To what extent does Girl Hub embody feminist principals? An analysis of a girl centred anti-poverty programme from a feminist perspective

Abstract

Girl Hub is an anti-poverty programme with a gender equality steer, operating in Ethiopia, Rwanda
and Nigeria. This study analyses Girl Hub’s goals and aims from a socialist feminist perspective
through content analysis of materials produced by the UK Department For International
Development, The Nike Foundation (though Girl Effect) and Girl Hub. Setting Girl Hub in the
context of the contemporary development obsession with ‘the girl’, I problematise the feminist
credentials of Girl Hub through a critique of smart economics; empowerment-lite; the ways girls are
represented; and Girl Hub’s method of creating change. Just Associates (JASS) is used as a
comparison. This study shows that there are many features of Girl Hub which embody feminist
aims, and yet that they are packaged in a problematic way. I show that Girl Hub lacks a critical
engagement with systematic inequalities and obfuscates complex social problems. This ambiguity is
theorised by drawing on the work of Hester Eisenstein. I demonstrate the way in which feminism
has proven ‘useful’ to a global neoliberal agenda, and highlight why this is not good for the world’s
women. I conclude that Girl Hub represents a form of ‘neoliberal’ feminism, which is deeply
problematic because of the promising sheen it provides, whilst simultaneously obscuring many of
the forces which work to oppress women and girls.