Research Series Issue 29 - Empowering through collective action

This paper explores the conditions for collective action to generate inclusion when agriculture transforms.

The analysis finds that changes related to agricultural transformation have often led to urban migration for those rural and agricultural populations that could not cope with “modernization.”

In the coming decades, agricultural transformation in rural areas may lead to more varied responses such as new farming patterns including more labour and thus require a broader diversity of collective action.  

Based on a range of theoretical and empirical references, the analysis proposes a framework that goes beyond sector-oriented perspectives, linking several interconnected domains where collective action can contribute towards inclusion.

The paper also explores how to operationalize this collective action framework. It concludes that at stake is the ability of research and policymaking to support initiatives that cut across sectoral frontiers, favour interactions that open local people up to new ideas and beliefs, and look to bridge gaps in social status and between local and global thinking.