’s experiences in microcredit programs. It locates the ideological roots of key concepts in development theories and feminist thinking about women’s role in development and improving women’s status. Over the past three decades, feminist theories and perspectives have influenced the debates on development across disciplines. Learning from the historical trajectory of development theories and feminist perspectives allows social workers to consider the centrality of gender in shaping every aspect of social life.