Identity and injustice: Exploring women's participation in collective action

Abstract

The present study is an investigation into the social psychological factors associated with women's reported participation in a range of different types of political action in the context of gender relations. At time 1,610 women were asked to rate their readiness to participate in various actions and to provide measures of social beliefs. Factor analysis extracted four types of action: participation in women's groups, collective protest, informal participation, and individual protest. One year later, at time 2, a subgroup of the same women were asked to say how much they had actually participated over the previous 12 months. Reported participation was related to gender identity, collective relative deprivation, efficacy, collectivist orientation, and identification as an activist. Regression analysis showed that identification as an activist was by far the most powerful correlate of participation, followed by gender identity; and that gender identity also played a role in moderating relationships between reported participation and other predictor variables. These findings show the important role of identity processes underlying participation in collective action and suggest the need to develop interaction models of participation.Key words: Collective action, social identity, relative deprivation, efficacy, collectivist orientation, gender identity.The last few years in Britain has seen a dramatic increase in the number and scope of single-issue pressure groups and campaigns attempting to bring about social change in the area of gender relations. A directory published in 1991 lists over 400 women's groups and campaigns, spanning such diverse areas as work and employment, health and childbirth, party politics, and the media (The Women's Directory, 1991). A number of professions have women's groups (e.g. Women in Medicine, Women in Management, Women in Publishing), whose aims include promoting equal opportunities and helping women to combat the so-called 'glass ceiling' in career progression, and many political parties and trade unions have women's sections. Alongside these larger organizations are a multitude of small single-issue women's groups (e.g. Women for Safe Transport, Women for Peace, Justice for Women).What are the social psychological factors associated with activism in such groups and how do these factors compare with the correlates of other forms of political

Enabling Equitable Collective Action and Policy Change for Poverty Reduction and Improved Natural Resource Management in the Eastern African Highlands

“…Scholars have looked at the role of collective action in enhancing farmer participation and human capital (Coleman, 1988;Heinrich, 1993; Uphoff and Mijayaratna, 2000; Woolock and Narayan, 2000); determinants and operational principles of collective action (Ostrom, 1990;Pandey and Yadama, 1990; Wittapayak and Dearden, 1999); and the conditions under which collective action can be a vehicle for enhancing equity in natural resource management (Kelly and Breinlinger, 1995;Leach et al, 1999;Molyneux, 2002). Yet the bulk of research on collective action is in the context of common property resources (Gebremedhin et al, 2002; Munk Ravnborg and Ashby, 1996; Ostrom 1990; Scott and Silva-Ochoa, 2001).…”

Why can’t we all just get along? A social psychological examination of women’s intra-gender hostility

“…Madeleine Albright's ire toward women who fail to support each other is not entirely unwarranted. There is evidence that women's intra-gender hostility predicts poorer interpersonal relationships with other women (Cowan & Ullman, 2006) and lower collective action intentions (Kelly & Breinlinger, 1995). Intra-gender hostility also has the potential to reinforce prejudicial attitudes toward women, as criticisms of women by women are perceived as more credible than men's criticisms of women (Sutton, Elder, & Douglas, 2006) and are less likely to be identified as gender biased (Baron, Burgess, & Kao, 1991).…”

“…On the one hand, it may be that the unique identity pressures women face and their internalisation of patriarchal attitudes undermine their propensity for ingroup solidarity. This in turn may reinforce unequal status outcomes between men and women, as women's sense of connection to and concern for other women predicts greater engagement in actions to improve women's status and opportunities (Kelly & Breinlinger, 1995), while women's ingroup denigration perpetuates prejudicial attitudes against their gender (Baron et al, 1991;Sutton et al, 2006). Alternatively, it may be that women who experience greater animosity toward other women feel that their group's lower status position is deserved.…”

“…These associations suggest that the unique identity pressures women face as a lower status group play a role in maintaining intra-gender hostility, which may, in turn, serve to undermine the potential for solidarity and collective action (Kelly & Breinlinger, 1995). For…”

“…This indicates that the identity pressures they face as a lower status group are uniquely related to their negative ingroup attitudes, and confirms the importance of examining how women's intra-gender hostility may reinforce their disadvantaged position. Thus, the unique identity pressures women face as a lower status group play a role in maintaining intra-gender hostility, which may, in turn, serve to undermine the potential for solidarity and collective action (Kelly & Breinlinger, 1995).…”