Tornhill (Linnaeus Univ., Sweden) discusses the case for women’s empowerment in business through a detailed look at Coca-Cola’s global 5by20 program, which aims to economically empower millions of women. Through the program, approximately five million women small-business owners across many countries receive business skills training, loan access, financial services, and mentoring to help produce agricultural ingredients, distribute the bottler’s beverages to retailers, or sell Coca-Cola products by 2020. Tornhill focuses specifically on 5by20’s efforts in Mexico and South Africa through interviews with participants and ethnographic, corporate social responsibility, and feminist research. However, the unique social, political, and economic obstacles women face in the two countries make it difficult to directly compare their experiences, so each discussion is quite different. Chapters detail the diverse outcomes of the program and how it primarily serves Coca-Cola’s business interests and branding, while relying on self-help psychology to help female entrepreneurs overcome the ravages of poverty. . . Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.

Choice Reviews

The Business of Women’s Empowerment fills a huge gap in the literature by beginning to empirically investigate the impacts of corporate initiatives to empower women through entrepreneurship. Moving beyond glossy brochures and filtered messages, the book unravels the complexities of such projects from a bottom-up perspective that shows how corporate projects become a part of women’s survival strategies. A page-turner and highly recommended!

Elisabeth Prügl, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Gender Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva