Collective Action,Envisioning the Future and Women’s Self-help Groups: A Case Study from South India

Abstract

In this article, I discuss women’s perceptions of and experiences with self-help groups and collective action in two agricultural communities in Tamil Nadu, India. Focusing on women’s social and political activities, particularly in terms of the struggle for the approval and construction of a new road, I argue that in these communities, self-help groups offered a conceptual space that encouraged collective actions, and contributed to processes of change in the ways women perceived and experienced their personal power and their social positions within their households and communities. I demonstrate how these groups offered a way for members to add their voices to political struggles and articulate their visions of the future, even as they recognised everyday gender inequities.

Keywords

Self-help groups collective action women gender south India

Introduction

In this article, I offer a reflexive account of the ways women talked about the existence of, their participation in, and the impact of self-help groups (SHGs) in two communities in Tamil Nadu, particularly in terms of their everyday and political lives. Women accessed SHGs for economic activities, but while I was working in these communities, the groups were also sites for collective political action, particularly in terms of the struggle for a new road to the lowlands. I focus on these social and political activities, and I argue that even as women experienced everyday inequalities, in this specific time and locale SHGs offered a conceptual space for collective action and processes of change in the ways women perceived and experienced their personal power within households and communities. SHGs also contributed to women’s sense of agency in articulating visions of the future of their communities.

I first provide some background on SHGs and their critiques in India, discuss methodology and offer context about the research communities. I then address gender norms in the area, and women’s perceptions and experiences of everyday gender inequality. Finally, I explore women’s thoughts on the role and potential of SHGs tools to facilitate collective action and subsequently articulate a vision for the future. I focus on women’s voices and thoughts in order to demonstrate the dynamic and shifting nature of social change and processes of empowerment.

Women’s SHGs in India typically consist of 10–20 women and may be facilitated by overarching non-government organisations (NGOs) (some religious, some secular) or government agencies. There are some overall similarities in the ways groups are organised and run (see Garikipati, 2013), but the nature of group activities is variable depending on the facilitating organisation (see Desai & Joshi, 2013 for a good overview of SEWA-affiliated SHGs, for example). Economic empowerment and poverty reduction are key rationales for microcredit, savings and self-employment activities for individuals or SHGs¹ in India and elsewhere (Ackerly, 1995; Chari-Wagh, 2009; Deininger & Liu, 2009; Drolet, 2009, 2010; Nader, 2008; Nair, 2005; Reddy & Manak, 2005), and the Indian government’s (Ministry of Rural Development) National Rural Livelihood Mission, announced in 2011, involves working with SHGs and NGOs to address rural poverty (Desai & Joshi, 2013). It is assumed that the economic activities of SHGs will contribute to women’s economic, and consequently, social and political empowerment, although many have critiqued these assumptions, as well as the way empowerment is defined and measured (Banerjee & Ghosh, 2012; Chari-Wagh, 2009; Desai & Joshi, 2013; Garikipati, 2013; Kabeer, 2001a; Karim & Law, 2013; Nader, 2008; Worthen, 2012).

Economic activities, however, are not always the sole focus of groups. SHGs as venues for collective action also have the potential to contribute social, political and health improvements, empowering women in social, economic, political and community realms. Empowerment, a ‘multidimensional process involving challenging existing power relationships and inequalities at different interlinked levels’ (Mayoux, 2003, p. 10), takes place ‘when women challenge the existing social norms and culture, to effectively improve their well-being’ (Swain & Wallentin, 2009, p. 541), in turn expanding and enhancing everyday agency (Kabeer, 2001b, p. 19; Tesoriero, 2006, p. 323). Sangeetha, Bahal, Singh and Venkatesh (2013, pp. 60–61) have considered four dimensions of empowerment—economic, political, psychological and social. These dimensions address monetary decision-making and control, participation in political processes, changes in aspiration, confidence and communication skills, and level of involvement in group meetings and decision-making activities.

There are a range of potential benefits arising from SHG membership and participation. Although these benefits are tied to providing poor women with access to resources they otherwise would be unable to mobilise, part of the transformative potential of SHGs comes from a bottom-up approach that inherently requires the inclusion of women’s experiences and participation for success (Tesoriero, 2006, p. 331). Thus, as Tesoriero (2006, p. 321) points out, although economic empowerment is important, analyses of SHGs must also consider ‘the changing position of women members, collectively, within broader social and political contexts’. Natarajan (2005), for example, argues that locally developed strategies that recognise and engage with locally specific dimensions of poverty can allow for empowerment via systemic changes to social inequities. In her discussion of the work of one NGO (which worked primarily via women’s SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh, she notes that ‘the approach, method, strategies, and solutions used … to alleviate rural poverty are based on local needs, narratives, ecology, technology, and institutions’ (Natarajan 2005, p. 414), and that such a local strategy ‘allows discovery in people to “produce” their own future’ (ibid, p. 416).

Examples of such future production outcomes may include improvements in women’s perceptions of dimensions of empowerment and social inclusion. Sangeetha et al.’s (2013) study of 18 SHGs in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, found that group members were more socially, economically, politically and psychologically empowered than non-group members from the same communities. Swain and Wallentin’s (2009) study of measures of microfinance and empowerment among SHG and non-group households in five Indian states found an increase in direct and indirect empowerment effects among SHG members, although they are careful to note that all women will not become empowered at the same rate/to the same degree. In Mysore district, Karnataka, Khatibi and Indira (2011) connect women’s SHGs and empowerment with watershed development and management, while Lombe, Newransky, Kayser and Raj (2012) found that among widows in Tamil Nadu, association with SHGs and access to microfinance lessened feelings of social exclusion and helped to build connections among vulnerable women. In some cases where SHGs operate, there may be social and economic improvements even for non-group members (Deininger & Liu, 2009).

Several other analyses have demonstrated some of the potential concrete outcomes from participation in SHGs. Deininger and Liu’s (2009) analysis of SHGs in Andhra Pradesh found, among other things, an improvement in nutritional status among SHG participants, although there were differences in the nature of these improvements depending on whether participants were part of new SHGs, or pre-existing SHGs that were brought into a six-district-wide poverty initiatives project. Vijayanthi (2002), in her analysis of SHGs and environmental sanitation projects in urban Chennai, found numerous benefits to women belonging to groups, including increased awareness of the importance of environmental sanitation, improved health and more freedom to make decisions about education and housing issues.

While the expansion of SHGs as a way to reduce poverty and gender inequalities may be strongly advocated by policy makers (Kumar, 2007), research has highlighted the range of social and economic contexts that can determine whether SHGs will contribute to meaningful, sustainable poverty reduction and empowerment for women. For example, inadequate attention to local, sociocultural landscape issues of caste and class can weaken the potential benefits of SHGs (Kumar, 2007; see also Kayser, Lombe, Newransky, Tower, & Raj, 2010). In their study of why SHGs fail in West Bengal, Lahiri-Dutt and Samanta (2006) note that lack of attention to caste and class differences, a lack of trust in leadership and poor information flow and poor communication among group members may impede a group from acting with true cohesiveness. The importance of building and maintaining trust within groups, and between groups and organising NGOs, is reinforced by Sabhlok’s (2011) work in Haryana and Karnataka, where she found that a breakdown in trust resulted in groups becoming defunct or meaningless.

In addition, there is some evidence that SHGs can have negative impacts for women. For example, Jakimow and Kilby (2006) point out that groups can place the burden of social change on women themselves, while downplaying the role of the state in ensuring and enforcing basic human rights and equity; moreover, too much focus on microcredit activities may cripple ‘creativity and commitment’ to other collective actions that could improve women’s lives (Kannabiran, 2005, p. 3717). Microcredit lending systems may not be flexible enough to meet women’s specific needs (Premchander, 2003), especially when repayment policies and/or peer pressure contribute to cycles of poverty and debt (Augsburg & Fouillet, 2010; see also Garikipati, 2013; Morgan & Olsen, 2012). Thus, when it comes to addressing poverty and inequity, access to adequate nutrition, health and education are also central to realising positive social change (Kannabiran, 2005; see also Chari-Wagh, 2009; Kumar, 2007).

The critiques of SHGs in India therefore tend to highlight poor planning, poor understanding of social contexts and/or structural realities, and a lack of flexibility on the part of sponsoring or microcredit organisations. As is the case with other types of development and community projects (see, for example, Kumar & Corbridge, 2002), attention must be paid to ‘local specificities’ (Lahiri-Dutt & Samanta, 2006, p. 292), and this requires a clear understanding of community dynamics and composition. When this is the case, women may have opportunities to collectively influence community and household activities in new and/or more robust ways. With this in mind, I provide an example of the ways women conceptually connected SHGs with changes in their social positions (Tesoriero, 2006); this demonstrates how such groups can offer one way for women to add their voices to political struggles and visions of the future, even as they recognise everyday gender inequities.

Some Notes on Methodology and the Research Communities

My work in Thakkali Nadu² began in 2002 with community consultations and continued through fieldwork trips in 2003, 2004, late 2006/early 2007 and a shorter community visit in 2009/2010. My research with these communities has primarily focused on the agricultural and dietary transitions and decisions taking place within the smallholder farmer households. However, in late 2006, renewed interest in women’s SHGs, coupled with a new woman Panchayat President, opened a space to more explicitly consider women’s roles in community politics and their experiences and perceptions of equality in everyday life. The qualitative data I draw on in this article were collected via individual and group semi-structured interviews, follow-up interviews and participant observation of the household, kitchen, childcare, agricultural and social activities that make up women’s everyday lives. In this article paper, I primarily draw from data collected during 2006/2007, when the new political circumstances led to a greater opportunity to discuss gender and SHGs. Although I have worked with women and men in four communities in this nadu (a local political division), here I focus on the experiences and perceptions of 23 women from two of these communities who were particularly active in SHGs.

Located in an outlying nadu in the Kolli Hills, Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu state, the communities are agricultural, with a focus on the cultivation of the cash crop cassava. Community members may also grow small amounts of other household use or cash crops including bananas, coconuts, jackfruit, turmeric, rice, corn and sometimes some millet varieties. Villages in this nadu are typically within a 30–60-minute walk of each other, and each has a population of less than 250. In 2002, there were no telephones (landline or cellular), but by 2009 cellphones had become readily visible. The Kolli Hills are primarily inhabited by Malaiyali, classified as a Scheduled Tribe by the Indian government. Most community members in the area identify as Hindu; they observe local religious traditions as well and respect sacred forest areas. There is some economic differentiation within the study area, particularly in terms of land ownership and relative land quality. Although most people own between 1 and 5 acres of land, some own more than 10 acres, and others are landless. Land quality ranges from good, well-irrigated paddy to rocky lands on steep slopes.

The nadu has various government-run services including balwadis, primary schools, a primary health care centre, a paved road to the communities from the central Hills, government ration shops, and by 2006, running water to public taps in most communities. Access to running water was typically restricted to certain hours of the day. Electricity connections are available, although often unreliable and slow to be fixed. These services represent state involvement in the communities while also highlighting their marginality. That is, Thakkali Nadu is on the outskirts of the Hills, and this was highlighted by things like the irregular (if at all) staffing of the healthcare centre, the constant difficulty with finding teachers who would come and work in a marginal area, and the limited public transportation options to the area from the central Hills. Although there was a road to and from the communities to the central Hills, travel out of the Hills was inconvenient in terms of time and lack of directness, for both people and the movement of agricultural products. Generally speaking, villagers tended to see themselves as marginal within an already marginal locale and political group. People also tended to argue that their communities were less developed than the central Hills, and the lowland areas in particular. This was sometimes discussed in terms of a less developed ‘lifestyle’ or a lower standard of living. Participants articulated this in terms of factors like poor access to infrastructure and services such as hospitals, schools and roads, limited options for ways of ‘making a living’ outside of agriculture, and restricted access to material goods and foods.

Nevertheless, the area has a history of lobbying for community improvements, either for immediate improvements or for future hopes. Struggles for electricity, infrastructure and schools had been successful, although parents were dismayed by the persistent understaffing of schools. While people were pleased with the new paved road into the nadu, the inconvenience of having to first take a long journey to the central hills before going to the lowlands led to demands for a new, shorter road from their nadu directly to the lowlands. I have discussed some of the ways community members discussed this direct road and its potentials elsewhere. In 2006 and 2007, the struggle for political attention and action on the road issue was ongoing, but by early 2010, road construction had not yet started. Nevertheless, people believed that it would be a reality within one or two years.

Gender in the Community

Prior to discussing the activities of women’s SHGs in these communities, it is important to briefly discuss gender issues in terms of access to education, family sizes and women’s position. Pre-existing gender norms help form a basis for understanding women’s experiences, actions and options in their everyday lives and in their collective and political actions within SHGs. Gender norms are shaped by both changing practices and older traditions, including improved access to education for girls and overall prioritising of education for both boys and girls, access to reproductive choices and changes in family size preferences, the absence of dowry practices, and migration patterns that increasingly leave women in charge of household and agricultural decisions. Women’s perspectives on gender, equality and everyday life are inevitably affected by these changes.

Many of the middle-aged and older women I worked with had attended school for only a few years, if any, and were often unable to read or write; men of the same age group were more likely to have reached higher primary or secondary school levels, and were more likely to be able to read and write. However, women in their mid-to-late 20s were increasingly likely to have attended school to 10th or 12th standard, and by 2006, some of the younger women had completed post-graduate courses. By 2009, more girls were in the process of obtaining postgraduate degrees, including in nursing. Community surveys done in 2003/2004 indicated that, in general, school-age girls and boys were attending the local schools at similar rates, although it appeared that if a family could afford to send a child to an English-medium lowland school, they were more likely to send a boy.³ This reflects the value that people place on education overall; in addition, attendance was made easier by school accessibility and by the decreased work requirements associated with growing cassava as a cash crop. Participants argued that education was critical to their children (boys and girls) and their households to have more options for the future beyond farm labour; they also conceptualised education (particularly English-medium, private education) as a marker of status, modernity and development.

Although family sizes in these communities are variable, generally people tended to have much smaller families than previous generations. A preference for a smaller family seems to reflect overall lower fertility rates in Tamil Nadu. India’s Planning Commission (2013) notes that from 2005 to 2010, fertility rates in Tamil Nadu overall were between 1.6 and 1.8 per cent, with rates in rural areas being between 1.7 and 1.8 per cent. During this same time period, India’s overall fertility rate was between 2.5 and 2.9 per cent, with the rate for rural areas between 2.8 and 3.2 per cent. Of the four south Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu), only Kerala had rates as low as Tamil Nadu during this period. The women and men I worked with were aware that they could get ‘an operation’ done to prevent future pregnancies, but women were more likely to undergo this procedure. Although family sizes were therefore shaped in part by access to reproductive healthcare and birth control options, younger families also tended to think pragmatically about how many children to have; the importance of education was part of this. Smaller family sizes (two to three children) were considered more manageable. One SHG member put it this way,

In the olden days, no one went to school… But now they send children to school and learn more. For that we need money. So more children means more money spent. If there are two to three children, we can spend more money on those children only.⁴

Both female and male children were valued. A member of the same SHG, added, ‘If there are two boys, they like to have one girl [and vice versa]. If there is one boy and one girl, that is enough. So most people have two or three [children].’

It is also important to note that dowry is not practiced in the area, which lightens any perceived economic pressures that female children may represent for households. As one woman in her mid-40s put it, ‘Here there is no dowry. In the plains they are having it, but here is not. The boy’s family will buy jewels for the girl. The girl won’t buy jewels for the boy.’ Although Kumar-Range (2001) indicated that increasing contact with lowland communities might lead to the replacement of the traditional bride-price practice with dowries, this has yet to happen in this part of the Kolli Hills. In general, dowry was spoken of disapprovingly, as something that ‘is not nice’ (woman in mid-20s). That said, wedding practices are becoming more elaborate and expensive, reflecting a combination of increased access to monetary income through cash cropping and migrant work and increasing exposure to lowland norms. Families would spend larger amounts on wedding functions, with larger numbers of guests; however, the costs of these celebrations were shared.

Migration for work was part of village life. While both men and women sometimes left the nadu for work, for women this usually meant short-term trips (days or a few weeks) for agricultural or factory labour in the lowlands. In contrast, men were more likely to take work (that is, construction, long-distance truck driving) that kept them away for long periods of time. Women were increasingly left in charge of household, land, crop and livestock decision-making for much of the year. Research in diverse locales has examined the implications that being left behind may have for women, including in terms of perceived or actual empowerment. Some studies have shown that increased decision-making responsibilities of women left behind can be empowering, while others demonstrate that these responsibilities may be more of a burden and/or not strongly related to improvements in women’s social position (see, for example, de Haas & van Rooij, 2010; Desai & Banerji, 2008; Hadi, 2001; Paris et al., 2005; Pessar, 2005). In this part of the Kolli Hills, these de facto women-headed households were not yet extensive, but emerging, particularly among younger households. It remains to be seen if this will contribute to positive changes in women’s social position and deserves future study; in the meantime, it is clear that when men migrated for work, there were some resulting labour challenges. Although women are typically primarily (or solely) responsible for planting, weeding and harvesting work, they are not able to plow the land, as controlling the bulls is considered too hard for women to do. This labour challenge was managed in two primary ways: if possible, men working outside of the community would temporarily leave their jobs and return during key planting and harvesting times; otherwise, women would call on male relatives to help with plowing, and female friends and family to help with other agricultural work.

Everyday Thoughts on Gender and Equality

Of course, the gendered experiences of women, particularly in relation to political participation and daily mobility are nuanced, and are not shaped solely by things like improved access to education. It is therefore important to highlight women’s voices and their perspectives on gender, equality and everyday life in practice. Women discussed gendered realities in diverse ways, from thinking about ownership of land, to considerations of the ways women interact with the men in their households. For example, although people were aware of certain laws around inheritance of land for daughters, they also pointed out that these were not necessarily followed. It was generally accepted that daughters would only inherit land if there were no sons. In such cases, land inheritance by daughters had the potential to be disputed by men in the extended family. One man in his mid-40s put things succinctly when he said, ‘The government has passed an act that men and women are equal. But those rights are not followed by the people by giving land equally.’

When asked about everyday gender equality and gender roles, women’s experiences reflected a continuum of equality and inequality, shaped by their individual circumstances. For example,

In some families the ladies should ask the gents if they want to go and do any work. They should get permission. Without asking the men, they cannot do anything. But in my family I can do without asking my husband. He is allowing this. (Woman, late 40s)

Some have equal rights. In some families women want to ask their husbands to do any work. It is different by families. The five fingers are not the same [holding up her hand, indicating different fingers as she speaks]. The height of this one is somewhat less than this one and this one. It is like that in some families, with the family members. In the same family, there will be differences. (Woman, late 60s)

In one case, while we were discussing access to health care in her village, a woman in her mid-20s spontaneously switched to discussing issues of inequality, saying,

Here the rights of women are very much less. For going to work and any other outside travel, we have to ask. The men are not asking the ladies … they just go.

When I asked her if she thought this would change, she continued,

It will not change. There is no way. Here we will be dependent on the gents. Ladies should get permission for each and every thing. For joining the self-help group we have to get permission … We have to get money from the men and then only we spend it. We earn money in the fields and give it to them.

Mobility issues also potentially affected women who were menstruating. Generally, menstruating women were restricted from taking certain paths that would pass by sacred areas. As some of these paths were shortcuts through forested areas, menstruating women were more likely to have to take longer routes during their daily activities.⁵

Women also noted that they had no formal role in the resolution of community disputes over land, resources or other issues, as this was considered the realm of men. At times when such disputes emerged during my fieldwork periods, women did not necessarily shy away from expressing their thoughts about the issues among themselves or in their households, but they stayed away from the formal meeting activities that men undertook. Similarly, women indicated that they did not participate in local political meetings, although, as will be discussed later, they were politically active in other ways.

Overall, even if some women did not have to ask for permission to travel, to buy provisions for the household or to have some control over the money they earned, they recognised that there were variations within households. A woman might have freedom of movement, but that did not necessarily mean that she could rely on legalities being respected, or that she made decisions about what crops to grow or how money was spent. Some women felt they had little control over their lives; even those with more independence recognised that their participation in community governance and political issues was limited. An exception to this was in terms of the role of SHGs in political lobbying for a new road, which I turn to now.

Self-help Groups as a Tool for Political Action and Social Change

Although SHGs in the area were not new, it was not until 2006/2007 that I took note of much in the way of regular activity in these groups. SHG activity appeared to have increased, with evening meetings and sometimes, lively afternoon group sessions when traditional dances were practiced. I spoke with women belonging to three different groups. One of the most engaged and enthusiastic group members explained the resurgence of group activities:

[SHGs were] started here in 1998. But we could not run the group because the people are uneducated. To run it, at least two people should be learned. Only they can know how to do things like get a loan from the bank. So…we did not continue. But now there is more interest, so we have restarted.

The same group member explained that a combination of poor education and low gender status contributed to the lack of self-confidence among women. When it came to group loans, she indicated that loan officers required a ‘gift’ before they would grant a loan. For example, a group applying for ₹10,000 (to be split among group members) might be expected to pay ₹1,000 to have the loan approved. The ‘gift’ remained part of the total amount the group would have to repay. Mayoux (2003) has made similar observations, and in Andhra Pradesh, Augsburg and Fouillet (2010) found that officials would at times keep back a portion of the loan as a ‘security deposit’ without documentation. These kinds of practices create barriers to accessing loans and can also reinforce existing power structures and low confidence among women. The women I worked with knew that the ‘gift’ was technically against the rules, but they nevertheless did not have the confidence to contest it. This was compounded by limited literacy, in that women in the groups were expected to sign their names to documents they could not necessarily all read.

In addition to loan activities for individual, small household projects, groups also learned and practiced traditional songs and dances, and engaged in small educational activities. For example, women in one group spoke about the importance of health education. They had recently received colourful, easily understood booklets on HIV/AIDS, had discussed what it was and how it spread, and were sharing their new knowledge with others in the community. Although these women did not feel that HIV/AIDS was an issue in the area, they felt that they were now better equipped to help with future prevention.

In discussing the SHGs, women consistently referred to the power of the group (versus the individual) when it came to making changes and getting things done in both the private (individual knowledge, individual household projects) as well as the public (political action and pressure) realms. These perspectives were also closely tied to ideas about what groups could achieve when they worked together. For example, women were concerned with ensuring the overall cleanliness of the village and public spaces like wells; they stated that the groups were a means for creating pressure on community members to ensure this, something that they could not do individually.

Women highlighted the power of collective action when it came to activities beyond their traditional realms of cleanliness and health. This involved political action outside of their communities, and most frequently intersected with discussions about the need for the new road to the lowlands, which I will discuss below. However, women also at times spoke more generally about politics. One woman, in her late 30s, argued that SHGs could question government inaction in a way that an individual woman could not, and that groups had access to information that individuals might not have. Thus, the group itself was important, and so were the larger networks open to SHGs. She said,

The village is developed by the group … Before, people wouldn’t ask about what schemes [government projects] were coming, but now they are asking questions about why announced schemes have not come to the village. Now the group knows what schemes the government announces, and we ask why they have not done them.

In describing a typical meeting about local development and political issues, a woman in her early 40s pointed to the range of issues that groups might engage with, ‘First we talk about the road. And then the school. We want a new building for the children. Third, we need water supply to all of the villages.’

SHGs therefore provided a space for women to politically organise and lobby for local change. Although they did not speak in local political meetings,⁶ via SHGs, women could participate in higher-level political actions. Women most frequently spoke of the potential power of groups when it came to organising around the struggle for a new road to the lowlands. Sending written demands to the district government that the road be approved and completed was considered an important activity that women could legitimately participate in. Although this could be done individually, collective letters were considered more powerful, and for women who were not literate these collective letters offered an important opportunity to participate. The following are examples of the ways in which women talked about their political actions for the road.

We have given letters [asking for the road] to the Collector through the group. Equally we are fighting for the road. Ladies are involved by the self-help groups and men are involved through the village … Women go on strikes through the self-help groups … men go [on strikes] through the village. (Woman, early 20s)

We have gone to meetings and we have written letters to the government. And we are asking for the bus to come in the afternoon…We are returning letters to the government. All the self-help groups do this. (Woman, late 40s)

The Collector told us through the self-help group that we can get the road. He told us that we should be continually fighting and asking for the road. Then only they [the state government] can ask the central government for the road. (Woman, early 40s)

Many women have given individual letters to the government, and through the self-help groups. And many letters are given when the officers are coming here. Now they are somewhat listening. (Woman, early 30s)

Thus, women saw themselves not just as potential beneficiaries of a new road to the lowlands, but also as a key part of the political struggle for this road. As one woman put it, the actions of men and women were equally important in the political pressure for the road.⁷

Beyond the Immediate Need for the Road: Self-help Groups and Producing the Future

Klenk’s (2004) work with women in Kumaon, Uttaranchal, India has highlighted the importance of considering how women define what it means to be ‘developed’, rather than relying solely on external discourses, definitions and expectations. This requires recognising the ways that development discourses ‘will be negotiated and produced in the diverse locations where development occurs’ (2004, p. 61); engaging with women’s voices, experiences and aspirations ensures that they are active participants in constructing what their individual and collective futures might look like.

A similar argument can be made when considering how women discuss gender norms, notions of equality and what women’s lives might look like as they envision and work towards producing the future in different cultural, political, geographical and socioeconomic contexts. Empowerment is a process, and can take place slowly, building on changes that are facilitated by pre-existing gender conditions, government and policy actions, non-governmental, civic organisations and local activities. It is therefore critical to consider how women themselves are thinking about and articulating their hopes for the future, and how they use different structures to help facilitate these hopes.

Jakimow and Kilby (2006, p. 391) point out that SHG meetings can create legitimate spaces for women to congregate, essentially normalising group meetings that can then become spaces for other activities. In this sense, SHGs can improve women’s abilities to make decisions about issues affecting them and their communities. In the case of the women I worked with, the groups helped create conceptual spaces for at least some women to envision and work towards the production of a future for themselves and their daughters by enhancing some of the practical, everyday changes the SHGs had helped facilitate. In particular, discussions of building on women’s knowledge and freedom of movement, and improvements in overall well-being, were central to their hopes for the future.

Visions for the future were most clearly articulated when it came to issues of women’s mobility and opportunities for experiencing and negotiating the world outside of the nadu, and accessing new kinds of knowledge. By creating conceptual spaces for women to work together for political and community changes, SHGs had helped increase women’s overall mobility within and between communities. As one woman put it,

Before, ladies were not allowed to go outside of the village. The men could go outside. But after the group [started], if there is any meeting, women should go, so the men are not telling anything. The men are not asking questions—if we want to go to any meeting, we can go. Now ladies are going to many places. (Woman, mid-40s)

Another woman, also in her 40s and a member of the same group, drew on the connections between knowledge, freedom of movement and opportunities, saying,

Through the group the women are getting more information—what is going on around the country and around the world we are coming to know … In the olden days, women were not allowed to come to outside places. But now we are going outside through the self-help group, and gathering more information. So now women are getting more interested in all types of works.

A woman in her late 30s echoed similar sentiments, saying, ‘Before there was no self-help group, so the women couldn’t go anywhere and we didn’t know what happened outside. After the group came, women got more knowledge.’ Some women felt that these changes were part of an ongoing process that built on previous improvements such as access to education and transportation connecting the Hills to areas beyond. If a new, more direct road to the lowlands was constructed, it would further break down barriers to movement, in turn offering women new opportunities and experiences, and increased agency in their everyday lives. One woman in her early 20s said,

Here the people are not going outside [the area], but people in the plains have the bus facilities and they go to many places and mingle with many people…But here the people are not like that. Here only men go out, and if the ladies want anything for the house, through the men they are getting. But ladies in the plains they themselves are getting these things.

This is an idealised picture of lowland life that generalises the experiences of women in the research communities. Nevertheless, it captures the hopes of the women for a new road that would increase freedom of movement and ease their everyday lives. The new road was conceptualised as a kind of, as one woman put it, ‘basic thing’, or pre-condition that would make day-to-day life easier, build on earlier changes and create new opportunities for women. This would include improved access to markets for both buying and selling produce. When local fruit trees (guava, jackfruit, pomegranate) were in season, fruit could be sold in a market or to people travelling along the road. Moreover, access to fresh vegetables was an ongoing problem in the area—people did not grow much beyond tomatoes, onions and chilies, and the small community shops typically did not stock many vegetables due to difficulties transporting and storing them to this outlying area. Women stated that a new road (and the subsequent bus service that they assumed would be provided by either a government or private bus) would improve their access to markets, making it possible for women to ‘go buy vegetables in the morning itself’.

In addition, one politically active woman in her early 20s took the idea of increased mobility and agency further, explicitly connecting a faster trip to the lowlands with notions of women’s development. She argued that the struggle for the road was important because,

… here the women are not developed. But if the road comes, the women will see other women working in different jobs. Here the women are not like that. But seeing it the ladies will become interested…And ladies can go alone outside. Now some ladies are too shy to go alone [without husbands]. If they want to go outside and the husband is not there, they are shy. But if the bus came, two or three times they could go and not be shy any more.

Although this young woman was the only individual who explicitly used the discourse of development in connection with the work of SHGs, other women linked the possibilities of the new road with the potential for the village to become ‘developed’ via improved access to hospitals, goods and different income-generating options. Each of these things was associated with lowland communities, which women (and men) perceived to be more developed than most of the Kolli Hills. For example, the area had periodic access to a nurse at a primary health care office, and during a field visit in early 2010, a travelling health van stopped and treated people for several hours in one of the nadu’s villages. Nevertheless, accessing healthcare, especially in an emergency, was not easy. These emergencies—which during my fieldwork periods included broken limbs, serious burns, road accidents, pregnancy and childbirth complications, and age-related crises like strokes—required either a trip to the lowlands or attempts to convince a doctor from the central Kolli Hills to come and see a patient. Improving access to a hospital, or convincing a doctor to come to and live in or near the nadu, was a key priority for many women. For them, a road would help make this possible by making the area more attractive and accessible to healthcare professionals.

Kabeer (2001a) and Garikipati (2013) have both argued for a consideration of process, not simply outcomes, in understanding what empowerment means within specific social and cultural contexts. Garikipati’s (2013) analysis of microcredit loan use and repayment among SHG members in Andhra Pradesh, for example, demonstrates that it is not enough to examine whether a woman has taken and successfully repaid a loan; instead, the ways the loan has been controlled, used and repaid provides a better understanding of individual empowerment and agency. In the case of the SHG activities of women in Thakkali Nadu, process is also important. These activities can be understood as a set of processes that are contributing to expanded agency for group members. Thus, although women know of and experience everyday gender inequalities, their experiences point to ongoing processes of personal and social change that have been facilitated by the power of group actions. Moreover, SHG contributions to community activism had the potential to improve the lives of all women, not just SHG members. Beyond legitimising SHG members’ collective actions and educational activities, SHGs demonstrated the potential for wider-ranging and longer-term implications for positive social change.

I do not want to suggest that these SHGs are entirely unproblematic, without tensions, or unequivocally associated with rapid improvements in women’s agency and empowerment. As noted above, loans were not necessarily without conditions and therefore were viewed as problematic by many members. The relative interest in participating in a group could wax and wane, something that is not unique to this locale (Lahiri-Dutt & Samanta, 2006), and while SHG members were invested in collective actions and discussions, there were of course many women in the communities who were not involved in any kind of SHG. In addition, groups did not necessarily operate without tensions or disagreements. Many group members lacked practical skills, including literacy, and this was a source of frustration and potential power differentials within and between groups. Some women felt that increased cooperation among (not just within) SHGs was necessary and that this would allow them to push even harder for government actions. Others were frustrated that all group members did not regularly come to meetings. This was especially problematic when illiterate group members were dependent on members who could read for some activities. At the same time, they recognised that it would take time to improve cooperation within and between groups, since members were consistently busy with household and agricultural responsibilities and had to make choices about how much they could participate in collective activities at any given time.

It is also important to note that when women talked about the benefits of improved access to food purchasing and marketing opportunities, they were not referring to activities that are in themselves inherently empowering. Mobility for the sake of household needs is not the same as women being able to define their own options and opportunities. It could be reasonably argued that these activities largely reproduce women’s traditional household roles without increasing agency and decision-making; for example, even if women were more easily able to sell fruits in lowland markets, this does not mean that they would necessarily have control over how the income would be spent within their households. Thus, improved access to markets expands women’s mobility and marketing opportunities without necessarily expanding the types of life options that women can have. Nevertheless, improved access to markets cannot be dismissed as unimportant, because it was something women themselves highlighted as desirable and meaningful. Women were well aware that better household food access and making provisioning and cooking activities easier had the potential to free up their time, while also increasing their access to communities and resources outside of the Hills. This is an important part of a process of empowerment, but the process is ongoing, and it remains to be seen how collective actions may (or may not) be used for further activities and actions among the women, and how this might shape gender relations and norms in everyday life.

Conclusion

In this article, I have presented a case study of how SHGs may help mobilise women and offer spaces for discussions of gender, everyday life and political action. In discussing equality, SHG activities and their ideas of what a new road might mean for the future, the women I worked with illuminated some of the gendered complexities in their everyday lives and in their negotiation of and participation in public roles. In this specific case, SHGs helped provide a space for group members to add their voices to political struggles and to articulate some of their visions for the future, even as some women pointed to the gender inequalities that they experienced in daily life. While the SHGs are useful, it is also important to note that women’s options, opportunities and constraints are shaped in part by pre-existing gender norms and practices. Moreover, women did not use the word empowerment in discussing SHG activities or changes in the roles of women. Yet, their discussions of mobility, future exposure to different kinds of work and everyday opportunities, access to knowledge and building confidence point to some psychological, social and political dimensions of empowerment (Sangeetha et al., 2013). Collective action in the fight for a new road also created opportunities for women to enact changes in their lives while envisioning and articulating their hopes for the future. By working towards aspects of this future, they demonstrated some of the practical ways processes of empowerment—even if they are preliminary—may be experienced and enacted. Working together also helped build women’s confidence by adding their voices to political demands that could help meet their aspirations for themselves, their communities, and their children.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I thank the many people who helped make this research possible, including Ms A. Chitra, Dr T. Vasantha Kumaran, Dr S. Rani Senthamarai, Sister Francina, Ms Vimala Matthew, Ms Gracy Sevariammal and Thakkali Nadu community members. Research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the International Development Research Centre, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Many thanks to Mavis Morton, who provided thoughtful comments on early drafts of this article, and thanks also to the journal’s anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions.

Notes

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