Gender & Labor (Microcredit)

Question 1

Micro-Credit

Answer 1

extension of small loans for income-generating projects, not consumption

aimed at the poor, particularly women

way to offer credit to “un-credit-worthy” people

bank of the people

Question 2

Grameen Bank

Answer 2

focused on creating individual entrepreneurs, not stronger states; create “borrowing cycles”

Question 3

What year and by whom was the Grameen Bank started?

Answer 3

1976 by local economist Professor Muhammad Yunus

Question 4

Describe micro-credit in Bangladesh according to Karim.

Answer 4

NGOs operate as “shadow state” & exercise control over the rural poor through mix of consent and coercion

micro-credit has created new social roles (ie. the female moneylender)

NGOs/micro-credit organizations use an “economy of shame” to control women’s behavior

microcredit is an example of neoliberalism

Question 5

What is the “economy of shame”?

Answer 5

the use of shaming as an instrument of social control of the poor

use women to shame men due to women’s role as custodian of family honor

group responcibility vs. individual accountability

Question 6

What are the pros of the Grameen Bank?

Answer 6

97% recovery rate

challenges the idea of the poor as defaulters

teaches women the importance of managing money & keeping basic account of expenditures

introduces new forms of social identity among rural women (ie. women’s weekly meetings where women can speak without men dominating the discourse)

Question 7

What are the cons of the Grameen Bank?

Answer 7

dishonesty, as money is often used by men rather than women

failure to succeed now rests solely with the individual

state withdraws from the welfare of citizens

new networks of debt & female moneylenders who perpetuate unsury and unfair practices

creates focus on being entrepreneurs rather than holding a steady job

use economy of shame