Analysis of women’s subordinate status in society by feminist academics and activists combines two sets of concerns: individual-level gender inequalities in the capacity to exercise choice and agency in different domains of women’s lives and the societal-level rules and norms that generate these inequalities on a systematic basis and reproduce them over time. The idea of women’s empowerment refers to the processes of change which expand their capacity for voice and agency by addressing these inequalities at both individual and societal level. In speaking of economic empowerment, we are attempting to capture one aspect of this change, their economic aspect. Economic empowerment focuses our attention on the specific processes that expand women’s market opportunities and improve the terms on which they access them. The focus on economic empowerment resonates with those who believe that that material inequalities play a central role in reproducing gender inequalities more broadly. It also makes the case for policy efforts to make markets work more fairly for women. Kabeer argues that too narrow a definition of economic empowerment is likely to undermine the transformative potential that such efforts might achieve. In particular, the failure to take account of the non-market constraints which curtail women’s ability to respond to new opportunities is not only likely to limit the effectiveness of these efforts but is also unlikely to realize the full potential of economic empowerment to impact on different aspects of women’s lives.