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The political economy of women’s entrepreneurship initiatives in Pakistan: reflections on gender, class, and “development”

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  • Adrienne Roberts
  • Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar

Abstract

This article presents a critical feminist political economy of women’s entrepreneurship promotion in Pakistan. Women’s entrepreneurship is the new development mantra that has captured the imagination of global institutions, policymakers, business organizations, and academia alike. We argue in this article that this focus on entrepreneurship should be located, on one hand, within the gendered political economy of Pakistan, and on the other hand, as part of the broader project of transnational business feminism, which works to frame gender equality as “smart economics” and as compatible with the neoliberal agenda of privatization, deregulation, and financialization. Drawing on primary research conducted on a women’s entrepreneurship training program in Pakistan, this article goes on to evidence how one such program is designed and delivered and critically interrogates the impacts of this program on those it is supposed to empower. The findings of our research point to tensions between the global discourses that explicitly inform projects like the one we study and the implementation of programs in specific local contexts, troubling the assertion that there is a smooth equation between entrepreneurship, economic growth, and women’s empowerment.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrienne Roberts & Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar, 2019. "The political economy of women’s entrepreneurship initiatives in Pakistan: reflections on gender, class, and “development”," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 410-435, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:26:y:2019:i:3:p:410-435
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2018.1554538
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    Cited by:

    1. Aliya Abbasi, 2021. "Politics of Development in Pakistan: From the Post-Independence Modernization Project to ‘Vision 2025’," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 16(2), pages 220-243, August.
    2. Amparo Serrano‐Pascual & Carlota Carretero‐García, 2022. "Women’s entrepreneurial subjectivity under scrutiny: Expert knowledge on gender and entrepreneurship," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 666-686, March.
    3. Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar, 2022. "The social relations of gold: How a gendered asset serves social reproduction and finance in Pakistan," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 739-757, May.
    4. Rahel Kunz & Brenda Ramírez, 2022. "‘Cambiando el chip’: The gendered constellation of subjectivities of the financialisation of remittances in Mexico," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(4), pages 779-799, June.

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