Empowerment
Empowerment refers to the process through which individuals and communities gain greater confidence, capability, influence and control over decisions that affect their lives. In community settings, empowerment is not simply about helping people cope more effectively; it is concerned with increasing their ability to participate, organise, make decisions and exercise power collectively.
Empowerment and Community Development
Empowerment is a central principle of Community Development because it shifts practice away from doing things for communities toward working with communities and supporting action increasingly led by communities themselves. This includes strengthening knowledge, leadership, relationships, decision-making capacity and access to resources.
Empowerment is closely connected to Capacity Building, although the concepts are not identical. Capacity building develops skills and resources, while empowerment also involves questions of power, voice and control. It therefore has a strong relationship with Social Justice and the challenge of Structural Inequality.
Position in this Vault
This is a supporting structural note connecting Community Development, Capacity Building, Social Justice and Structural inequality. It helps connect the practical development of community capability with the broader goal of increasing community voice, influence and self-determination.
- Ife, J. (2016). Community Development in an Uncertain World. Cambridge University Press.