Women spatial empowerment through the Solidarity Economy

Since the eighties, the Solidarity Economy has gained increasing importance as an alternative to the neoliberalism, both in the urban and rural spheres. This article seeks to examine how these economic alternatives initiate and influence women's empowerment processes. From an intersectional analysis, the main factors of discrimination for women living inside the favelas are identified. By systematizing the experiences of a Solidarity Economy Network in Brazil, the article develops four hypotheses about how self-organization processes could contribute to empowerment forms in different dimensions. Based on that, the concept of "spatial empowerment" is deduced and its relevance to transform gender roles in the context of women in urban and rural areas is discussed.