International Research Workshop on ‘Gender and Collective Action’,

17-21 October 2005, Chiang Mai, Thailand

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MOBILIZATION FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION: CASE STUDIES OF VILLAGES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA.

Saratu Abdulwahid

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Men and women participate in collective action for different purposes in northern Nigeria. Field work conducted in six villages show that while men engage in community activities such as road repairs, maintenance of schools and hospitals, refuse collection and maintenance of the traditional village government, women mobilise around activities such as savings, house and farm work and care giving. It is argued that men mobilise around community activities outside the home because of their public orientation and because they want to maintain their dominance of that space. Women on the other hand mobilise around activities in keeping with their domestic orientation and gender roles such as care giving and housework (Moore 1990; Walby 1990; Lamphere 1993; Ridgeway and Smith Lovin1999 and Glennon 1979). This finding means that because men have command of community institutions, they have a better view and are able to access the resources embedded in the institutions, which supports Lin’s (2000) structural explanation of social capital. Differences were observed between women in Muslim and Christian communities. The main differences arise from the fact that the vast majority of women in Muslim communities observe seclusion while women in Christian communities do not. The findings show that women in Christian communities mobilise for savings, house and farm work and care giving as well as community improvement activities. Women in Muslim communities mobilize to gain access to other women and form friendships, which are important sources of support for savings, housework and care giving. Most importantly, the women said they mobilise because they want to understand their religion and the laws, which govern their lives better so that they can challenge the male interpretation of such laws and act to change their subordinate position. Keywords: Northern Nigeria, gender, Religion, differences, equity, community participation, village associations

1. INTRODUCTION

Three forms of social capital are important to collective action. These are trust and norms of reciprocity, networks/civic engagement and formal and informal rules, which act within a context to influence collective action (Ostrom and Ahn 2001). However, the networks along with formal and informal rules and institutions, which regulate associational activity and collective action, differ from place to place. This paper focuses on the description of gender differences in mobilization for collective action in selected villages of northern Nigeria, as well as the formal and informal rules and institutions, which regulate participation of people. Networks in the context of this paper mean groups and associations, formal or informal, in which people participate in order to achieve their collective goals. Ostrom and Ahn (2001: 17) define rules in broad terms as prescriptions that specify what actions and outcomes are required, prohibited, or permitted, and the sanctions authorized if the rules are not followed. Rules are the results of human beings’ efforts to establish order and increase predictability of social outcomes. Rules are both formal and informal. The formal rules include written laws, administrative regulations and court decisions, which are written and enforced by an identified authority. Some view, social capital to include formalized institutional structures, such as governments, the political regime, the rule of law, and civil and political liberties which are good for social capital formation and collective action (for example see Grootaert, 1998; Ostrom and Ahn 2001). Other

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views have argued that legal rules and formal institutions might sometimes undermine cooperation and therefore are not conducive to social capital formation (for example, see Fukuyama, 2001). Informal rules mean the social norms, which are in operation to regulate everyday lives of individuals. According to Ostrom and Ahn, (2001:18), no formal rules can completely cover exigencies arising from everyday life. Also, “when the mandates from relevant laws and official regulations are deemed impractical or improper, individuals may devise their own working rules that assign de facto rights and duties that are contrary to the de jure rights and duties”. For example, the Nigerian constitution says all citizens are equal before the law. This gives all men and women equal rights to education, health, justice and personal freedom. However, such laws contravene the gender ideologies of the people, as women are not equal before the working laws or de facto laws of the people. Results indicate that social structural characteristics of a community inform societal norms, which govern social interaction, which in turn influence the nature of relationships between people and institutions and their participation in collective action. Collective action in this study refers to the spirit of cooperation and this is indicated by those activities that members of a community do collectively in order to improve their communities and also help each other in times of need. The researcher’s interaction with community members as well as interviews indicate that some of these activities are carried out through groups and associations in the community and are structured in terms of organization, targets, labour and materials. Some activities, though collective, do not have defined structures. Examples are biki1 and adashe2 activities amongst women.

2. METHODS

Data was generated using an adaptation of the Social Capital Assessment Tool, (SCAT) developed in 1999 by Anirud Krishna and Elizabeth Shradder for the World Bank. The SCAT components adopted were developed after study of research instruments developed by different researchers and used in over 25 studies conducted in 15 countries worldwide (Krishna and Shradder, 2001). In addition, elements of the instrument designed at the Saguaro seminar at Harvard University in 1999/2000, for a social capital community benchmark survey about ‘how Americans are connected to each other’ were also adapted and used. In addition to the questions on group membership, two community associations were selected in each village from those identified during PRA sessions. Participants were asked which associations are formal, in terms of having constitutions and elected leadership and the associations profiled were selected on this basis. The profiling was in terms of origins and development, leadership, organizational culture, organizational capacity and institutional linkages as recommended by the creators of SCAT. Community members were interviewed about their participation in their associations with a view to determine the nature of participation and how such associations function to support members. Eleven associations were profiled altogether, two for each village, one for men and one for women, with the exception of Ringim, where the women’s adashe groups were not functioning when research fieldwork was taking place. Women in Ringim said they find it difficult to make adashe contributions during the rainy

1 Biki (Hausa): Any gift or contribution of food, clothing to a friend who celebrating a special occasion, which will be returned when an occasion arises (Bargery, 1934). 2 Adashe (Hausa): A system of financial cooperation amongst friends (Bargery, 1934). Adashe is now also widely practiced between work colleagues, trading partners and neighbours. Adashe is savings people make by contributing money to a common pot which participants take turns to draw from. Woolcock (1998:183) describes it as a spontaneous “ ‘bottom – up’ group formation, initiated and sustained by members themselves in response to their isolation from orthodox commercial banks”.

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season because food is in short supply and then they are short of money. They do adashe only during kaka3 when farm produce has been harvested. All the associations profiled have officers who run the affairs of the association. For example, all the associations have a chairperson, secretary, treasurer and auditor. In the Islamiyya4 associations, they also have teachers as part of the leadership. The associations hold regular elections after every two or three years to select new leaders. Association members said leaders are chosen for different reasons. For example, members of Women’s zumunta5 in Gamashina said they elect leaders who have the ability for hard work on the farm as well as work with other people. Members of the Poshereng Multi-purpose Cooperative Society said only people who are willing to serve others are elected. Members of FOMWAN Kalarin as well as the Women Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Madakiya said members are elected as leaders based on their perceived leadership qualities, while members of women’s Da’awa in Tsafe said other members decide on who they want their leader to be and appoint by consensus. The associations are run on the basis of a constitution, in which all the rules and regulations of the associations are written and given to each new member. For those who are illiterate, another literate member reads out the articles in the constitution. The associations hold regular meetings ranging from weekly to quarterly, in which they discuss their affairs. Association members said they participate equally in decision making in their associations because decisions are taken after consultation with members. The associations profiled differ in their origins and development. For example, FOMWAN6 Kalarin, and Women’s Da’awa in Tsafe provide adult education to women who did not have the opportunity to go to school. According to the members of FOWAN Kalarin, they started their association out of the desire to obtain basic literacy in order to read the holy books. Similarly, women in Tsafe said they started their associations because they wanted to read the Quran and Hadith7 themselves. Thus, it could be said that women in Muslim communities tend to participate in religious associations that are geared towards provision of education for women.

3 Kaka is the period when crops are harvested and stored in northern Nigeria. Farmers also sell some of the crops to pay for ceremonial outlays such as weddings, build new rooms and huts in household. It is the period of plenty, and women engage in their adashe and biki during these periods. 4 Islamiyya are schools run for the purpose of imparting Islamic education to children by the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI). It was later modifified to also cater to the needs of adults who missed out as children. The curriculum of the Islamiyya schools include Reading the Quran and its commentaries, Hadith, Islamic jurisprudence and other subjects deemed necessary by the JNI. The curriculum was expanded after the introduction of the Universal Primary Education (UPE), supported by the government and UNICEF in 1973, to include some components of the formal primary school curriculum, such as English language and arithmetic. Women have agitated and won support to run their Islamiyya schools in Tsafe, Kalarin and other communities in rural and urban parts of northern Nigeria. Presently, the Islamiyya schools for women run a combined curriculum of the Quran, Hadith, Tajwid, English, Arithmetic, Health science and Home economics. For fuller discussion of women’s education in northern Nigeria, see Coles and Mack (1991). 5 Zumunta(Hausa): relationship through blood or marriage. Close relationship between people. Also refers to women’s friendships and associations. Zumuntar mata ‘women’s friendship’ is a friendship association of women with church origins. Zumunta is found in Christian communities throughout northern Nigeria. 6 Federation of Muslim Women in Nigeria is a voluntary women’s association with branches nationwide. The association is engaged in activism for women’s education. The association has established many women’s adult literacy classes under its auspices in northern Nigeria. 7 Traditions of the prophet as recorded by his companions which his followers are expected to emulate. Imam Bukhari compiled the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad and is one of the trusted lines of transmission of the Hadith or the traditions of prophet, which also serve as codes of practice for Muslims See Coles and Mack (1991)

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3. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDY AREAS

Figure 1 – Map of Nigeria showing study villages.

Six villages were selected for the research. Criteria for village selection were religious difference and geographical spread. Villages were selected for differences in religiosity of the people, in terms of the major religions of northern Nigeria namely, Christianity and Islam so that comparisons can be made between people of the two religions. The villages were selected to reflect the diverse character of northern Nigeria, in terms of major sub-groupings of geographical location and religion.

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Figure 2 – General characteristics of the research villages Madakiya Kalarin Poshereng Tsafe Ringim Gamashina POP 8,000 15,000 5,800 15,000 3,000 2,000 MEG Bajju Tangale Tangaale Hausa Hausa Hausa MER Christianity Islam Christianity Islam Islam Christianity SEC No Partial No Full Full No CBOs 28 29 26 18 10 11 WA 8 3 5 3 Nil 3 SO No Partial No Yes Yes No LL Farmers

beer brewers, carpenters, government workers, builders, carpenters, motor mechanics, traders

Farmers, traders, government workers, carpenters, motor mechanics

Farmers, traders, government workers, beer brewers, builders carpenters, motor mechanics

Farmers, traders, government workers, tailors, blacksmiths, barbers, tanners

Farmers, traders, hunters,

Farmers, traders, hunters, fishermen

WLL Farmers, Beer brewers government workers, traders

Government workers, Petty traders, Cooked food sellers

Farmers, Beer brewers cooked food sellers, government workers

Mat weavers, cooked food sellers petty traders,

mat weavers, cooked food sellers, petty traders

Farmers, Firewood sellers Beer brewers, mat weavers, cooked food sellers

Key: VL = Village POP = Population MEG = Major ethnic groups MR = Major religion SEC = Seclusion WA = Women’s associations SO = Sharia observed LL = Livelihoods WLL = Women’s livelihoods CBO= Community Based Associations The results indicate that communities which have similar social structures such as clans are also similar in terms of participation of women in community activities. However, there are differences because of the influence of Islam such as in Kalarin, where the influence of the clan takes second place to the influence of religion. The social connections of the researcher, as well as the modest budget available are also factors that influenced which villages eventually became the research sites. Some of the findings reflect the social characteristics of particular sub-groups, for example, women in Muslim communities have more connections to kin groups and other women than to community associations or the local government. However, even among Muslims, differences were observed between Hausa Muslims. For example, marked differences were observed among women in Tsafe and women in Ringim. While in Tsafe women attend Islamiyya schools and some of them participate in the associations formed in the Islamiyya school, the women in Ringim do not have any association. They participate in adashe during harvest only. Also, differences were observed between Muslim women of different ethnic groups. For

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example, women in Kalarin differ from women in Ringim because many of them go out to work in the local government secretariat, they teach in the village schools, and participate in community associations. The results also indicate that some of the villages have more varied livelihoods than others. There seems to be a general trend whereby Christian villages have more varied livelihoods than the Muslim villages. This could be explained by early presence of missionaries who established schools and vocational centres which enabled people to acquire western education and qualifications to obtain government jobs as well as trades. However, the people Gamashina do not seem to enjoy this advantage because of the exclusion they suffer as a result of being different in a predominantly Muslim region. Also, the villages with bigger populations seem to have more varied livelihoods which may explain why the people of Ringim have less livelihoods than other bigger villages.

4. FINDINGS

4.1 NATURE OF MEN AND WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN COLLECTIVE ACTION

The nature of collective action in all the villages is voluntary work for community development conducted through associations in gayya.8 Results indicate that the activities of men’s associations differ from women’s. While men’s associations are engaged in community development work, women’s associations are engaged in self-help. The results indicate that women’s associations take different forms in Muslim and Christian communities. In Muslim communities, women get together in loose biki and adashe relationships as well as structured associations with written constitutions and elected leaders such as the Islamiyya based groups. The level of association is a bit more sophisticated in Christian communities, where women have informal associations such as the adashe associations of neighbours, but most of other associations are structured with written constitutions and elected officers. For example, the adashe associations formed in the work place such as schoolteachers and Local Government workers are formal associations with constitutions and elected officers. Women in Muslim communities such as Tsafe and Ringim, and to a certain extent Kalarin, are discouraged from participating in village development activities because of seclusion and are restricted to Islamiyya associations, adashe and biki groups. Adashe group participants interviewed said they contribute a fixed amount of money, grains or labour at specified intervals to one member of the group on a rotational basis, until every member of the group has a take from the pot. Some of the adashe groups are formal with a constitution and elected leaders and some are informal. Members of such informal groups interviewed said they do not have formal group meetings or a constitution and participation is guided by unwritten rules and based on trust and reciprocity. Unlike adashe, biki is not a group but relationships women have with other women in order to provide assistance towards the costs of ceremonial activities like weddings and child naming ceremonies. Those who are in biki relationships with other women said the relationship works on the basis of reciprocity, where woman A gives woman B a gift of £1 during a ceremonial activity like a wedding or childbirth. Woman B is expected to return the gift of £1 with a little mark-up to woman A at another time in the future when A is celebrating something. This exchange of gifts goes on for a long time, each time increasing in value until the parties involved decide to put an end to it. A woman can have several biki partners in the community depending on her age and social status. Biki is Hausa culture and is practiced more in Tsafe, Ringim and Gamashina. Like adashe, biki relationships are based on reciprocity and trust. A possible explanation of

8 Gayya(Hausa): Cooperative work (Bargery, 1934), communal labour(Skinner, 1996) done for the community or when several people cooperate to assist an individual member of the community do a piece of work such as building a hut or clearing a field.

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why such associations continue to function with the apparent lack of structure and rules, is that it is in the interest of all members to cooperate and rent seeking behaviour carries social stigma. According to the Amira9 of FOMWAN, the women’s groups, namely FOMWAN and Da’awa, work in collaboration to provide adult education for women. The associations share resources like books, syllabi and teachers. The Amira said women do not join larger community efforts, but may give material contributions from their homes. The pattern in Kalarin is similar to the one in Tsafe because women also observe seclusion. However, women in Kalarin participate more in their community than women in Tsafe or Ringim. Leaders of FOMWAN and JIBWIS10 interviewed said women have cooperated to solve their problem of lack of education by initiating adult classes for women under FOMWAN and JIBWIS. Presently, this effort has grown into two schools with more than 300 students in each. Women have also initiated the peace association called Kalpodwale, which is concerned with conflict resolution in the community. Women in Madakiya, Poshereng and Gamashina, which are Christian communities, get together to address community efforts as much as the men. For example women interviewed in Madakiya said they have joined other community members through their associations and clans, and built 6 primary schools and a secondary school, and also maintain them. Women contribute money, their labour or food to community initiatives. Women also participate in women only collective activities like keeping the village market clean. Where women do not observe seclusion, adashe groups often use the structures of another association or institution to function. For example, the Women Multi-purpose Cooperative Society also runs adashe among members as an aside. In this case, members meet by default when they go to the meetings of the Women Multi-purpose Cooperative Society. In such adashe groups, the contributions are more substantial in terms of the amount of money, grains or other articles contributed. Members also undertake to rotate farm work to help each other on their farms or do heavy housework. Examples of the use of formal structures by adashe groups were found in the adashe groups of Madakiya central primary school, the secondary school and at Kaltungo local government secretariat, which draws membership from Poshereng and Kalarin. These are run as formal associations with elected committees and constitutions, which spell out how members take turns to get the pot. Paulina Andrew in Madakiya said their own adashe group is run like an association, but is controlled by the headmistress who is the Uwar adashe11. Members make monthly contributions that are deducted by the uwar adashe from member’s wages. Paulina said this is done to prevent members from refusing to contribute once they have had their turn at the pot. The groups regulated by written laws and committees are modern inventions and suggest a crisis of trust, which may accompany differentiation. The types practiced by housewives have no written laws, and groups are based entirely on trust. Two reasons could be forwarded as explanations for this. One is that the practice of adashe predates modern western education and western ways of organizing and is suited to non-literate populations. The other explanation from social capital literature is that community members have played the prisoners dilemma12 many times and have come to an equilibrium (Ostrom, 1996; Putnam, 1993a; Misztal. 1996) where there are clear sanctions for defaulting.

9 Amira (Arabic): Leader of women’s Islamiyya schools and women’s religious based associations. 10 Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’a Wa Ikamatus Sunna (JIBWIS) is a nationwide religious organization. Presently, FOMWAN works under the umbrella of JIBWIS in the study villages as well as other villages in northern Nigeria. 11 Mother of adashe or the convener of such groups. She is normally an older woman who is relatively well off and can be trusted to collect and disburse contributions. Interviewees said there are some rogue adashe mothers who show favouritism on disbursement of contributions or embezzle the money contributed. Such women are ridiculed in songs and folk tales or may be taken to local courts. 12 Prisoners’ dilemma is based on the rational choice theory, which argues that social life constitutes the aggregated outcomes of all individual’s rational choices. The maximized individual outcome is contingent upon the effects of others’ actions (Misztal. 1996:78). In this formulation, each actor considers what they are likely to do and then makes the best choice to maximise his or her benefits.

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The findings in this study suggest that through their associations, women are able to participate in community activities and have a say in community decision-making. This suggests that the associations serve as bridges between women and other community institutions. For example, women’s groups in Madakiya participate in the big village meeting where they are able to make demands from the male community leaders, or on routine matters in the clan, such as settlement of domestic disputes. The Women Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, Madakiya has contributed towards building the village secondary school, and has collaborated with the local government authority to make classroom furniture for the village primary schools. Women have also been able to link up with other community associations and institutions through their associations. For example, women in Kalarin have collaborated with other associations in the community and expanded their school. They also have links with the local government, which provides teachers for their schools. Through this association, women are able to gain the support of other associations and the government for their causes. Similarly, women who have access to others are empowered by their association to participate in community development and present their agenda to the larger village assembly, which means their voices are heard in the village decision making arena. Thus women who hitherto had no say in community decision making are able to influence community decisions through their associations such as forming the women’s adult classes and building the primary school and crèches in Kalarin. The Da’awa group in Tsafe collaborates with the local government and has opened more adult classes for women in Tsafe and neighbouring villages. The above suggests that although women are excluded from decision making in larger community affairs, they are able to organize and make decisions on matters that concern them. This means they are also capable of taking leadership roles in the larger community where the social structure is amenable. Also, women who will otherwise be limited to their households have gained access to other people, community associations, associations outside the community and the local government. For example, it could be argued that group participation has enabled women in non-Muslim communities to overcome gender restrictions to the domestic real and to gain access to the public domain through their associations. Also, women in Muslim communities have been able to break their exclusion by seclusion to gain access to public space such as the local government where they get the government to pay teachers for their schools. In Muslim communities, it could be argued that women are bargaining with the prevailing social order as well as manipulating the shariah13 in order to carve out some space for themselves outside the home. They bargain from the strong position of the call on Muslim men and women to seek knowledge as a right of all Muslims (see Coles and Mark, 1991). This right of women to education is articulated by FOMWAN in their struggles for women’s education (Yusuf, 2002). Secondly, they adopt the hijab14, which allows them to move out of the household and thirdly they go to women only spaces to learn about their religion.

13 Islamic law. This law operates side by side common law in northern Nigeria. It covers personal and family law. It was extended in 1997 to cover aspects of criminal law such as amputation of limbs for theft and to criminalize personal law such as stoning to death for adultery. This led to unrests which has led to loss of lives and property in northern Nigeria 14 Hijab or the veil is a loose garment Muslim women are required to wear, which covers the body from the head to toes. It is seen to provide the necessary seclusion for women who have reached puberty. There is no universal reason for veiling. Some women wear it to adorn themselves, to show respect for values and to indicate their social status. The veil also defines sexuality as observing or neglecting the veil in presence of a man indicates who he is to the woman. It has also been used a tool for patriarchal bargains by women in Egypt and Iran where women exerted political power by threatening to drop the veil. See Hoodfar, H. (2001). The Veil in their Minds and on our Heads: Veiling Practices and Muslim Women. Women, Gender, Religion: A Reader. E. Castelli, A., and Rosamond, C, Rodman. New York, Palgrave.

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Arguably, because women have submitted to the patriarchal claims on modesty by wearing the hijab, and seclusion by going to women only spaces, they have won the right to go to Islamiyya schools where they are learning to read and write as well as meeting other women. In addition, they extend the bargain to include non-religious material in the curriculum such as English, Arithmetic and Health education, as is the case with the schools in Kalarin. Because they are still within their bounds in the social order, they have also extended the use of the ‘space’ to learn about their religion to engage in associational activity. This was done by women in Tsafe and Kalarin, who have the FOMWAN and JIBWIS associations. Their bargains include preaching to other women, in exchange for networking, support for members during births, weddings, deaths, housework and child care in the crèches owned by the associations, especially in Kalarin. The quest for education which will enable women to read texts that regulate their lives could be seen as their own way of resisting subordination and struggle for a new subjectivity as proposed by Foucault (Faubion, 1994). This situates our findings into the argument of human agency as put forward by Foucault (Faubion 1994;McNay 1994) and Giddens (Giddens 1984;Craib 1992). Reflecting on Giddens’ structuration theory, it could be argued that women are able to build their own networks in order to support themselves within the constraints of the social structure. In this light, it could be argued that women use their agency to circumvent restrictions, by bargaining with the prevailing social order through the use of methods that do not threaten the status-quo such as women only spaces and appropriate dress. Men’s associations differ from the women’s associations in terms of the kinds of activities they engage in. While the women’s associations described above focus more on self help and care giving, the men’s associations are more concerned with community development or income generating activities. For example, the Miyetti Allah association leader in Ringim said the purpose of their association is to protect the interest of Fulani herders in both local and regional affairs. These include securing vaccines for cattle, getting rights of passage through the cattle trails when they migrate to greener pastures during the dry season, and rights to graze and water their cattle in designated areas. Similarly, the Garewa Matasa club in Tsafe is concerned with community development, and maintains the school buildings, carries out road repairs, culvert construction, clearing of refuse and bushes, and the maintenance of mosques and graveyards. Fada Youth Development Association in Kalarin, Poshereng Youth Congress and Madakiya Farmers’ Cooperative carry out similar activities.

4.2 FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE PARTICIPATION IN GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

This section draws on the argument that social structural factors influence women’s participation in groups and associations in their communities. In a structural analysis of social capital, Lin (2001a) argues that social capital could be instrumental, which involves actions taken to add to resources or expressive, which are actions taken to maintain resources already owned. This means that men engage in activities which add to the resources they already own, which means their dominance perpetuates, while women will continue to be subordinate to men because their networks attract poorer resources (Lin, 2000). Similarly, Mayoux, (2001:430) argues that institutions found within the community could constrain women’s ability to negotiate change at the local level, and may help to perpetuate women’s subordination. In this case, questions regarding the extent to which macro-level economic, legal, social and political institutions constrain women’s ability to negotiate change at the local level become important. Such questions are necessary given that the concept of ‘community’ portrayed as a united front or homogenous entity is misleading because of the many differences which divide people, the most important being gender and unequal access to power (Guijt, 1998). Community members in the different villages identified community institutions as the village traditional government, the clans, mosques and markets, as well as the modern The latter comprising associations and groups, the local government, banks, courts, police, schools and hospitals to which men and women have differential access (Moore, 1990; Abdulwahid, 2005). The factors which influence access to community

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institutions are a result of social and political arrangements and religion, which inform women’s social positioning. These factors influence the ability of people to make use of resources and negotiate change. The findings suggest that gender influences women’s participation in their communities in different ways across the villages. For example, women in Madakiya, Poshereng and Kalarin participate more in their communities because they belong to community clans as part of the social organization in those villages. This could be said to have laid foundations for the numerous community associations that thrive in those villages. Women participate more in community institutions in Madakiya, where the clan structure is robust and directly informs village government. In this arrangement, women have access to decision making through their clans, where they have representatives and through the ward head, who links them to village authority. It could be argued that the clan social arrangement enables women’s participation in community groups and other institutions, and has to some extent reduced the restrictions of gender for women in the Madakiya, Poshereng and Kalarin. It has also reduced the restrictions of seclusion required of Muslim women in Kalarin. Women are less connected to community institutions in Kalarin even though social organization is clan based because village government is based on the emirate system, which does not allow the participation of women. Also, women have less access because, according to male interviewees, their religion requires women to be in seclusion. We could interpret the posture of male interviewees saying ‘the law’ requires women to be in seclusion to be a manifestation of protecting their patriarchal position. If the question be asked, ‘what law’ or ‘whose law’, we could argue that it is patriarchal law as given by men, as the holy prophet himself made no such specific restrictions. Women in Kalarin participate in Islamiyya groups, clan groups, work based adashe groups and community development associations such as Akumbo, which is a community development association. Wasboko, is a women’s community dance group and Kalpodwalec is a women’s association concerned with making peace between conflicting parties in the community. In Kalarin, there is an apparent tension and struggle of dominance between Tangale and Islamic cultures. On the one hand, the people identify with their culture and aspects of the culture such as divisions into clans that regulate their lives. The role of women within the clan structure allows them some participation in terms of responsibility for settlement of disputes between women as well as men. On the other hand they also want to identify with their acquired religion as well as its associated practices. On the question of women, Islamic teaching has been interpreted that they are to be segregated and cared for within the household by men in order to protect them. However, the people seem to accommodate Islamic culture within their culture by allowing women to go out of the home to work, wearing appropriate body covering and restricting them from going to the market. In the communities with different social arrangements such as Tsafe and Ringim, women as well as men participate less in community associations where group participation is a recent innovation. For example, men interviewed in Ringim said they started participating in community associations in the village when the government initiated Mass Mobilization for Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) in 1992, which encouraged the formation of community groups and associations as part of the government’s rural development policy. Community groups and associations are not part of Hausa social organization. Those found in communities are set up to confront certain problems and as such are therefore ad hoc. Examples are gayya, amongst men, which is convened to deal with immediate problems such as road repairs, harvesting farm produce and building huts and barns. Amongst women, it is convened to deal with domestic labour such as making the floor of the hut or room (dabe), room decoration (jere15) or other needs as they arise. It could be argued that public associational activity was not part of the social organization. When the practice was adopted through social interactions with people from other places who have hometown associations,

15 Dabe and jere are social events for women, when a woman invites her friends and relations from near and far to come and help her to redecorate her hut. This is usually accompanied by merriment, which involves cooking, and singing to rhythms beaten on the calabash (kwarya).

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contact with the west exposed people to western type political participation. Thus trade unionism and trade associations, as well as promotions by the government such as MAMSER, became the privilege of men, because of their public character. Women in Tsafe and Ringim participate less in community groups and institutions because societal norms do not support such participation. However, women in these villages participate in biki and adashe activities. For example, women participate in these activities without restrictions because the groups are exclusively female and the norms of group participation do not require meetings. Agreements of association are verbal and based on trust. Most important of all, the norms of adashe groups do not contravene religious/cultural norms in Tsafe and Ringim communities. The result suggests that women in such communities are less likely than men to participate in institutions in their communities other than women’s groups because of religious and cultural restrictions. They are less likely than men to have connections to the village authority and the local government because the social arrangements in those villages have no provision for the participation of women. Even though women in Gamashina are Christian and not subject to laws of seclusion, they are also excluded from participation in village government, which is a male domain in the Hausa culture and they are restricted to their zumunta groups. Although Islamic teachings stress the importance of the umma (community) the hierarchical nature of government and politics and traces of feudalism in Hausa communities (Hill, 1982), makes cooperation difficult between the privileged and ordinary (talakawa) members of the community outside the spaces of religion. Association under the auspices of religion is mostly done for charity such as graveyard maintenance, and giving alms to the needy. Such activities tend to be gendered and dominated by men. For example, only men said they get together to maintain the community graveyards in Tsafe and Kalarin because the internment part of funeral is a man’s domain and no women are allowed. With the establishment of shariah as state law, community members now engage in improving Islamiyya schools in Tsafe and Kalarin. This development is important for women because they are now actors in an arena from which they were hitherto excluded. The pattern is different for Christian communities where women do participate in collective action albeit to a lesser degree than men. The differences observed between Muslim and Christian communities could be explained by participation of Christian community members in church groups and associations. For example, church members in Gamashina and Madakiya have farm work groups where they engage in rotational farm work for members and widows. Community members also participate in collective activities for the church such as maintaining church buildings and schools as well as village development activities. It could be argued that such activities give community members experiences of cooperation towards common goals. The relative freedom people in Christian communities have to interact with others makes it possible for community members to have more connections to other people as well as to community institutions. Related to the nature of social interaction is the system of social organization found in Christian communities, which fosters collective action through cooperation of the clan and the larger community. The results indicate that people participate more in community institutions in which community members are involved in village government. People participate more in village government in communities where political power is diffused, as evident in communities, which have the clan system, than in centralised communities, which have the emirate system. For example, clan organization in Madakiya, Poshereng and Kalarin facilitate cooperation between community members for community development activities and mutual support. Thus all community development activities in Madakiya are carried out through community clans and these also play important roles in community development activities in Poshereng and Kalarin. The results indicate religion influences participation in community groups and associations. Men have more connections to community institutions in Muslim communities because religion demarcates spatial

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boundaries between men and men, with women being located to the home and having less space than men. Men on the other hand have freedom of movement throughout public space, such as the markets, village squares, motor parks, mosques and schools, which were described as the important areas during group interviews. These are places where men could meet other people and cultivate relationships with them. Women are not only restricted by religion, they are also restricted by their gender roles and the control of public space by men (Walby 1990; Rosaldo 1974; Meill 1996). In all the villages visited, women are responsible for housework, which includes, cooking, cleaning, taking care of young children and the elderly, as well as helping out on the farms or processing farm produce at home. Such duties keep the women home bound, leaving them with less time to engage in associational activity. Men on the other hand are expected to ‘provide’ the family with food and other needs, which are theoretically obtained outside the home. Also, men are expected to participate in public affairs such as trading in the village markets, village square and visiting the ward and village heads to show allegiance or to discuss community matters. The different roles men and women perform in Muslim communities means that men will have more interaction and connection to community institutions. Men also have more connections to community institutions in Christian communities than women. The results show that men consistently have more connections to community groups and associations as well as to village government. However, the difference between men and women seems to be less in Christian communities. Arguably, the Christian women have more connections because they enjoy relatively more freedom to associate with others than Muslim women. However, they are also bound by their gender roles (Glennon, 1979) as well as their subordinate social position as they are excluded from the public sphere, which is an arena of decision-making and power, by men (Lamphere, 1993). This also influences their social interaction with other community members and consequently, their connections to community institutions. In addition to participation in church groups and associations, the church seems to have allowed the existence of community clans and associations as part of the social fabric in Christian communities. However, the Islamic faith seemed to have weakened the clan structure by giving more importance to the place of religion as a complete way of life and allegiance to Islamic leaders rather than the clan. This is evident in Kalarin where the clan system exists side by side with the emirate system, in tension between clan and religious allegiance. Religion limits women’s connections to community institutions where it is an integral part of the state, and used to enforce religious laws. For example, where societal norms are part of the religious laws such as in Muslim communities, such laws are enforced by the state. Conversely, the church facilitates community participation where societal norms support relatively freer interaction between community members. It could be argued therefore that religious ideology has an influence on connections to community associations and institutions by promoting connections to community institutions on the one hand as in Christian communities through church associations and committees and limiting connections as in Muslim communities by limiting social interaction between men and women. Following Giddens’ structuration theory, it could be argued that just as religion limits community participation for women, it could also be used to enhance their participation. This is because access to education (albeit Islamiyya), which is ‘allowed’, has provided women with the means to alternative interpretation of laws and subsequent negotiation has allowed hitherto restricted women to have increased access to education, jobs and income as in Kalarin. Religion can also be seen as a facilitator of community participation for women in Christian communities, where they participate in church groups and committees, which are important community decision making forums. In addition, women have connections to various religious associations in their communities as well as neighbouring communities through the church. In this regard, religion has the direct opposite influence on access to community groups and institutions because the church supports some community groups and associations in Madakiya, Poshereng and Gamashina.

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4.3 HOW WOMEN GET EXCLUDED

It could be argued that men’s social capital serves to exclude women as well as perpetuate their subordination in the community. This happens on two fronts. Firstly, they are excluded by participating in women only associations, which start from a weaker structural position and may command weaker resources (Lin, 2000). Secondly, their associations are subsumed under the more powerful men’s associations when they collaborate and they are subordinated in community development activities. As was mentioned previously, the activities of men’s associations differ from women’s. While in men’s social capital is instrumental in terms of being engaged in activities that involve community decision making and adding to resources, women tend to be more engaged in expressive actions and pastoral care, which corresponds to their gender roles. Men’s social capital thus may limit the growth of women’s social capital. The implication of this is that women will not have access to arenas of decision-making where they can participate in decisions and negotiate changes to their situation. For example, women in Madakiya were asked to show the institutions and associations in their village indicating their relative influence by the nearness to the centre of a square of cardboard. The most important associations and institutions were identified as Batadon16, CAN and the local government, with the women’s associations who care for orphans, widows and Barazan17 far away from the centre as shown in the figure3 below. Figure 3 – Community Associations in Madakiya as drawn by women

“Such associations have little access to the powerful institutions such as CAN, Batadon and the Local Government “, the women said. The three circles not named represent women’s association for self help with child-care, which they said have no connection or access to any institution. Women do this for themselves to share child-care responsibilities, so that they make time for farm work. Also, there are women’s associations in CAN and Bata don but the women did not mention them. This suggests that such women’s associations have been subsumed under the more powerful men controlled associations and institutions.

16 Batadon refers to the people of Madakiya. Community members are organized into clans or lineages. Batadon is the umbrella association of all community clans. 17 Association of women from other ethnic groups married to men of Batadon.

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Women’s social capital is also limited by the relationships between associations, which is necessary for the collective action and privileges networking and collaboration between community associations. Community members in Madakiya, Poshereng and Kalarin said women as well as men participate in collective action through their groups and associations. However, the strong associations often dominate the smaller or weaker ones, and the bigger and stronger men’s associations dominate those of women. In such collaborations as described above by participants, women’s networks get subsumed under the more powerful men’s networks. Women then find it difficult to negotiate changes because they are working within masculine structures. For example, Barazan in Madakiya and FOMWAN in Tsafe and Kalarin work within masculine structures, with no gender equity agenda. The Barazan works within the Batadon clan structures and FOMWAN works within JNI, which are masculine organizations. A similar pattern was observed in Tsafe. The women groups founded in the Islamiyya schools are subsumed under FOMWAN and Da’awa, which are subsumed under JNI and JIBWIS respectively as shown in figure 4 below. Figure 4 – Community Associations in Tsafe as drawn by men

On the face of it, the diagram made by male participants, shows that there are no women’s associations functioning in Tsafe. However, when the diagram was shown to the women interviewees and used as a basis for questioning about the associations they participate in, it was revealed that they have their own associations. These being are affiliated to Garewa Matasa club before the Sharia in Tsafe, but which has since died out because women were expelled from all mixed associations in Tsafe. They now have FOMWAN and Da’awa, which are only for women and are affiliated to JIBWIS and JNI. The bigger associations thus control the participation of women in collective action in the community. Women in Tsafe do their activities in a different sphere from men. However, men through the JIBWIS and JNI control their activities where important decisions about women’s Islamiyya schooling are taken. By extension, women are dominated within these organizations and they may not be able to negotiate change within such structures. This questions the idea of collaboration and highlights the debate of integration and

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separatism in gender and development (see Goetz, 1997; El-Bushra, 2000; Chowdhry, 1995; Briskin, 1999; Stern, 2001; Young, 2002; Brooks, 1997; Moser, 1993; Porter, 1999; Rathgeber, 1995; Cornwall, 2003).

4.4 WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN COLLECTIVE ACTION: IMPLICATION FOR GENDER EQUITY

The patterns observed suggest that first, women’s gender roles influence the kinds of collective activities they engage in. While women are relegated to non-decisions making roles in collective activities in Christian communities, they are completely excluded from participation in Muslim communities, except by proxy or where they have access to schooling and participate as local government employees as in Kalarin. Second, men’s control of community development activities indicates maintenance of patriarchal control over the public sphere (Walby, 1986). In communities where women participate alongside men such as in Poshereng, Madakiya and Gamashina, they assume the gender roles of cooking, fetching water and sand during village development activities, and do not make the decisions. This means that women are subordinated in such networks, which perpetuate their subordinate social position and means that women may not be able to negotiate changes to their positions if they do not participate in making decisions. As was mentioned earlier one of the problems of using social capital as a policy tool is the lack of attention paid to questions about power and gender inequality. Because of the differential access to resources between men and women and between women, use of groups and associations as empowerment strategies can result in costs to women (Silvey and Elmhirst, 2003; Rankin, 2001). In the study adopted by SCAT as well as some yardsticks, which Robert Putnam employed to study connections between Americans, the measurements did not have scope for dealing with questions of gender and power within communities. This kind of lapse has been criticised by other theorists who argue that scholars of social capital tend to ignore differences of gender and power in their analysis (Baron, 2000; Fine, 2002; Foley and Edwards, 1999; Lowndes, 2000; Morrow, 1999; Molyneux, 2002 among others). For example, Mayoux, (2001) argues that the underlying assumption behind empowerment is that the use of associations and groups will lead to economic, social and political empowerment because they lead to collective activity. However, Mayer and Rankin, (2002) argue that such participation comes at a cost to women. Mayoux (2001) suggests that analysis should focus on the rules and norms, which facilitate formation and continuance of associations and relationships, as well as ask some critical gender questions which should be borne in mind in analysis of social capital. The literature recognizes the importance of access to other people, to institutions and participation in collective action and support the idea of using community associations and groups as means of involving people in development of their communities. However, less attention has been given to matters of gender and power relations, which are factors that are likely to influence access to community groups and associations and their associated resources. It seems fair at this point to argue that proponents of the idea of social capital as a development tool are more concerned with participation of people to achieve economic efficiency, than challenging power structures and changing the system to give more power to the people as this might be more costly. Other commentators whose arguments are briefly reviewed below take up the issue of the poor engagement with gender and power relations. It could be argued that the non-engagement with gender and power relations could have contributed to the gender blindness of authors of social capital. Commentators note that much of civic engagement is highly gendered (Field, 2003; Morrow, 1999). Although some authors have commented on the relationship between social and political organization and on the impact of history and religion on social capital (Putnam, 1993a; Fukuyama, 1996; Fukuyama, 2001), there is very little said about how gender as an organizing principle of the social structure impacts on social capital (Putnam, 1993a; Grootaert and van Bastelaer,

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2001). Even Bourdieu, who was concerned with how social capital reproduces hierarchies, does not problematize gender as one of his inequalities. This raises the question of why gender is not explored in a dimension that is clearly gendered in practice such as civic engagement. There are two possible explanations, either the concept is flawed or it is the effect of a traditional approach to evidence, which privileges male spheres of activities. (Lowndes, 2000; Lewis, 2002); and Field, (2003) sees the answer as more inclined to the latter. However, a feminist commentator would take both positions as valid for two reasons. One is the baggage of taking the male as the norm, which comes from traditional ways of knowledge construction in the social sciences (Haraway, 1988; Harding, 1991; Reinharz, 1992; Stanley, 1990; Stanley and Wise, 1993). The second is the modernization tendencies of development agencies and the rhetoric around social capital which privilege limited roles for the state and more responsibilities to local institutions in the quest to build modern democracy globally, all of which are male domains which tend to see the world from male eyes (Molyneux, 2002; Mayer and Rankin, 2002). Molyneux (2002:177) argues that the literature has devoted more energy to men’s social capital and spheres of activity without corresponding efforts given to women’s networks or their spheres of activity. Where women are acknowledged, they are inscribed in normative assumptions which are stereotypes and which are used to inform development policy. The first is the assumption that women are naturally pre-disposed to serve their families or communities either because of their caring nature or, because their gender roles embed them more in family and neighbourhood ties. Thus women are more predisposed to maintain the social capital in such domains. These assumptions are taken without questioning the terms on which women are incorporated into such roles, or the power relations involved in situating women in this way. Molyneux, (2002:180) argued that this can “all too easily make the responsibility for community projects, family health, environmental protection, (women are seen as closer to nature), (Glennon, 1979) come to be seen as the preserve of women”. Lowndes (2000) questions why women’s networks and spheres of activity especially as regards their gender roles such as childcare and caring networks are overlooked in analyses of social capital. She suggests that this can be explained by the public/private divide in the consideration of politics in general and citizenship in particular. Such clusters of activities values and ways of thinking associated with women’s gender roles “are all conceived as outside the political world of citizenship and largely irrelevant to it” (Lowndes, 2000: 535). This explains why they are not considered in such high sounding formulations as ‘civic engagement’. This calls attention to two things. Firstly, the invisibility of women’s work and spheres of activity in creating or sustaining social networks (Morrow, 1999:751), and by extension social capital. Second, the work of the mindset, which sees women’s place to be the home, and theorise women within that the domestic sphere. This is contrary to the multitude of tasks women perform (Boserup, 1989; Jiggins, 2000) as well as the social networks they generate and sustain (Molyneux, 2002). This conservative tendency in social capital theorizing leads to conservative policy approaches which may have consequences for gender subordination, (Molyneux, 2002:182). For example, the perspective which sees social capital as path dependent, (Fukuyama, 1996; Putnam, 1993b), and favours the building of social capital on existing forms or the revival of past forms, could be interpreted as supporting ‘traditional’ networks and forms of administration and, where policy is not sensitive to gender and equity concerns, may deepen existing social cleavages. It could be argued that equity issues are marginalised in social capital development literature because women do not belong to the kinds of networks that bring economic advantage, (Molyneux, 2002). Men typically dominate business and political networks and women are often excluded by their domestic responsibilities and gender ideologies. This leads to development of policies, which consolidate gender inequality by favouring men’s networks financially and by taking women’s for granted.

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Mayoux (2001) argues that although the assumption in female poverty targeting is that social capital is important because it is one of the few resources women have, and the strategy deployed is the use of groups to target poor women. Participation in networks could therefore have negative consequences for women, which include unwelcome claims on women’s labour and remittances, policing of women, and exclusion of women from the more powerful networks of the community, (Silvey and Elmhirst, 2003). The negatives sides of participation in collective action for women were illustrated from the daily activities of women in Gamashina. The activities of the women members of the Zumunta group in Gamashina were recorded for a single day. These showed that women who participate in voluntary groups have more work burdens than men or other women who do not participate in voluntary groups. For example, the women’s work day starts with cleaning and making breakfast for the family. After they have fed the family and cleaned up, they go to work on the husbands’ or household (gandu) farm to work. All the farmers return in the afternoon. The men wash and take a rest while the women give their children lunch. The women then go to work for their association on member’s farms or to earn money for the association, after that, they also go to their own farms and vegetable gardens to work. They finally return home to prepare the evening meal. Participation in such labour-based associations thus places an enormous burden of work on women during the farming season. In contrast, male members of the association only work on their own farms, participate in gayya and do not have the other added chores. They have leisure time in the evening, which is spent relaxing in beer houses. To illustrate how participation in voluntary associations add to the work burden of women pictures are shown below which were taken on a typical day for women who participate in zumunta associations in Gamashina. Similarly, research in other fields shows that women tend to be saddled with the extra responsibility of implementing gender equity issues in organizations, which places burdens on women. This being one of the reasons why they find it difficult to break through the glass ceiling, (Brooks, 1997; Acker, 1994). Drawing an analogy from this, women tend to find themselves overburdened whenever an attempt is made to change their situation. Perhaps it is one of the strategies patriarchy uses in perpetuating itself, (Rubin, 1997). Participation in groups also places normative constraints on women’s mobility and behaviour, (Silvey and Elmhirst, 2003). Participation in strong networks such as JNI and JIBWIS means more policing of women in Tsafe and Kalarin. Such policing is evident where women are expected to make other women conform to the social rules in the community. For example, the FOMWAN leader in Kalarin gave this researcher a hijab and insisted that it be worn for the duration of stay in Tsafe because that is what is expected of the women in the community. Drawing from Kandiyoti, (1988) and Imam, (1993), it could be argued that women bargain with the prevailing social order to maintain normative expectations for privileges such as going to school in Tsafe and Kalarin. The Hijab has become a symbol of membership in such networks. Their ‘uniform’ as the women called it or their ‘outing licence’ (lasisin fita)18 to go out of their homes. In addition, the conduct of members is also subject to policing, as members are supposed to portray ‘good behaviour’, (kullen zuci) (Robson, 2000) while out of the their homes, which the women say, is what differentiates them from the ‘ignorant ones’ (non members). Hence, it could be interpreted that in order to be able to belong to social networks, women have to keep other women within the expected codes of behaviour. Thus they enter into a bargain with patriarchy, (Kandiyoti, 1988), which carries strong sanctions when violated. Societal expectations could also extend to exclude women from the powerful networks of men as well other networks. Mayoux, (2001) questions the extent to which men networks exclude women and perpetuate their subordination. The findings indicate that women do participate in networks, which portion out power in the

18 Some women resist the hijab by calling it derogatory names which carry sexual innuendos, such as Mallam ka bar banza, the nearest in meaning being that a man only has to ask. This suggests that the hijab does not stop a woman from engaging in unlawful affairs if she wishes. This indicates that the social structure may constrain women, but women still resist and subvert the structure.

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communities. For example, women are excluded from the village councils in all the villages. Women’s groups are subordinated in collective action as a result of women’s social position, which limits their participation in decision-making. Women’s groups are often subsumed under more powerful male groups or associations in the community. Where women participate in male groups, they often take on subordinate roles. For example, all the groups in Poshereng, which make up the large development association has female members apart from the football club but none of the listed associations has a woman as leader. When leaders of the village health committee were asked why they do not have women leaders, they said women do not like coming to meetings because they are busy at home and that is why they do not get leadership positions. Women are thus excluded on two fronts. The more powerful male groups dominate them and they are excluded from power within the mixed groups. In this regard, Mayoux, (2001:440) argues that researchers need to critically assess the nature of women’s networks, both horizontally and vertically, and the potential constraints posed by men’s social capital and macro-level institutions. Also, the underlying assumptions about gender and subordination embedded in the rules and norms governing social interaction and relationships at all levels need to be critically assessed. In this light, inquiry is needed into the extent to which men’s social capital serves to reinforce gender subordination, and the extent to which horizontal or vertical linkages between particular groups of women exclude outsiders, particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged women, (Mayoux, 2001:441).

5. CONCLUSION

Findings from this study as well as others indicate that men tend to participate more in such organizations because of their public orientation and relative power roles within communities. Informal networks are the types women engage in such as school runs, child-care, (Lowndes, 2000; Molyneux, 2002; Hibbit, 2000) and the Adashe and biki networks in this study. The implication of ignoring such networks in the analysis of social capital is that a whole sphere of human activity (women and children) is overlooked. This may have negative consequences for development policy and practices as old hierarchies and instruments of gender subordination will continue to be privileged. The results presented above suggest that societal norms and patterns of social organization in a community influence people’s participation in community activities. The influence is more marked for women because their gender roles and subordinate social position limit their levels of participation in all the communities. Societal norms shape political organization, gender relations, women’s access to education and income, and also influence women’s connections in their communities as well as participation in collective action. Patterns observed indicate that although men and women participate in collective action, they engage in different activities. While men engage in community development work such as building schools, women engage more in care giving such as visiting and helping other women with housework. It is argued that such divisions emanate from the differential social positions of men and women. The results also indicate that participation in collective action may not be benign for women. This follows two strands, first is the argument of the extra burden collective action places on women’s time and labour and normative constraints of societal expectations and well as exclusion as argued by (Silvey and Elmhirst, 2003). The second strand, which builds on the first, argues that women could be subordinated in collective action and may not be able to negotiate changes because their networks are excluded or subsumed under more powerful men’s networks, or when they collaborate, they take on subordinate roles, (Mayoux, 2001). The findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to social contexts in order to understand the power and gender structures as well as the rules and norms which shape social interaction and may determine the types of social capital men and women access, (Mayoux, 2001). Commentators in the development arena such as Cornwall, (2003); Rowlands, (1997); Garba, (1999); Guijt and Kaul Shah, (1998) and Goetz, (1997) argue that consideration of social context is crucial to facilitating relevant empowerment strategies in communities

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