Assessing the Impact of Social Mobilization: Nijera Kori and the Construction of Collective Capabilities in Rural Bangladesh

Naila Kabeer and Munshi Sulaiman

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 2015, vol. 16, issue 1, 47-68

Abstract: While Bangladesh has a large and active development non-governmental organization sector, it has undergone a steady process of homogenization, turning from its early focus on social mobilization to a market-oriented service provision model, dominated by microfinance. This article explores the impacts associated with Nijera Kori, one of the few organizations that has retained a commitment to social mobilization, seeking to strengthen the collective capabilities of the poor men and women to protest injustice and demand their rights. The article uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to measure the political, economic and social impacts of the organization and to unpack the processes by which the observed changes have occurred. In conclusion, the paper reflects on whether the organization's capability-based approach offers a more effective route to addressing the structural inequalities of power that underlie poverty in Bangladesh than the dominant microfinance-based one.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2014.956707

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