WOMEN'S COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION AND WELL-BEING: LOCAL RESISTANCE TO GENDERED SOCIAL INEQUITIES IN NICARAGUA AND TANZANIA

Although it is well-documented that globalization has exacerbated structural factors that contribute to rising levels of gender inequality, social actors from diverse local contexts demonstrate that women are not mere victims, but rather have worked actively to resist oppression and promote women's well-being worldwide. Self-mobilized groups of women throughout the world are engaging in complex processes of renegotiating structural and relational injustices that transform women's well-being. The current article focuses on how two groups of women-one in Nicaragua and one in Tanzania-use land rights to reconfigure gendered power relations that have been exacerbated during realignments of global power. We examine how conscientization, or a critical consciousness surrounding experiences of gender discrimination, motivated resistance, collective mobilization, and social change. The analysis provides evidence for theories of struggle and everyday resistance that represent how community contexts enable and support women's struggle for justice in an increasingly globalized world.