Community intervention in the societal inequity of women’s political participation: The development of efficacy and citizen participation in rural Nicaragua

Abstract

Globally, limited opportunities for women’s political participation and decision-making reflect a widespread societal problem perpetuated through gender inequities that operate at numerous levels of society. Challenging and ending systemic gender-based power imbalances is critical to understanding the potential for women’s political participation. The current study uses a liberation psychology approach to examine how a community intervention interrupts traditional gender ideology, enhances women’s agency and political efficacy, and increases civic engagement and community leadership among women in rural Nicaragua. Research was conducted in partnership with a grassroots women’s organization and data were taken from 261 surveys. Findings suggest that community-level interventions interrupt standard notions of women’s political participation, resulting in greater agency and efficacy and thereby higher levels of decision-making and leadership. The findings illustrate the importance of assessing the psychosocial processes involved in transformative political spaces that facilitate women’s meaningful citizen engagement, having important implications for women’s political participation worldwide.

Keywords:

• Citizen engagement
• community intervention
• liberation psychology
• Nicaragua
• women’s political participation

Note

Acknowledgments

Our sincere gratitude goes to several people who have made this research possible including Carlos Arenas, Suyen Barahona, the research team at CINASE and members of the Xochilt Acalt Coordinating Counsel.

Notes

1 In a review of community psychology literature, Angelique and Culley (2000) reported a notable lack of feminist analyses and scholarship related to women’s concerns. Of 2,178 articles published between 1973 and 1997 in the American Journal of Community Psychology and the Journal of Community Psychology that the authors reviewed, only 9.8% were considered women relevant and only 3% were considered feminist. Mental health and motherhood were the most addressed women relevant topics. A review of the literature since that time has not produced much greater breadth, although the topic of violence against women has received increased attention (e.g. Frye, 2007).

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible by financial assistance from the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund, a program of The Reed Foundation.