Capacity For Collective Action Research Articles

Transforming Social Policies and Institutions in a Capability Perspective: Agency, Voice and the Capability to Aspire

ABSTRACT The article suggests that putting the enhancement of capability to aspire and capability for voice centre stage of the design and implementation of social policies would entail a deep-seated transformation of such policies. Based on the receiver-doer-judge framework we explore what conditions are to be fulfilled to implement such a transformation, emphasising how the expansion of objective opportunity and entitlement sets should go hand in hand with an increased subjective sense of opportunity and entitlement. We then turn to examine what such transformed institutions would imply in terms of enhancing individual aspirations and capabilities on the one hand and increasing capacity for collective action and social change on the other one, emphasising the key role of capability for voice in both respects. We show how institutions and policies transformed in such a way would differ from dominant approaches to social policies such as social investment, which endorse a more adaptive approach to social policy. It is also suggested how Freire, Dewey and Khader’s ideas could be useful reference points towards the design and implementation of such transformed institutions.

The eclipse of solidarity: Precarious work, agency and collective action

Precarious work is a growing and alarming phenomenon. This paper analyses two of its distinctive normative features. First, precarity increases the risks workers face, blurring their capacity for prospection and lessening their security in accessing the opportunities associated with their jobs. Second, precarious work challenges workers’ collective action capacity. I will argue that both features threaten workers’ republican freedom. I develop the second point by presenting a conception of solidarity between workers and then showing how precarious work erodes it. On the one hand, when the labour market is dualised, precarity is distributed unevenly and the risks undergone by groups of workers are different. Thus, dual labour markets create a potential conflict of interest between the preferences of different groups, insiders and outsiders. On the other hand, various economic changes hinder workers from acting based on shared purposes due to increased coordination costs. To the extent that workers’ power depends on their bonds and collective action, primarily through unions, the eclipse of their solidarity leaves them powerless and thus increases their domination. Finally, I consider various scenarios that could boost workers’ collective power.

Taxing the informal sector: Coping with Coercion in Bamako, Mali

AbstractMotivationIn recent years, research has shown that informal workers and businesses in low‐income countries are increasingly taxed by the state. While rarely a significant revenue source, informal sector taxation in highly informalized economies affects a large proportion of the working population. Under such circumstances the question of whether taxing informal economic activity either improves or undermines state–society relations are still debated, particularly in the case of fragile states whose tax systems tend to be characterized by a high degree of coercion towards poor actors.PurposePrevious research has tended to focus on tax evasion and how to increase tax compliance in the informal economy. In this article, we aim to explore how informal sector actors in Bamako, Mali, interact with local tax collectors in various ways with varying levels of agency. On this basis, we develop a broader analytical framework for understanding local government–taxpayer relations.Approach and methodsIn a case study of Mali, a fragile state with violent conflict and a highly informalized economy, we made use of qualitative research methods with semi‐structured interviews and focus group discussions with different actors in the informal economy.FindingsWe find four main modes of interaction: (1) “tax evasion,” where individuals evade or minimize their tax obligations; (2) “tax bargaining,” where groups with limited political resources negotiate with local authorities; (3) “forced taxation,” where disadvantaged groups pay taxes without tangible returns or a voice in protest; and (4) “harsh sanctions” faced by those unable to pay or evade taxes. Informal sector actors show a different capacity for collective action impacting their agency vis‐à‐vis state authorities.Policy implicationsThe informal sector needs to be unpacked in fragile states, focusing on understanding existing fiscal pressures on different informal actors and their various strategies for navigating tax systems. Tax administrations should promote dialogue and trust‐building measures and avoid strategies that exacerbate social division and undermine state–society relations.

Social Ecological Systems in Flux

A world in flux confronts the present generation, raising fears of systems gone awry. Whether it is the prospect of runaway climate change or the dangers of unbridled artificial intelligence, these dilemmas suggest that scientific and technological remedies have not been matched by progress in harnessing social and political capacities for collective action. Part of this impasse stems from a gap between the multidimensional nature of contemporary global crises and unidimensional modes of understanding and managing them. In this article, we describe an integrative approach rooted in the paradigm of social ecology that might enable us to tackle these challenges more comprehensively. We discuss, for example, how a social ecological perspective focuses attention not only on the carbon footprint of society but also on the social footprint of carbon. We review the tenets of social ecology and reflect on its promise for spurring new modes of collaborative research and collective action, including more effective strategies for planetary governance.

Collective action dilemmas of sustainable natural resource management: A case study on land marketization in rural China

Sustainable natural resource management encompasses not only technical aspects but also the capacity and inclination for collective action. Using semi-structured interview data and social network analysis, this paper assesses the characteristics of three elements of social capital (norms, communication networks, and trustworthiness) and their effects on collective action, in the context of the marketization of rural collectively-owned operating construction land (COCL) in Dingluan Town, Henan Province, China. The results reveal that villagers possess a superficial understanding of compensation schemes at the normative-level analysis, impeding effective collective decision-making. Communication network analysis exposes strong ties that may impede collective action if only information flows within villages. In contrast, weak ties serve as vital bridges promoting marketization. Additionally, we observe that groups with strong ties rely more on key actors for accurate calls to action, underscoring the importance of trustworthiness. More importantly, the results point to three dilemmas regarding land marketization in rural China: cognitive bias of norms, challenges in expressing stakeholders’ demands, and crisis of trust among key actors. We further highlight trust as a potent means of breakthrough to address these dilemmas rooted in normative, communicative, and trust-related aspects that present formidable challenges to collective action. These results provide important insights for trust-building strategies for researchers and policy promoters to solve the collective action dilemma in environmental management.

Towards an understanding of how school climate strikes work as public pedagogy

PurposeSchool climate strikes are opening spaces of appearance, becoming differently active forms of public pedagogy where new and previously unthought collective climate action is possible. This inquiry contributes to understanding school climate strikes as important forms of climate justice activism by exploring how they work as public pedagogy.Design/methodology/approachThe inquiry process involved poetic inquiry to produce an affective poetic witness statement to an event of school climate strikes, and then a performative enactment of diffractive reading using the poem created. The diffractive reading is used to conceptualise school climate strikes as public pedagogy and move towards an understanding of how school climate strikes work as public pedagogy. Diffused throughout is the question of where the more-than-human fits in public pedagogy and youth climate justice activism.FindingsSchool climate strikes are dynamic and differently acting (diffracting) public pedagogies that work by open spaces of appearance that enable capacities for collective action in heterogeneous political spaces. Consideration of entanglements and intra-actions between learner, place, knowledge and climate change are productive in understanding how phenomena work as public pedagogy.Originality/valueThis inquiry extends on important considerations in both climate change education and public pedagogy scholarship. It diffuses consideration of the more-than-human throughout the inquiry and enacts a move beyond the humanist limits of existing public pedagogy scholarship by introducing climate intra-action, heterogeneous political spaces and non-conforming learning to an understanding of activist public pedagogies and the educative agent.

Farmer knowledge as formal knowledge: A case study of farmer-led research in Ontario, Canada

Farmer-led research (FLR) is a process of inquiry wherein farmers use scientific methods to address their own on-farm curiosities and challenges in ways that are compatible with the scale and man­agement style of their operations. With its flexible, adaptable, participatory, grassroots-oriented nature, FLR has typically been employed by farmers interested in ecological farming techniques and technol­ogies, and evidence shows that it contributes to the adoption and improvement of ecological manage­ment practices across a range of contexts. Engage­ment in FLR initiatives has also been linked to pos­itive social outcomes, including community-building, farmer empowerment, and enhanced capacity for leadership and collective action. In this paper, we present a case study of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s (EFAO) Farmer-Led Research Program (FLRP), which is currently one of relatively few FLR initiatives in North America. We draw on data from a participatory, mixed-methods research project. Our results high­light how the FLRP is enabling farmers to feel more knowledgeable, confident, motivated, and inspired to adopt and/or improve ecological prac­tices on their farms, in part by supporting them in building robust social networks that align with their farming values and priorities.

How Personalist Parties Undermine State Capacity in Democracies

How do political parties shape state capacity? We argue that democratic leaders backed by personalist parties are more likely than other leaders to undermine impartial state administration. Personalist parties are those where the leader has more control over the party than other senior party elites. Elites in these parties have careers closely tied to the leader, are unlikely to normatively value an impersonal bureaucracy, and lack collective action capacity independent from the leader. Therefore, personalist parties are less likely than other parties to restrain leaders from undermining impartial state administration. Results from various designs for causal inference show that party personalism decreases impersonal state administration, particularly when the party controls a legislative majority. However, party personalism does not influence other dimensions of state capacity, such as fiscal capacity or territorial control. The findings have implications for how political parties enable democratically elected leaders to erode open-access societies and ultimately, democracy.

Self-Help, Natality and ‘Civic Growth’

This paper examines the role that SHGs (self-help groups) have played in the creation of ‘civic growth’ and changing electoral politics in India. Based on ethnographic engagement in a village in West Bengal before and after the formation of these groups, the impact of the transformative effect of these groups on women is placed in a wider political context. The activity of the SHG enabled horizontal solidarities to emerge despite the vertical divisions in village society and successfully challenge the status quo. It builds on a growing literature on women’s empowerment and capacity for collective action through SHGs to show that the notion of ‘empowerment’ can be extended to include the capability for active citizenship and skills in how to do politics, what Arendt calls ‘natality’.

Al-ʿUcha

<i>Al-ʿUcha</i>

Democratic responsibility in the digital public sphere

Democratic responsibility in the digital public sphere

Climate Change and UNESCO World Heritage-Listed Cultural Properties: A Systematic Review, 2008–2021

Underpinned by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 Statement, this systematic review analyses 58 peer-reviewed articles published during 2008–2021 and retrieved from Scopus and Google Scholar that address the relationship between climate change and UNESCO World Heritage-listed cultural properties. The review reveals a suite of observations that will be important to consider for future research, including: the significant increase in publications since 2008; the prevalence of scholarship focused on the region of Europe and North America; the diversity of research methods and approaches; the instances of climate change hazards; the numerous adaptation measures and barriers. The study also showcases a much greater scholarly concentration on natural sites compared to cultural sites, observing that a reliance on a nature/culture binary does not bode well for the effective safeguarding of cultural World Heritage sites. This article also highlights the need for greater representation from the Global South in terms of both geographic focus and authorship, the lack of collaboration between Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Humanities, Arts and Social Science (HASS) disciplines, the capacity for collective action from different stakeholders, the importance of intangible elements, and the effects of both international and national legal frameworks and regulations.

The communicative constitution of atomization: online prepper communities and the crisis of collective action

AbstractAs environmental and societal crises increase in numbers, severity, and urgency, online forums for so-called “doomsday preppers” have seen a concomitant surge in membership. Beginning from the perspective of communicative constitution of organization, we explore the sociotechnical communities that emerge on such forums. Methodologically, we use netnographic observations to show that online prepper communities are organizational, in the sense of being networks of communicative episodes that use common narratives to build identities around material objects and physical practices. However, the online prepper communities do not move from the enactment of organization to acting as organizations. This observation leads us to conceptualize online prepper communities as atomizations whose communicative constitution does not entail a capacity for collective action, but only manifests the similarity of disparate individuals. The communicative constitution of atomization, we argue, is symptomatic of an underlying social logic, which promotes individualized responses to collective problems.

No one stands alone: partnerships for community resilience

Organisations included in social partnerships jointly address the gaps in their society and community. Community-based social partnerships are based on the principles of self-organisation, yet logistically, this can bring many challenges. This study therefore focuses on the logistical aspects of a community-based social partnership in Greece and the contribution of this partnership to community resilience. The role of community-based logistical activities in building community resilience has been studied. An in-depth qualitative study of a particular community-based social partnership was conducted, with interviews across all partner organisations and secondary data from publicly available documents. Logistical activities are performed mainly by the membership base of various non-governmental organisations in a manner of self-organised “collective action”. Interestingly, community resilience refers to a capacity for collective action; hence, organising logistical activities in this fashion ultimately contributes to community resilience.

Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil

Irrigation enables crop intensification and improves the smallholder’s household livelihood. Centre pivot irrigation, a system predominantly used in medium to large individual farms, has recently been promoted for smallholder collective irrigation in developing countries. The objective of this research was to assess the irrigation performance and evolution of shared centre pivot systems at the Itamarati Rural Settlement in the Midwest of Brazil, where around 1000 smallholders were organized in small groups between 2001 and 2004, to farm 85 centre pivots collectively. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in a mixed-approach, and used to characterize the evolution and sustainability of the centre pivots shared. We collected information from published and unpublished reports, and we conducted our own surveys, interviewing twenty-five farm groups and forming focus groups in a 3-year phased process. Irrigation intensity (the ratio of irrigated area over the area equipped for irrigation) declined sharply from 0.75 in 2004/2005–0.12 in 2020. The immediate pressures triggering the abandonment process were: the farmers’ insufficient technical capability, low productivity of the irrigated crops, and high operational and maintenance costs. At the root of these drivers was the incapacity to exert the collective action required by the highly centralized shared centre pivot system. The progressive giving up of collective management and the concentration of land in larger farms seems to be inexorable. The Itamarati experience was a paradigm of a top-down project whose lessons are important for policymakers. We concluded that centralized collective systems are unsustainable unless the community that adopts them has a high sense of union and a capacity for collective action.

Gender-based differences in access to and use of loans from rural credit programs for flood adaptation in the farming-dependent char communities of Bangladesh

Recent research on gendered access to credit shows that while women borrowers bear the liability of rural credit programs, the proceeds are often directly invested by their male partners. This paper examines loan access and flood adaptation-related investment activities among char female borrowers. Primary data from a survey of female respondents in 129 households and qualitative data from 6 key informant interviews, 3 focus group discussions, and 18 in-depth interviews reveal that women have limited control over loan investment activities. Men's financial control undermines positive social externalities of women's adaptive capacity from loan use, and loans exacerbate households' gender-related tensions. Although loans foster women's capacity for collective action and flood adaptation, the nexus of gender and microcredit access between partners determines women's access to and use of credit. Further research should investigate how institutions can increase equitable access to loans to improve both men and women's adaptive capacity to natural hazards.

Community Mobilization is Associated with HIV Testing Behaviors and Their Psychosocial Antecedents Among Zambian Adults: Results from a Population-Based Study.

Community mobilization (CM) is a vital yet under-explored avenue for increasing HIV testing in generalized HIV epidemic settings. Using multi-stage cluster sampling, a population-based sample of 3535 Zambian adults (mean age: 28years, 50% women) were recruited from 14 districts to complete a household survey. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to re-validate a 23-item, 5-factor CM scale. Multivariable logistic and Poisson regression were then used to identify associations of CM with HIV testing behaviors and their psychosocial antecedents. A 21-item, 3-factor ("Leadership", "Collective Action Capacity", and "Social Cohesion") CM solution emerged from EFA (Cronbach's α 0.88). Among men and in rural settings, higher CM was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with elevated odds of HIV testing and more past-year HIV testing discussion sources, controlling for socio-demographics and sexual behaviors. Results underscore the importance of prioritizing CM to cultivate more favorable environments for HIV testing uptake, especially for men and rural residents.

The Importance of Institutional Capacity and Negotiation Capacity in Affordable Housing Agreements: The Potential for Collective Action in Melbourne, Australia

ABSTRACT New legislation was introduced in 2018 in Victoria, Australia to encourage the negotiation of affordable housing agreements. This change resulted in the expansion of formal and informal mechanisms for cross-sectoral affordable housing delivery. In this paper we draw on 20 interviews with housing stakeholders, focusing on the process of negotiation. We propose a novel theoretical framework to interpret capacity for collective action in a loosely regulated policy area, combining insights from negotiation theory and Institutional Capacity Development (ICD) literature. We find widespread concerns about the opaque, inefficient and potentially exploitative nature of outcomes. We also find that agreements varied across projects based on levels of trust; access to information; political capital; capacity for mutual gain; and the presence of shared rules for interacting. We conclude that competition-based negotiations may lead to increased institutional capacity while also highlighting the challenges of housing delivery in the context of institutional uncertainty.

Urban spatial politics and collective action in revolutionary Cairo: Counter spaces and paradoxes of mobilisation

This article centres the role of Cairo's popular forces in the 2011 revolutionary Uprising in Egypt. It does so by bringing to focus the relationship between these forces' everyday spatial practices and forms of contention, on one hand, and revolutionary activism and protests in central places like Tahrir Square, on the other. It demonstrates that everyday life in popular neighbourhoods of Cairo is constitutive of a political domain in which ordinary citizens cultivate resources, dispositions and capacities for collective action and mobilisation of the kind witnessed in the January Uprising. It also shows how the lived experiences of ordinary citizens in the city's popular neighbourhoods are formative of the oppositional subjectivities enacted in the context of this revolutionary mobilisation.The article identifies and illuminates two primary paradoxes of revolutionary mobilisation. The two paradoxes arise out of a disjuncture between modalities of action pursued by Tahrir-oriented revolutionary activists (al-thuwwar) on one hand, and popular forces' tactics, strategies and conception of the Revolution, on the other. Tracing the engagement of popular forces in the context of the Uprising, this contribution reveals that in enacting their oppositional subjectivities popular forces articulated their own conception of the Revolution. More specifically, the article expounds on how they did so by shifting the locale of revolutionary action from Tahrir Square to Cairo's streets and popular neighbourhoods, and by widening acts of urban insurgency to advance rights claims to the city.

Communal processes of health and well-being for rangelands research and practice

• Integrated social-ecological research is crucial for the development and assessment of sustainable agricultural production that supports health and well-being for producers, rural communities, and agroecosystems. • One challenge for integration is that commonly used concepts like ecosystem services do not represent all environmental processes that support or degrade health and well-being. • Social change processes also impact health and well-being. Here we focus on a core, and often underrepresented example—communal processes. • Communal processes include social interactions for a common interest or purpose, or for deliberation and decision-making about a shared locality. • Many (but not all) communal processes foster relationships that strengthen a community's capacity for collective action while helping individuals and families cope with environmental stressors. • Research on communal processes of health and well-being complements research on ecosystem services and agricultural production to better represent social-ecological interdependencies and strengthen interdisciplinary approaches to rangelands research.