MICROCREDIT, CIVIC NETWORKS AND WOMEN'S POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT IN BANGLADESH

The social capital school has proposed that one of the key mechanisms for generating good democratic outcomes is participation in voluntary associations. Of late, group-based microcredit programmes are considered as effective policy instruments for generating and strengthening civic networks of the community. However, on the micro-level we do not know enough about how membership in microcredit programmes promotes civic engagement, nurtures democratic learning process and makes their members more cooperative. In this paper I investigate whether microcredit providing NGOs have run through and nurtured democratic practices at the local level and whether they mobilize citizens politically and promote leadership among the women. The results indicate that microcredit organizations in the area that I studied failed to promote women's political capabilities or civic engagement since these organizations mainly concentrate on the services of credit distribution and installments collection, and have deviated or shifted away from community mobilization.