imuê

The Women and Economy Institute – imuê – is a Brazilian-based collective of women researchers with long-term bonds with women activists around the country, including teachers and educators, grassroots leaders in rural areas and urban peripheries, and in indigenous and maroon communities. In November 2018, in light of the changing political context that saw an increase in violence against women activists and a growing threat to indigenous and environmental rights, we decided to formalize our ongoing collaboration with women and LGBTQI human rights defenders by founding an institution focused on promoting economic and environmental justice towards women, and advocating for ethnic, racial and gender equality. 

We are an autonomous feminist think tank that aims to collaboratively produce and publicize data and insights on the real economy – not the one theorized in economic models and corporate environments, but the economy as lived on a daily basis by women who are generally considered beneficiaries, but not formulators, of economic development projects. Our research and policy agenda is established through permanent dialogue with our partners, who are grassroots organisations that actively take part in the design and execution of projects. Together, we seek to produce knowledge that help address the issues and threats women face on a daily basis, including feminicide, ethnic and racial genocide, homophobia, racism, and economic inequality. 

Our strategic lines of action are: 

• Building women’s networks. We connect grassroots women’s groups to feminist funding ecosystems, in line with intersectional feminist grant-making principles, and offer institutional support to our partners.

• Producing and circulating knowledge about women’s economic realities through the publication of technical reports and essays by feminist theorists and grassroots activists. 

• Promoting debates on Social Finance and Gender, with emphasis on the importance of social impact investment models to take into account the realities of women in different contexts.