•Current empowerment efforts fail to capture a critical component of empowerment - its relational nature.•Individual's empowerment is constituted through the empowerment of others in significant relationship to them.•The ability of women to empower themselves is mediated through the deliberative support of others.•Community judgment of individual alignment with gender norms determines empowerment outcomes in daily realities.•Public adherence to local gender norms creates a safe façade to deviate from the norms.

中文翻译：

---

权力通过：赋权话语中的新概念。

•当前的赋权工作未能抓住赋权的一个关键组成部分——其关系性质。•个人赋权是通过赋权与自己有重要关系的其他人来实现的。•妇女赋权自己的能力是通过他人的深思熟虑的支持来调节的。 •社区对个人是否符合性别规范的判断决定了日常现实中的赋权结果。•公众对当地性别规范的遵守为偏离规范创造了安全的假象。