Social development or marketing: A discourse analysis of female borrowers in Lahore Pakistan

The MFOs espoused marketing approach for financial sustainability over shadows development agenda. Originally community-based organizations were designed to bring lender-borrower closer for socio-economic development is now used to identify customers with repaying capacity. The MFOs derived international financial organizations’ financial sustainability discourse remains predominant and community organizations are means to develop relationship building for commercial goals. The interdisciplinary study uses interpretive methodology, discourse analysis and case method, interviewing 120 female borrowers individually and collectively in a more than 120 hours juxtaposing MFOs, and international financial organizations discourse with the borrowers’ text. The findings show there is a mismatch between stated social development goals and microloans only meet social and consumption needs. The study suggests MFOs dual strategy does not serve social development goals and there is need to pursue either goals.