Women Empowerment Sustainability in Informal Economic Activities The Role of Microcredit in the Sub-urban Areas in Sylhet, Bangladesh

Abstract

A sub-urban area in countries like Bangladesh have the heterogeneity in social ties, settlement patterns, workplace opportunity, and  gender relations which is not specified or recognized in socio-economic policy formulations. The study focuses on the usual investment pattern of microcredit received by suburban women. It found that the investment rationality is mostly driven by market forces and less organized and less feminized, in suburban settings. In institutional process, there is a considerable disparity between  an increase of good portfolio visibility and income-generating livelihood scopes for women in the given socio-economic context. The  theoretical construction follows the debate regarding the limitations of universal understanding of capitalism in contemporary market  economy. The paper explained microcredit as a complex domestic and informal investment for „women‟ referring selected sub-urban areas of Sylhet. However, this qualitative study uses some techniques like indepth interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), and semi- structured interviews (SSI) in the primary data collection process. The study finds that the microcredit system brings temporary  liquidity security to face market demands for the receivers. However, monetary inflation concentrate on the market recognize working  sectors which are dominated by male. The lack of diversity in recognition of women-work place has a diverse impact on enhancing  capacity interventions. The paper suggests that in maintaining a good portfolio of the loan receivers, organizational monitoring and  recognition of feminizing women's effort is necessary. The process can reduce the dependency on patriarchal setting and influence.  The process is also essential for making long term and sustainable platform for the sub-urban informal economic activities of women  in microcredit.