The power within empowerment - A study of the outreach work performed by Mentor Mothers in The Kingdom of Swaziland

Abstract: Authors: Matilda Berggren and Sanne Modin Title: The power within empowerment - A study of the outreach work performed by Mentor Mothers in The Kingdom of Swaziland Supervisor: Anna Angelin Assessors: Anna Meuwisse and Max Koch Our aim with this thesis was to identify potential barriers and potential possibilities in the work of Mentor Mothers. Through interviews with women working in the project of Siphilile, in the Kingdom of Swaziland, we were able to identify four different areas where barriers and possibilities became visible: practical conditions, health care, contraceptive use, and material resources. Examples of possibilities were collaboration with the nearby medical clinic, and Mentor Mothers living in same community as clients. Barriers for performed work were gender structures, perceptions of contraceptive use among clients, and practical conditions such as heavy rain. The project of Siphilile is influenced by empowerment which is often seen as a process where powerless people gain power for self-reliance in their lives. With help from theories of power our result showed that the work of Mentor Mothers was expressions of what Michel Foucault defines as biopower, disciplinary power and pastoral power. The work of Mentor Mothers therefore becomes a dubious undertaking, since we argue that power aspects are ever present in empowerment work.