Abstract
There is a rich body of scholarship recognizing the important role of women’s collective agency and mobilization for gender equality, inclusive development, and politics. In this paper, we interrogate the relationship between women’s collective agency on the one hand, and its contribution towards women’s equality outcomes on the other, drawing on empirical work undertaken during over 20 years’ fieldwork on women’s collective action in Egypt and complemented with a literature review of women’s collective action globally. A typology is proposed for analyzing women’s collective agency in terms of women’s movements, women in movements, feminist, anti-feminist movements, and gender justice movements, which inform an interpretive framework that explores collective agency and women’s equality outcomes. First, while recognizing the need to avoid reductionist understandings of women’s collective agency exclusively in terms of their agenda on gender equality, this paper argues that collective agency and equality outcomes cannot be entirely disentangled. Second, it suggests that women’s membership and leadership in collective action can have highly varied implications on women’s equality outcomes, both positive and detrimental. The paper concludes with reflections on the implications of the analysis of the relationships between women’s and men’s collective agency for praxis.
Resumé
Nombreuses sont les bourses d’études qui reconnaissent le rôle important de l’action collective et de la mobilisation des femmes en faveur de l’égalité des sexes, du développement inclusif et de la politique. Dans cet article, nous interrogeons la relation entre l'action collective des femmes d'une part, et sa contribution à l'égalité entre femmes et hommes d'autre part, en nous appuyant sur des travaux empiriques entrepris sur le terrain pendant plus de 20 ans sur l'action collective des femmes en Egypte et en les complétant par une revue de la littérature sur l'action collective des femmes dans le monde. Nous proposons une typologie pour analyser l’action collective des femmes en termes de mouvements de femmes, de femmes dans les mouvements, de mouvements féministes, antiféministes et de mouvements pour la justice de genre. Cette typologie vient éclairer un cadre interprétatif qui explore l’action collective et les résultats en matière d’égalité des sexes. Premièrement, tout en reconnaissant la nécessité d’éviter les éclairages réducteurs de l’action collective des femmes, selon lesquels cette action se cantonnerait exclusivement à leur programme sur l’égalité des sexes, cet article fait valoir que l’action collective et les résultats en matière d’égalité des sexes ne peuvent être entièrement dissociés. Deuxièmement, l’article émet l’idée que l’adhésion des femmes à l’action collective ainsi que leur leadership peuvent avoir des implications très diverses en matière d’égalité entre femmes et hommes, à la fois positives et négatives. Cet article se termine par des réflexions sur ce qu’implique l’analyse des relations entre l’action collective des femmes et des hommes dans la pratique.
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Tadros, M. Typology of Women’s Collective Agency In Relation to Women’s Equality Outcomes: Case Studies from Egypt and Beyond. Eur J Dev Res 33, 1930–1951 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-020-00331-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-020-00331-7