A Constructive Leadership Approach of Poor Tribal Women, Towards Equitable and Gender just Relations around Common Land

Abstract

"This paper highlights struggle of poor tribal women towards protection and conservation of village common lands i.e. forestland, village pastures and reservoirs. These studies capture importance of common land resources in the daily survival of tribal women and their forced alienation and marginalization in the governance of these vital natural resources. The paper then details out struggle of tribal women leaders, who stood up against the tide of oppression posed by feudal lords and other powerful patrons in their respective villages. Being tribal women in socially stratified rural landscape has been an added disadvantage, amongst multiple layers of vulnerabilities. The paper highlights agonies and discrimination experienced by poor tribal women at the hands of the powerful patrons & also their own community members. How these women challenged the conventionally oppressive forces in a constructive and peaceful manner is broadly captured in the study. These tribal women leaders spearheaded grassroots movements for the purpose of equitable and more gender just land relations. These women leaders were instrumental in altering the skewed property and power relations and establishment of normative protection and management systems around commons, through village level institutions. These women leaders also played a strategically critical role in sustaining the developed common pool resources by working out appropriate resource sharing mechanisms. There have been enormous economic, socio-political and institutional gains of these initiatives of women leaders; around common land resources .Work of these women leaders has inspired many other village leaders and development workers at the grassroots. This narrative is based on an action & applied research work conducted by development practitioners in the field areas of Seva Mandir a voluntary organization working in tribal dominated Udaipur and Rajsamand districts of Udaipur in Rajasthan province of India. The study represents compilation of case studies in which poor tribal women have displayed a highest level of leadership towards stewardship of common land of their village. Under the research, live examples of struggles of women leaders are shared. The study is based on a combination of personal interviews, focused group discussions and write shops conducted with the prominent women leaders."