Credit to Capabilities A Sociological Study of Microcredit Groups in India [Paperback]

This book focuses on how group-based microcredit programs in India facilitate women's empowerment through the mechanism of group participation and networking.Credit to Capabilities discusses microcredit and women's empowerment, a hot topic globally in addressing poverty and how to improve the lives of poor women. This book is the first sociological study of how microcredit improves women's agency in India. It showcases the main finding, which is that it is the mechanism of group participation and belonging to a group network, rather than the loan capital itself, that truly empowers women.Credit to Capabilities discusses microcredit and women's empowerment, a hot topic globally in addressing poverty and how to improve the lives of poor women. This book is the first sociological study of how microcredit improves women's agency in India. It showcases the main finding, which is that it is the mechanism of group participation and belonging to a group network, rather than the loan capital itself, that truly empowers women.Credit to Capabilities focuses on the controversial topic of microcredit's impact on women's empowerment and, especially, on the neglected question of how microcredit transforms women's agency. Based on interviews with hundreds of economically and socially vulnerable women from peasant households, this book highlights the role of the associational mechanism  forming women into groups that are embedded in a vast network and providing the opportunity for face-to-face participation in group meetings  in improving women's capabilities. This book reveals the role of microcredit groups in fostering women's social capital, particularly their capacity of organizing collective action for public goods and for protecting women's welfare. It argues that, in the Indian context, microcredit groups are becoming increasingly important in rural civil societies. Throughout, the book maintains an analytical distinction between married women in male-headed households andlƒ’