Power and Prejudice: Reshaping Energy Narratives in Asian Geopolitics

Geopolitics has become a buzzword in contemporary international politics where countries are racing to have control over critical resources and strategic connectivity. In the discussion of energy geopolitics, the general focus remains on states competing against each other than how internally energy infrastructure and energy access have critical significance for its people specially in the Global South. The displacement caused by energy infrastructure projects, while often justified in the name of progress, disproportionately affects women, amplifying social and economic vulnerabilities. These projects disrupt livelihoods, displace communities, and create conditions that increase health risks and social insecurity for women, particularly those from marginalised and indigenous backgrounds. Beyond the immediate impacts, such displacement often silences women’s voices, sidelining their needs and potential contributions to sustainable solutions. This blog examines the complex gendered repercussions of energy-related displacement and explores how women face these challenges with resilience and leadership. By examining real-world examples and highlighting community-driven, gender-sensitive approaches, it demonstrates the importance of integrating women’s perspectives into energy and development policies to achieve equitable and lasting progress.

Women and Energy: Bridging the Gender Divide in Access and Inclusion

Women, often regarded as the second sex, face systemic barriers to primary access to energy and power. Deeply ingrained social constructions of womanhood perpetuate their invisibility in the energy sector by relegating them to secondary recipients of goods and services. Women are socially designated to provide food at the table, which makes them vulnerable to ‘energy poverty’, especially in rural households. Globally, 759 million people lack access to electricity, who are located mostly in Africa and South Asia, and 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking solutions—problems that overwhelmingly affect women due to their roles in household energy consumption.

A stark north-south divide highlights the complexities of women’s roles in the energy sector. In the Global North, the focus is often on increasing women’s participation in STEM fields (abbreviated form for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), decision-making roles, and the labour force within the energy industry. By contrast, women in the Global South prioritise visibility for their contributions, access to clean energy, and practical solutions to daily energy poverty. While women globally make up 39 per cent of the workforce in the energy sector, only 16 per cent are engaged in traditional energy sectors, demonstrating a significant disparity in opportunities and inclusion.

For women, daily interactions in energy-deficient households expose them to significant health and environmental risks, underlining the need for tailored strategies by national governments and international partners. This demonstrates that there is a locational gap in understanding the specific contexts and priorities of women across different regions. In the discourse of power and energy, women have been largely overlooked—a discourse shaped by men and for men. Despite women’s direct, primary, and everyday connection with energy, their priorities and concerns remain undermined by the perception of women as ‘private’ actors (contrasted with men as ‘public’ actors), with limited financial and decision-making power. Gender blindness in the energy sector is so pervasive that it presents women as secondary participants and fails to address their practical and strategic needs or include them in planning processes. Ultimately, it is not energy or technology itself that disempowers women, but the economic, political, and social constructs that perpetuate their marginalisation in this sector.

Women in the Discourse of Power and Energy: The Role of Cultural Factors

Women’s everyday relationship with energy has often been overlooked, as men are predominantly associated with the energy sector—its inventions, applications, and role as a cornerstone of modern civilisation. This near invisibility of women in the energy field has advanced a systematic, albeit often unconscious, bias against recognising and promoting their greater involvement. Only recently has attention shifted to women’s contributions to the energy sector, though the landscape remains rife with cultural assumptions that limit their roles.

For instance, despite the much-lauded Asian economic miracle, women in East Asia are still primarily viewed through the lens of biological and domestic duties. In China, pervasive sexism is often described as ‘state-endorsed patriarchy,’ where women are valued for their conformity to traditional roles, and those unmarried by age 27 are stigmatised as ‘worthless’ and ‘leftover women’. Similarly, Japan’s entrenched sexual division of labour idealises women as a ‘good wife, wise mother,’ perpetuating a rigid social hierarchy. In South Korea, about 40 per cent of women are compelled to leave their jobs after marriage, leading to the term ‘career-interrupted women’ as a reflection of the systemic barriers they face.

In Southeast Asia, cultural norms further reinforce gender differences as inherent and immutable. In countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, women are often compelled to face binary choices between feminism and traditional womanhood, or between modernity and tradition. These socially constructed dichotomies promote stereotypes and constrain women’s opportunities, demonstrating the pervasive role of cultural factors in shaping gendered experiences within the energy discourse.  

South Asia fares no better in its treatment of women, with a significant spotlight on gender inequality brought to light by Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen in the 1990s. Sen’s analysis revealed the region was missing 100 million women—approximately 6-11 per cent of the total female population—due to systemic societal inequality and policy discrimination. Despite South Asia producing more female leaders in politics and high-level decision-making roles than many other regions, the everyday realities for women remain deeply challenging. This disparity was strongly highlighted by the prevalence of female feticide, with an estimated 2 million girl children ‘missing’ annually in India and China alone. Similar patterns are observed in Western and Southeast Asia, where deeply ingrained social and cultural norms make survival precarious for girl children.

Women in these regions are often regarded not only as secondary citizens but also as bearers of societal expectations to reproduce the nation and groom future generations for their purported roles within the social hierarchy. These norms are frequently internalised, with older women and mothers acting as the primary gatekeepers of social norms and cultural practices, promoting these inequalities in the name of preserving tradition and culture.

These ideas are also reflected in the way women in power are perceived and portrayed in Asia, where they often embrace feminine identities to appeal to voters. While they compete for power, they do so within the confines of what it means to be a ‘woman’ in their specific cultural contexts. Female political leaders typically promote a conservative, motherly image to reassure voters that they will not cross the socially assigned demarcations of how a woman should be. In the twenty-first century, women in Asia struggle to define an identity that aligns with societal expectations, often vacillating between a ‘modern’ (contemporary) and a ‘traditional’ persona to blend in. Despite living in the age of social media, where the world is only a click away, local demands often override the aspirations of embracing a fully modern life.

In the end, despite coming from diverse historical, political, and cultural backgrounds, women across Asia appear similar—assuming modern roles while still bound by traditional constraints. This has led to a modern version of the Hindu Goddess Durga, who is powerful enough to defeat evil, yet responsible for performing all her duties with her ten hands. She embodies both power and prejudice—women can do it all, so they must, without complaints. In the 21st century, Asian women are certainly acquiring ‘power to’ make individual choices, but they still lack ‘power over’ their social group, where modernity and tradition exist in uncomfortable coexistence.

Energy Displacement and Its Impact on Women

Energy infrastructure projects disproportionately affect women, children, and members of ethnic and indigenous communities, as the needs of local communities are often disregarded in the name of development. Hydropower is often considered as emission-free source of energy and tends to reduce the traditional dependence on fossil fuel and therefore, is chosen as a reliable source for the supply of energy. Decision-makers prioritise larger interests over well-being of affected communities, and women, in particular, bear the brunt of this neglect. When displaced, women and girls experience a different lack of access to energy compared to men and boys, which leads to not only physical dislocation and displacement but also significant disempowerment. It is estimated that around 300 million people are displaced globally due to various development projects, with 80 million directly displaced by dam projects alone. However, the actual figures may be much higher, as countries often hesitate to report accurate numbers, particularly for smaller projects. For example, in China, displacement data is available for 25,000 larger dams, but no data is available for the 800,000 smaller dams constructed. A case in point is the Illisu Dam project in Turkey, which generates only 2 per cent of country’s energy needs, yet has displaced about 78,000 people. Similarly, the Kaptai Dam project in Bangladesh generates only 5 per cent of the country’s electricity but displaced 18,000 families and 100,000 indigenous people, resulting in the loss of irreplaceable ancient and indigenous cultural heritage.

Dam-induced displacement has social, health, security, economic, and environmental repercussions for women, with long-term consequences. Women’s social networks are disrupted, leaving them without the social safety nets that they previously relied on, which can increase their vulnerability to violence. In addition, women are often tasked with collecting firewood, a dangerous activity that exposes them to harassment, rape, and even death leading to terming it as ‘firewood rape’, which is prevalent in rural Africa. For instance, in the Darfur region of Sudan, 500 women were raped while gathering firewood.

Health risks also escalate for displaced women, who face greater exposure to smoke from traditional cooking fires and use of kerosene as a cooking fuel. Regular health check-ups, including screening for breast and cervical cancer, are often unavailable in displacement settings, leaving women vulnerable. The absence of adequate maternal and child health services exacerbates risks for women and children. Women’s practical and strategic gender needs are typically overlooked in these situations. Additionally, as primary caregivers, women face increased exposure to health risks, as evidenced by higher deaths rates among women during the Ebola outbreak. The construction of energy infrastructure rarely takes into account the physical and mental health implications for displaced populations, especially women.

Women’s economic opportunities are severely limited as internally displaced persons (IDPs), as their traditional sources of income and means of sustenance, such as growing vegetables in kitchen gardens, are lost. Displacement leads to the breakdown of family ties, loss of identity, and the erosion of land and income, further exacerbating social and economic vulnerabilities. In these conditions, women are often expected to provide food on the table, regardless of their access to financial resources, leading to malnutrition as they tend to eat whatever is left. Evidence shows that rural women, who often contribute to family income through various traditional and informal earnings, lose these opportunities when displaced. Indigenous women, who traditionally have control over land and resources, lose such rights when displaced to territories governed by different laws.

The flooding caused by dam projects also results in environmental disasters, with both immediate and long-term impacts on families and ecosystems. Women’s lived experiences in energy-deficient, displaced situations are often marked by a sense of desperation, with the need to ‘start over’ complicating their present and future prospects.

The preceding discussion shows how infrastructure projects undervalue the intersectionality between political economy and gender. While women are the primary users of energy, infrastructure projects juxtapose social, economic, health, and environmental issues and thus, create crosscutting implications for women. Women remain invisible to the eyes of the policymakers and thus, became the worst victim of development. The typical understanding of the trickle-down theory assumes that men and communities receiving aid and assistance will also positively impact women, but this does not happen. It rather exacerbates women’s existing disenfranchisement to property rights and the decision-making process, to name a few. Shaping the needs of energy and shaping the disenfranchisements of women often do not go hand in hand, rather can create challenging dynamics for women.

Women as Resilient Actors, Responses, and the Way Forward

Displacements caused by energy-related infrastructure projects or other factors uniquely and significantly affect women. The burdens of being internally displaced often block ideas about how to restart life in a new setting. Despite these challenges, women demonstrate remarkable resilience, both biologically and mentally, as they bring new life and adapt to crises.

However, women’s unique ideas for nature-based solutions in times of crises are often undervalued, dismissed as inexperienced, or overshadowed by a lack of formal education. This raises critical questions: Is it possible to keep women in the dark? Can women truly be kept unaware of the devastating consequences of living in the dark, where men make decisions on their behalf in the name of maintaining established norms? After all, men and women together have built the world as it is, and they have the power to unbuild it—but how? What is required is a new verstehen, a deeper understanding of societal needs and requirements rooted in local contexts, often transcending the constraints of statist boundaries.

Women in displaced conditions do not passively wait for external assistance. Instead, they tend to create networks for survival as a part of their triple roles or burden, unconsciously taking on tasks to provide for their families. Recognising this, some governments are beginning to integrate gender-sensitive solutions into policies for displaced populations. For example, Bangladesh’s National Strategy on the Management of Climate-induced Internal Displacement recognises the need for gender-sensitive shelter homes that respect local cultural sensitivity. The rising trend in the number of female-headed households in Bangladesh, which currently stands to 17.4 per cent, however, is yet to be adequately reflected in developing policing acknowledging the changing nature of households.

Responses to women’s needs, whether from national or international organisations, often remain ad hoc, due to countries’ reluctance to involve international partners. In such situations, local feminist activists play key roles in highlighting community issues, as seen in India’s Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada River Movement). Grassroots activism, involving the local human rights activists, indigenous people, and feminist activists, created a movement that raised national awareness and gained transnational appeal. These smaller, community-driven initiatives often prove more effective than top-down strategies, addressing women’s practical needs and amplifying their voices in policymaking.

Decentralised, small-scale projects also promote accountability and community engagement. For instance, initiatives in parts of Africa and Asia have shown that when women are directly involved in designing and implementing projects, their success rates improve significantly. Efforts such as gender-aware budgeting in Pakistan’s energy sector highlight existing gender gaps and help integrate women into traditionally male-dominated fields. In Southeast Asia, initiatives to involve female community leaders in energy discussions are giving positive results, with Vietnam emerging as a noteworthy example, although not without challenges.

Despite these advancements, social constructions and prejudices about women as the weaker sex persist, limiting their opportunities and contributions. Naila Kabeer’s statement, “Development has been about men, by men, and for men”, aptly reflects the dynamics of the energy sector. Feminist scholars, often in collaboration with local, national and international partners, are working to dispel these myths and document women’s contributions to energy-related and community-building activities.

Women’s resilience and agency in the face of displacement and energy challenges are both undeniable and undervalued. Their contributions, from grassroots activism to policy reform, highlight their potential as agents of inclusive solutions. To drive meaningful change, it is essential to collect and disseminate narratives of women’s experiences, challenging stereotypes and reshaping perceptions of their roles in the energy sector. Achieving gender mainstreaming requires collaborative partnerships among feminist scholars, community leaders, and policymakers, fostering networks that integrate women’s voices into decision-making processes. Using stories of gender mainstreaming in textbooks, teaching leadership encouraging female students to participate, and offering scholarships designed to prevent female students’ drop-outs can be a few systemic-level changes that the state can facilitate in the Global South. Bangladesh introduced stipends to female students at the secondary level in the early 1980s and was highly successful in keeping young women in schools and preventing child marriage. Similarly, the Meena character, originating from Bangladesh, as part of the social awareness-raising program run by UNICEF in the SAARC countries was highly popular and encouraged dispelling gender myths in South Asia. Specific interventions like these can help dismantle systemic barriers and foster inclusive frameworks, which are critical steps toward a future where women’s perspectives shape transformative and sustainable change.

The opinions and statements of the guest authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion and position of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.