Women's experiences of micro-enterprise: Contexts and meanings

The article confronts global claims of micro-enterprise to promote poverty reduction and gender equality. The article examines 60 in-depth interviews with low-income Palestinian and Israeli Jewish women (aged 25-45 years) who engaged in micro-enterprises. The research particularly focused on women's motivations, personal qualities required for success, systemic barriers and opportunities, and women's constructions of micro-enterprise as a means to overcome poverty and achieve gender equality. The article indicates that in the frame of gender and economic exclusionary context, without comprehensive institutional support, micro-enterprise and self employment may not promise more than a partial solution to poverty and gender discrimination. The article questions the tendency to globalize policies without taking into account the local contexts in which these policies are implemented.