Debt Is My Companion: Everyday Experiences of Gendered Debt in Post-Conflict Zones in Sri Lanka

This article explores the everyday experiences of gendered debt among women borrowers of microfinance in post-conflict zones. It argues that specifically in post-conflict zones, due to changes in the socio-political, economic, cultural and infrastructural configurations of conflict, women face varied financial difficulties, often resulting in debt and indebtedness. Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central parts of Sri Lanka with women borrowers, the study highlights the gendered nature of debt and how women navigate debt and indebtedness with socio-cultural relations in the community. The findings contradict the often-popularised narratives of microfinance as pathways to empowerment and economic security by highlighting that when introduced as part of post-conflict development programmes, microfinance can result in increased indebtedness that disproportionately affects women due to socio-cultural gendered constructs.