Why is empowerment political?
Reflections from a participant
The international training that took place from May 12th to 16th in the Jugendakademie Walberberg contained a session led by Dorsa and Teresa from breitblick e.V., which explored the concepts of empowerment and powersharing. Terms I had heard before, but never really understood or applied in practice.
Empowerment more than a Buzzword
At first, I associated empowerment mostly with commercialized messages from mainstream media, especially around feminist branding and product marketing. It felt like a buzzword used to sell a lifestyle, not a genuine tool for change.
However, during the session, I realized how wrong that perception was. As Dorsa and Teresa explained, the concept of empowerment is deeply rooted in political resistance, particularly within the civil rights, Black Power and feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s. It originally aimed to give oppressed and marginalized communities the tools and space to take control over their lives and to challenge structural injustices.
This made me reflect on the project’s title: EMPOWEREDby ACTion. The term empowerment isn’t about individual strength or self-esteem; it’s about systemic and structural change. It means addressing and challenging the social, political, and institutional structures that create inequality.
Forced Migration and Structural Inequality
We also discussed forced migration and its many causes such as war, poverty, environmental destruction, and persecution and how the legal frameworks in the EU treat these causes differently. Poverty and climate crisis are not recognized as valid reasons for asylum under EU law. This reveals how laws themselves are not neutral. They reflect the political, historical, and colonial biases of the systems that create them. While Europe grew wealthy through colonial exploitation, countries of the Global South continue to suffer the consequences, and yet their people are denied protection.
To underline the situation of migrants and BIPoC people in general, it is important to recognize that discrimination does not exist without context. It is rooted in the constructed idea of a “superior race,” a belief shaped by colonial history and reinforced by existing power structures. This false hierarchy places those who are not part of the dominant group as less valuable or even as a threat. As long as these racialized systems of superiority continue to shape our societies, exclusion and oppression will persist.
From Empowerment to Powersharing
This systemic imbalance makes empowerment even more essential — but empowerment alone is not enough. The concept of powersharing was introduced as its equivalent. While empowerment comes from the marginalized groups itself, powersharing demands that privileged individuals critically reflect on their own power and consciously use their access, influence, and resources to open space for others.
Powersharing means more than just inviting marginalized people to participate; it means stepping back, giving up space, and challenging the structures from which privileged, and often white people benefit.
Audrey Lorde’s quote says it all: “Your privilege is not a reason for guilt – it is part of your power”.
Safe Spaces and Shared Responsibility
This made me reflect on the structure of the Empowered by ACTion project itself. We need to ask ourselves: Who really participates? Who benefits? Who makes the decisions?
We also discussed the importance of creating safe spaces — not just physically safe, but emotionally and socially safe for marginalized groups. This includes allowing people to speak up voluntarily, without pressure, and recognizing that not everyone feels comfortable participating. Trust grows when boundaries are respected. Empowerment must be about choice, not obligation.
Finally, I realized that as someone with privilege, it’s easy to feel guilt or even freeze, unsure of what to do. But guilt isn’t useful if it stops us from acting. In this project we have the opportunity and responsibility to share power meaningfully, to support real structural change and to ensure our work doesn’t reinforce the injustices we aim to fight.
Written by Lilith Amend
