A Context-Specific Community Practice Model of Women's Empowerment: Lessons Learned in Rural India

This article will demonstrate the need for a context-specific model of community practice that aims to empower impoverished rural women and simultaneously improve their living conditions. The two main empowerment-based models of community practice currently prevalent in rural India and their ideological differences are highlighted. A unique case of community planning and mobilization that resulted in incremental yet significant changes in the socioeconomic milieu of a rural Indian community and initiated a re-evaluation of traditional gender roles is illustrated. Recommendations for community practitioners and leaders working with women in under-developed and economically deprived communities are offered to facilitate successful program implementation. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.