Title: Making us marketable: reframing poverty through CED, ethnodevelopment and women's microenterprise

Authors: Robyn Eversole

Addresses: Institute for Regional Development, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 3502 Burnie, Tasmania 7320, Australia

Abstract: This paper identifies important similarities in three popular development strategies: Community Economic Development (CED), ethnodevelopment and women|s microenterprise development. All are characterised as |grassroots| and |participatory| approaches to poverty reduction, yet their underlying premise reframes poverty into narrow terms as a lack of effective engagement with existing external markets. Although cultural diversity, gender, and community issues appear to be central to these three approaches, they are often reframed as resources for more effective market engagement, rather than as sources of alternative ways to reduce poverty. This has the unfortunate side-effect of discouraging critical and creative thinking about the larger constraints to economic development that are facing vulnerable individuals and groups.

Keywords: community economic development; CED; ethnodevelopment; microenterprise development; poverty reduction; grassroots development; participatory development; economic development; gender; cultural diversity; empowerment; women entrepreneurs; female entrepreneurs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2007.015054

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2007 Vol.1 No.3, pp.357 - 368

Published online: 06 Sep 2007 *

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