Collective Action Study
Research
Project Title:Using Community Dynamics in Pro-poor Insurance: Affiliating Communities En Bloc
PROJECT CATEGORY:Research
OBJECTIVE:
The main objective of the study is to analyze and understand ‘successful’ collective action around development projects in diverse areas across India. The aim is to understand the underlying processes of ‘community dynamics’ that drives ‘success’ in each of six case studies, and gather new evidence on how to improve community micro-insurance initiatives.
BACKGROUND:
MIA is committed to work with grassroots communities with the aim of empowering them to run their own microinsurance schemes. Extending social security mechanisms to vulnerable groups involves a lot of mobilisation. A more refined understanding of social mechanisms allowing 'en-bloc' affiliation and other forms of collective action in social security projects is needed to inform better project design.
PROJECT CONCEPT:
A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods will be applied to six locations across India in the attempt to identify factors enabling successful collective action in different community interventions, from water management projects to new energy sources and sanitation. Two cohorts, participant and non participant, with a sample of 600 people within each will be taken to explore the enabling and disabling factors for the success and failure of the project. Both group characteristics and individual characteristics will be studied along with the social capital dynamics, an essential component of the project.
PARTNERS:
The project will be conducted in partnership with Meghalayan Rural Development Society, Meghalaya (North-East India).
FUNDING:
This project is funded in full by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). Local partners are present at each location (see below).
DURATION:2009
COUNTRY:India, Nepal
LOCATION:
Field Work: India
- Location-1:Ganjam distritct, Orissa with Gram Vikas NGO
- Location-2:Churu district, Rajasthan with Borukha Charitable Trust
- Location-3:Hemgiri district, Orissa with CYSD NGO
- Location-4:Pithoragarh district, Uttrakhand with Avani NGO
- Location-5: Jhabua district, madhya Pradesh with Sampark NGO
- Location-6: Wardha District, Maharrashtra with Kasturba Gandhi Hospital.
CONTACT:Richa Joshi, Researcher, Richa@mia.org.in
PROGRESS:
The onset of the project was marked by preparing a detailed project proposal followed by a research outline entailing a list of parameters to understand collective action under the purview of the objectives listed in the project in six locations in India.The research tools were prepared to capture these parameters and then a detailed fieldwork of one and a half month was carried covering six rural locations. While qualitative tools includes FGDs and KIIs guidelines prepared under the given parameters like relative need, social capital, cost and benefit analysis, a set of survey questions will be framed to undertake the quantitative research.
The data collected from the field using both qualitative and quantitative research methodology has been analysed. Based on a careful analysis, six case studies were compiled in a book (forthcoming).
