Ethical Empowerment
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} What is ethical empowerment? This question is not as straight forward and it would appear and in order to answer it is necessary to understand the meaning assigned to the words "ethical" and "empowerment" If we take the dictionary meaning of the words, "ethical" refers to that which is morally right whilst empowerment, refer to authorizing or giving of power! My personal understanding of the issue of ethical empowerment is that of enabling people or giving people the tools to deal with day to day life challenges. It is also about dignity and sustainability. I have drawn on research I carried out on "Community Involvement" whilst at University, as well as personal experiences in my attempt to answer this question. I find that it is useful to understand how Power works as well as how it operates in certain localities. There are different concepts of power, which try to explain how power is held, and by whom, within society but the one that I like best is put forward by Taylor M 2003 in her book on public policy. She puts forward power as an elitist concept/theory and according to this theory power lies in the system or establishment. Power is held by corporations, privileged groups and professionals because of their wealth, knowledge and cultural conditioning, which give them, access to politicians and thereby their ability to influence decisions in society Furthermore that they are individuals in the community that are powerless and unable to exercise choice in the market economy and therefore do not have the means to exit due to their lack of material and personal resources. This leads to exclusion of individuals from amongst other things the decision making process. The notion of empowerment implies that someone with power gives it over to some without power (Staples 1990 cited by Hart et al 1997). However, this assumes that the powerful are willing to lose control of decision-making and thereby the intended outcomes of decision-making. The big question here is how this applies to the developing world. Do we see them as powerless helpless people? If so, why, where is their evidence for our assertions? I agree that there is an imbalance in power as it relates to trade agreements. It would appear that these are weighted in favour of the developed world. We have all heard of subsidies to farmers in the West and the "dumping" of excess of Sugar, flour etc. I remember attending an event and happened to sit next to a guy from the Fair Trade organisation. I asked him how the female producers at Ethnic supplies could go about registering with Fair Trade. He looked me in the eye and told me that Textile and handicrafts are not included. I asked him why and did he realise that he was possibly excluding two thirds of the world's population from the opportunity of earning a fair wage for their hard work? These women are not hopeless, or useless, they are not looking for handouts either. They work hard with the little they have to make ends meet and require market access for their products on equal terms as the rest of the population The need for ethical empowerment If we agree that ethical empowerment is about dignity, sustainability as well as giving people the tools to deal with day to day challenges in their lives we should certainly agree that there is a need for ethical empowerment. When I think about dignity I also think about that which is morally right leading me to ask these following questions. Is it morally right that people should go hungry or be subjected to life of poverty and disease, because by accident of birth they were born in Asia, South America Africa or Eastern Europe? Can the rest of us live with us ourselves/turn a blind eye to the issues that we perceive as unjust? Are we committed to doing the right thing and do we know what the right thing to do is? We each have a differing view and the answer to these questions maybe tied in with the choices that we make daily. I would however argue that we cannot sustain individuals or whole economies through handouts, there is no dignity in it nor is it sustainable due to demands on resources. As such ethical empowerment is required so that people learn/acquire the skills to manage day to day life challenges, identified by the community in question. This not only ensures sustainability but ensures ownership of issues/projects leading to enduring success. Things that need to be kept in mind People in developing comm