The Impact of Women’s Mobilisation: Civil Society Organisations and the Implementation of Land Titling in Peru

Citation:

Authors: Guro Glavin, Kristian Stokke, Henrik Wiig

Abstract:

This article analyses how civil society organisations (CSOs) influenced the implementation of the National Land Titling Project (PETT) in Peru. Land titling projects such as PETT raise a number of questions about the social implications of formalisation. Women often are disadvantaged when it comes to land titling, due to several factors such as lack of legal documentation, illiteracy and the predominant gender division of labour. However, evaluations of the formalisation process in Peru show that there has been an increase in the incidence of joint ownership from the first phase of the implementation process to the second, even though the joint titling of land to couples was never adopted as official policy. Heavy criticism was raised towards PETT by feminist non-governmental organisations and social movements in the late nineties, promoting equal land rights. At the time of implementation, political changes were occurring in Peru, creating space for new actors, and a change in the extent of repression of collective actors. These changes seem to have created a good environment for action. Researchers mention the mobilisation as a possible explanation for the increase in joint ownership, suggesting that the activism of CSOs led the implementing agency to favour joint ownership between spouses. Uncovering the impacts of collective action requires close attention to the dynamic interplay between the capacities and strategies of CSOs and the political spaces for their claims and campaigns.

Keywords: civil society, mobilization, social movements, impact, gender equality, land rights, collective action

Topics: Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, International Organizations, NGOs, Political Economies, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2013