This document presents a conceptual framework for analyzing collective action through a gender lens. It defines key concepts like collective action, gender, and an analytical framework. The framework examines how the context, action arena (including actors, action resources, rules, bargaining power, and motivation), and outcomes can be analyzed through a gendered approach. It provides examples of questions to ask about how gender may influence motivations for collective action, group effectiveness, and impacts on gender relations. The goal is to help identify entry points for supporting gender equitable collective action.

1. INTERNATIONAL FOOD
POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty
Gender and Collective Action:
AC
Conceptual F
t l Framework f A l i
k for Analysis
Ruth Meinzen Dick Lauren Pandolfelli,
Meinzen-Dick, Pandolfelli
Stephan Dohrn, Jessica Athens
CGIAR System-Wide Program on
Collective Action and Property Rights

2. Devolving resource management
to user groups
Page 2

3. Devolving resource management
to user groups
Page 3

4. Page 4

5. Overview
 Collective Action (CA) and Gender
 Why Are We Looking at Motivation,
Effectiveness,
Effectiveness and Impact?
 The Analytical Framework
 Motivations f engaging in CA: The
for C
Action Arena
 Effectiveness of CA: Outcomes
 Impacts of CA on Gender Relations
p
 Conclusions Page 5

6. Collective Action
 “Action taken by a group (either
Action
directly or on its behalf through an
organization) in pursuit of members’
members
perceived shared interest” (Marshall
998)
1998).
 Includes forming and enforcing rules
for use (or non-use) of resources
 Voluntary (not paid or forced)
Page 6

7. Importance of Collective Action
 Management of natural resources
• Irrigation, watersheds, rangelands, fisheries esp.
under devolution
 Facilitates joint investment by small farmers
 Dissemination of technologies
 Marketing
 Group empowerment
 Protecting property rights
 Development policies premised on CA
• e.g. microfinance, CDD, women’s self-help groups
Page 7

8. Defining Gender
 Socially constructed roles associated with
being male or female
 Roles vary among cultures and over time
 S
Sources of gender roles include:
f
• Institutional arrangements
• Legal and governance structures
• Socio cultural attitudes
• Religion
 Differences within categories of men and
women (class, race, ethnicity…)
Page 8

9. Why are we looking at gender and
collective action?
Group formation, g p dynamics
p , group y
and power relations are crosscut by
gender
• Gender roles influence access, use,
control, and benefits of resources
• G d diff
Gender-differentiated roles within
ti t d l ithi
groups
• Women often invisible, yet key users
invisible
• Many gender-related programs
p
premised on collective action
Page 9

10. 3 Entry Points for a Gendered
Analysis of Collective Action
 M ti ti
Motivations f engaging in collective
for i i ll ti
action
 Effectiveness of groups
 Impact on Gender Equity
p q y
Page 10

11. Context Action Arena
The Analytical Framework
Context Action Arena
Physical/
Technical Actors Patterns of
Patterns of
(Preferences)
Interaction
Interaction
Socio-economic Motivation
incl. property rights Action Social •• Collective
Collective
and organizational Resources Bargaining •• Individual
Individual
Bargaining
environment Power
Legal and Rules
governance
Outcomes
O t
Outcomes
O t
Page 11

12. Initial Conditions: Gender
Differentiated…
 Asset Endowments
• The six capitals—Natural, Physical, Financial,
Human, Social, Political
• Property rights (bundles of rights)
 Vulnerability to Shocks
• W
Women often bear the burden of crisis
ft b th b d f i i
situations (e.g. structural adjustment policies)
 Norms Legal Structures and Power
Norms, Structures,
Relations
• Gender relations, gender roles
,g
• Governance systems
Page 12

13. Actors
 Individuals (men or women), or
collective entities, including mixed or
single sexed
single-sexed community groups,
NGOs and government.
 Internal or external actors
 Change agents can influence other
actors Action Arena
Actors
Action Social
Resources Bargaining
Page 13
Rules

14. Action Resources
 Assets: Physical, Financial, Natural,
y , , ,
Social, Political
 Human Capital
p
• Not only education and health
• Information and the ability to process it
y
• Cognitive schemata and mind sets
• Social prestige and habitus
Action Arena
• Time
Actors
• Decision-making behavior
Action Social
Resources Bargaining
Rules Page 14

15. Rules
 Rules affect which action resources
are important
 Depend on the subject of analysis
 Written and unwritten
Action Arena
A ti A
Actors
Action Social
Resources Bargaining
Page 15
Rules

16. Bargaining Power
 The actor’s ability to engage in social
bargaining in a given context based
on one’s action resources and the
rules
 Varies by:
• Type of interaction or transaction
(multiple levels and id titi )
( lti l l l d identities)
• Fallback options (asset endowments,
legal and normative framework) A ti A
Action Arena
• Prior bargaining experiences Actors
Motivation
Social
Action
Bargaining
Bargaining
Resources
Power
Rules Page 16

17. Motivations
 The actor’s willingness to engage in
actor s
the bargaining process based on
his/her preferences, action resources,
and the rules
 The perceived bargaining power also
influences the actor’s motivations.
Action Arena
A ti A
Actors
Motivation
Social
Action
Bargaining
Bargaining
Resources
Power
Rules Page 17

18. So What? Key Questions to Ask
 Do women and men have different preferences?
 How do their asset endowments differ?
 How does gender determine an actor’s ability to
use his or her asset endowments?
 Do the rules strategically favor men vs. women?
How?
 H
How d women and men perceive th d
do d i the degree t to
which collective action will fit their preferences?
 What is the subject of the bargaining?
 How can external institutions affect the bargaining
position of the poor?
Page 18

19. Effectiveness of CA
What difference does gender make in
achieving th objectives of th group?
hi i the bj ti f the ?
 Criteria to measure effectiveness
(conflicts, income, satisfaction of being a
member, compliance)
• Whose criteria—internal or external?
• Short term or long term?
 How can gender composition affect
effectiveness?
• Composition of groups
• Roles within groups
• Rules affect ability to participate effectively
Page 19

20. Effectiveness of CA--Hypotheses
CA Hypotheses
 If women and men are both involved (e.g.
( g
as users of resource), important to have
both participate in CA
 More gender segregation, inequality 
higher transaction costs of including both
men and women, may t k l
d take longer t
to
establish
 Tapping into different action resources of
men and women can contribute to
effectiveness of groups
Page 20

21. So What: Key Questions on
Effectiveness
 How could gender analysis help make collective
action more effective?
 What stakes do men and women have in
outcomes?
 Wh t roles do women and men play i
What l d d l in
management of resource and of group (formal,
informal)?
 What action resources are critical? How are they
distributed between men, women?
 How do explicit, implicit rules affect ability of men,
women to participate?
 How does participation of men, women in
decision-making affect compliance, cooperation in
activities?
Page 21

22. Impacts on Gender Relations
 Measures of impact (both qualitative
and quantitative):
• distribution of income; social and political
inclusion; time savings; vulnerability to
shocks, etc.
,
 Levels of impact:
• Gender relations within the household
• Gender relations within the group
• Group within the community
• Community vis-à-vis the outside Page 22

23. Key Questions to Ask on Impact
 What types of impact can be observed? How can
these be measured? Are they always
empowering, and to whom?
 Which factors within the initial context and action
arena facilitate or hinder impact on gender equity?
 How can (poor) women and men increase their
ability to bargain? Through collective action?
 What are some strategies for using collective
action to stimulate gender-equitable change
processes (e.g. increasing women’s action
resources,
resources changing the rule set)?
 Are their tradeoffs between effectiveness for a
bounded goal and impact in terms of gender
equity?
Page 23

24. What is the Value of this
Framework?
 Helps external institutions identify
entry points
 Clarifies linkages to certain outcomes
we observe in the world
 Provides a dynamic way of analyzing
CA through a gender lens (institutions
+ rules + actors create gendered
patterns of interaction)
Page 24