Negotiating for participation in co-management: How women manoeuvre within gender norms and practices in Bangladesh

Abstract

Women are far less likely than men to be involved in community-based natural resource governance structures and systems due to gender norms and practices. However, there is limited evidence on women's ongoing participation in these systems, particularly in patriarchal societies. Using a case study approach, I analyse women's experiences in donor-supported fisheries co-management projects in Bangladesh. I found that women in co-management structures deliberately and willingly engage in gendered practices of Ijjat (honour) and Purdah (physical and spatial restrictions and segregation), showing reluctance in taking leadership positions, veiling, asserting themselves non-confrontationally and adopting silence. Drawing on the concept of instrumental agency (Burke, 2012), I focus on two strategies these women utilise: compliance with norms and self-muting. Their strategic choices elevate their place in their communities, enable them to secure access to credit, and enhance their status within their families and in public spheres. My findings show that women's use of norm compliance and self-muting empowers them individually but hampers collective gains and limits co-management functioning.