| This paper discusses the Self Employed Women’s Association’s (SEWA) Women, Water and Work Campaign which organizes women’s collective action in Gujarat, India to sustain local water management. Some of the significant factors that have sustained women’s collective action are the presence of strong grassroots institutions, the establishment of a technical cadre of women, the ability of women’s groups to transcend social barriers and continuous dialoguing with the state. Women have benefited in terms of increased income, reduced drudgery, improvements in the livelihoods of their families, reduced migration of both women and men and increased participation in SEWA’s other programs. The most important impact observed is the strengthening of women’s collective... |
