Disentangling Empowerment

Abstract

This chapter centres on the conceptual and theoretical analysis of empowerment. As empowerment is a concept inextricably related to power, the chapter first discusses the literature on power and debates the basic features that are used to define what ‘power’ is. Subsequently, it explores the specific literature on empowerment. Using two fundamental ontological approaches to power (power-to and power-over), it identifies two main approaches of empowerment—the ‘technical’ and ‘emancipatory’ approaches. After discussing the pros and cons of each of these approaches, and after identifying three main gaps in the empowerment literature, the chapter concludes by proposing a framework of analysis that encompasses multiple levels of analysis, embraces a dialectical view of power, and acknowledges the of role the actors’ subjectivities.