Does microcredit empower women, or does it just discipline and control them in a new way? This paper draws on the case of self-help groups (SHG) in rural India to shed light on microcredit’s various contradictory effects. By adopting the rules of patronage, SHGs renew the domination of women...

In the microfinance industry the idea of “empowerment” is often valued as a means to encourage female emancipation from male domination. This paper’s main purpose is to draw on women’s testimonies and narratives to highlight the fundamental importance within these processes of women’s...

<italic>Moroccan policies against sub-standard housing give priority to the eradication of shantytowns. News schemes mix different actors and are based on “participatory approaches”. In rehousing projects, participatory combines social support (expected to help the implication of slum dwellers in...</italic>

<DIV>Microcredit programs, which often give small loans to borrowers in developing countries who lack collateral, have been considered efficient tools for economic development in struggling regions around the world. Yet, recently, microcredit has come under increasing critic by experts who feel that...</div>

This last decade has seen the emergence of a new field of research in development economics: randomised control trials. This paper explores the contrast between the (many) limitations and (very narrow) real scope of these methods and their success in sheer number and media coverage. Our analysis...

Discrimination against girls is well-documented, especially in Asia. We show that women try to level the playing field for their daughters by taking on debt. But wealth asymmetry between mothers and fathers perpetuates gender inequality across generations.

(english) This last decade has seen the emergence of a new field of research in development economics: randomised control trials. This paper explores the contrast between the (many) limitations and (very narrow) real scope of these methods and their success in sheer number and media coverage....

This micro-level study combines multivariate and qualitative analyses to highlight the fragmented nature of debt in southern Indian rural households. It finds that debt is socially regulated in the sense that social interactions shape the cost, use and access to debt. Caste, social class and...

[fre] Si la question de la pérennité des dispositifs de microfinance est aujourd’hui centrale, elle peut difficilement être dissociée de la question de la solidarité. À partir d’études de cas, cet article propose d’analyser dans quelles mesures pérennité et solidarité sont...

[fre] En nous appuyant sur des enquêtes de terrain, nous proposons d’analyser l’hétérogénéité des comportements budgétaires des bénéficiaires de minima sociaux. Trois types de comportements sont identifiés : gestion « rationalisée », « gestion ascétique » et gestion « de...