“Negotiating Oppression:  Women’s Agency and Empowerment in Colombian Gold Mining Communities” presented by Libby McDonald, Inclusive Economies Specialist; Lecturer D-Lab.

WGS Intellectual Forum
14E-304
Please RSVP for lunch.

This talk will focus on the long-standing subordination of Columbian women in regions dominated by gold mining, then explore new ways of thinking about how women living in severely oppressive mining regions in Antioquia, Colombia can achieve greater economic agency. Leveraging Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach, the talk will conclude by examining the ways in which a movement-building model that incorporates co-design can effectively foster both agency and empowerment.​

Inspired by MIT D-Lab’s co-creation methodology, Libby McDonald came to D-Lab in 2017 where she teaches three courses, D-Lab: Gender and Development, D-Lab: Inclusive Economies, and D-Lab: Waste.  In addition to teaching, McDonald uses D-Lab’s co-design approach to develop large-scale Inclusive Market programs  that provide livelihood income to women working in the informal sector in low-income countries.  Prior to D-Lab, she was Program Director of Global Sustainable Partnerships at MIT’s Community Innovators Lab (CoLab).  At CoLab her work with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) created regional networks of small-and-medium-sized waste and recycling businesses that not only moved regions in Panama, Mexico, and Nicaragua towards zero waste, but provided jobs to women waste pickers living in extreme poverty.