BEHIND AID RELATIONS: HOW DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS INFLUENCE PERCEPTIONS OF WOMEN BENEFICIARIES ON EMPOWERMENT (A CASE STUDY OF RCL PROJECT OF OXFAM IN SOUTH SULAWESI PROVINCE, INDONESIA)

Foreign aid has the nature of ‘elegant power’, which enables donors’ intervention. This paper argues that this nature and development interventions have influenced perceptions of women beneficiaries on empowerment. Efforts to empower women have been conducted with various approaches. However, not much has been said about how development projects influence women beneficiaries’ perceptions on empowerment, including limited awareness on empowerment due to the approach of development project and dependence on external intervention. The paper looks at a case study on Restoring Coastal Livelihoods (RCL) Project of Oxfam (2010-2015) in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research applied qualitative research techniques using semi-structured interviews and document reviews in the project area, and participant observation in Pangkajene Kepulauan District, one of the four districts covered under the project. The institutional ethnographic analysis in this research reveals that women beneficiaries perceive empowerment mostly based on their experiences in the project. However, the degree of empowerment is relative to types of women’s engagement in public spheres, men and women understanding of gender relations and equality, and nature of activities. The paper further argues that efforts to empower women tend to rely on external intervention to facilitate the process and to deal with existing dynamics of power relations. Finally, the paper underlines that empowerment depends highly on women’s personal knowledge, critical awareness, choice, willingness, and commitment. This research is crucial to contribute to gender and development studies as it highlights the multidimensional and multilayered aspect of aid relations and women’s empowerment