Session 1: Wellbeing and Collective Action
- Wellbeing, Democracy and Political Violence in Bangladesh - Joe Devine, University of Bath
- Rethinking agency in collective action - Frances Cleaver - University of Bradford.
- Prospects of Collective Action and Well-Being of Subordinate Groups in Contexts of Inequality and Domination - Shapan Adnan, National University of Singapore
- Collective Action: Contested Values in the Pursuit of Wellbeing in Thailand -
Buapun Promphakping, WeD

Session 2: Wellbeing, Gender and Generation
- Marriage, Family and the Cultural Construction of Wellbeing in Bangladesh - Sarah White, University of Bath
- Life course, wellbeing and social exclusion. Narratives of older women in Buenos Aires - Peter Lloyd Sherlock and Catherine Locke, UEA
- Well-being and Crises: Household Vulnerability and Resilience in three Bangladesh Communities -
Iqbal Alam Khan
- Intergenerational Transfer of Poverty/Wealth: Evidences from Four Communities in Ethiopia– Yisak Tafere, WeD/Young Lives, Ethiopia

Session 3: Wellbeing and Social Order
- Social Analysis and Social Ordering: Destitution and the Durability of Poverty - Maia Green, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester.
- Vulnerability and poverty persistence in a capability setting - Armando Barrientos, IDS Sussex
- Fluid Identities, exploring ethnicity in Peru - Maritza Paredes, University of Oxford
- “You are not going there to amuse yourself,” Barriers in constructing wellbeing through international migration: The case of Peruvian migrants in London and Madrid - Katie Wright-Revolledo, Intrac/University of Bath

Marriage, Family and the Cultural Construction of Wellbeing in Bangladesh
Sarah White [email protected]

The focus on ‘wellbeing’ promises to increase the range of issues or dimensions of life: in shorthand, to go beyond ‘the economic’. The signature move is to include people’s own (‘subjective’) perspectives alongside material (‘objective’) indicators, typically through the language of ‘values’ and ‘goals’. Admission of ‘cultural difference’ recognises that ‘values’ will differ from place to place. The notion of ‘cultural construction’ suggests a more profound challenge. First, it questions the easy opposition of objective versus subjective, or material reality versus people’s perceptions. Second, it transcends individualism, showing how individual perceptions are grounded in shared meanings through culture; and how experience is essentially constituted in relation to others.

This paper considers what WeD research on marriage and family relations shows of the construction of wellbeing in Bangladesh. Marriage and family are at the heart of what matters to people in Bangladesh. They are core to all three dimensions of wellbeing WeD identifies: living a good life (values and ideals); having a good life (material welfare and standards of living); and locating one’s life (experience and subjectivity). In providing idioms of relatedness, structures of governance, and instantiation of a moral order, marriage and family also constitute social institutions which are foundational to the broader organization of society in Bangladesh. Interpretation draws on a wider discussion of how personal relations are represented and experienced in South Asia. The paper focuses on the ways people conceive and negotiate their relatedness with respect to the three wellbeing dimensions. These reveal a world in which the moral and material are deeply intertwined, where the pragmatics of inter-personal politics configure an over-arching moral order in and through engagement in the mundane.

Life course, wellbeing and social exclusion. Narratives of older women in Buenos Aires

Peter Lloyd Sherlock and Catherine Locke [email protected]

This study applies a lifecourse analysis to understanding the wellbeing of older people in a socially-excluded setting. Adopting a subjective approach, the study focuses on lifetime relations with children and grandchildren. Analysis of oral histories of 22 older people illustrates the complexity of their lived experiences and the significance of key turning points in making sense of their lives. Informants speak of the anxiety and harm caused by children with problems, of remote relations with successful children, and the insecurity of their neighbourhood. The evidence questions received notions about the links between childbearing and wellbeing in later life.

Keywords: lifecourse, Argentina, social exclusion, wellbeing

Intergenerational Transfer of Poverty/Wealth: Evidences from four Communities in Ethiopia

Yisak Tafere [email protected]

The paper tries to examine how parents transfer poverty/ wealth to their children and how these were governed by the community norms. It aims at understanding how persistent poverty in Ethiopia could partly be interwoven in the social fabrics and calling for relatively effective contextualized interventions in reducing child poverty.

Data used to produce this paper were collected in three different levels of WeD research: the Resource and Needs Questionnaire (RANQ), in-depth household and individual interviews, and, specific open-ended protocols designed to understand the intergenerational poverty/wealth transmissions.

The research output indicated that transfer of wealth required following many alternatives until the child really sets up an independent life. Poverty transmission was largely the inability to invest on the future of the child by poor parents. But as it also involved parents’ preference of child work to education, some non-poor people failed to transfer their wealth to their children. Poor parents were more likely to engage their children in income generating activities to maintain the household, whereas non-poor parents needed their children to take on family work. Some poor parents, however, used different mechanisms to invest on their children to become richer adults.

Socio-economic environment, localised norms of entitlement including gender, age and birth order, besides other factors, strongly affected parental investment on education of children. Though parents and children have significant difference in their perception of parents’ obligation towards developing children’s future, cultural norms appeared to favour the parents and there was no legal sanction which enforces children’s expectations.
It emerged that, norms, not only govern transfers of wealth/poverty, but also they themselves were simultaneously transmitted from parents to children. Strong family ties and interdependence between family members guaranteed the transmission of values, attitudes and customs inherited from the older to the younger.

Social Analysis and Social Ordering: Destitution and the Durability of Poverty

Maia Green [email protected]

This paper explores poverty as an outcome not of market failure or economics but of social organisation. Starting from an anthropological perspective, which critically interrogates categories as well as objects of analysis, I argue that the way in which poverty is theorised in development obliterates the salience of social organisation as a key factor in determining who gets what and how social harm is distributed. Insights from studies of destitution support this line of argument. Destitution is shown to be a social process of recategorisation of a person’s previous entitlements, often predetermined by prior social status. Similar processes of reorganisation are evident in the dynamics of witchcraft accusation in contemporary Africa . Such processes of individuation and the redrafting of what is constituted as legitimate dependency, and hence the right to social support, are not confined to extreme instances of desperate local restructuring as occurs in the case of destitution and witchcraft allegations. They are central to the organisation of modern economies premised on the core normative relationship represented not as those between persons as individuals, but between individuals and markets.

Vulnerability and poverty persistence in a capability setting

Armando Barrientos [email protected]

The paper explores the linkages between vulnerability and persistent poverty in a capability setting. Capability theory seeks to explain the production of well being and in doing so it provides guidance on the most appropriate measures to identify and measure poverty understood as significant well being deficits. There is growing understanding that poverty is multidimensional, not only in term of the range of deficits that could be involved but also in respect to its duration. A concern with chronic or persistent poverty can be justified not only in terms of the greater harm that it generates, but also because whole lives are the most appropriate space in which to measure and evaluate well being. The paper outlines and discusses the different components of well being production and the associated processes of transformation, showing how vulnerability could result in persistent poverty. The paper demonstrates that capability theory offers a good basis for developing a more general framework to explain chronic poverty, than existing approaches which rely on assets, income, or the life course. The paper then discusses how capability theory can be extended to support an improved understanding of vulnerability and poverty persistence. This approach is capable of incorporating non-market factors such as social exclusion as sources of vulnerability and chronic poverty, and it is also helpful in drawing attention to the interconnectedness of different sources of vulnerability, for example those associated with old age. The paper then considers how this framework could be applied empirically, using a variety of examples. It concludes by considering the main policy implications emerging from this approach, and suggests that integrated anti-poverty programmes are most likely to be effective in addressing vulnerability and chronic poverty.

Well-being and Crises: Household Vulnerability and Resilience in three Bangladesh Communities

Iqbal Alam Khan [email protected]

In general Bangladesh presents a negative image to the global community characterized by its environmental disasters, political instability, corruption and poverty. Contrary to this image, it has also been seen that despite the material hardship, often created through adverse shocks, people's lives are not full of misery. Keeping in mind this broad perspective, this paper will investigate how (i) the shocks experienced by them affect their well-being and (ii) their resilience prepares them to absorb the shocks.

Taking its lead from the local understandings of crises, and using data gathered under the WeD research in sites in Manikgonj District, this paper presents an analysis of how a range of events or shocks affect people’s well-being. Focusing on floods and health crises, it demonstrates how events of a different nature affect three main dimensions of people’s well-being: their material assets, their household relations and their wider community relations.

The main focus of the psychology literature on well-being or quality of life is on the individual. This paper argues that although this focus is important, it does not allow us to fully understand why people's level of happiness or quality of life does not always correlate with changes in the determinants of their economic position. This highlights the significance of 'household resilience' in overcoming hardship created by the crises. This notion of 'household resilience' requires us to integrate analysis across social and psychological boundaries.

This paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of 'household resilience' using a notion of 'cognitive homeotasis', suggested by Cummins and Nistico (2002). This is an evolutionary survival mechanism that allows people to remain positive and adapt to adverse environments. This paper also elaborates the process of 'causal pathway’of Cummins' model in explaining the linkage between the resource base functioning and life satisfaction. Finally this paper suggests the socio-economic policy implication of the issues examined.

Fluid Identities, exploring ethnicity in Peru

Maritza Paredes [email protected]

This paper analyses information about salient ethnic identities in Peru collected through a survey and follow-up interviews. The results of the survey show that there are not clear boundaries for ethnicity in Peru, not even language; but it does not mean that flexible forms of ‘ethnic categorisation’ do not exist in the country today. They do.

We find evidence of a strong sense of both ethnic identity and discrimination. The language of the answers is complex and rich, but when the question is narrowed, the answer is delivered with an unexpected strength and clarity. While ethnic prejudice has not only resulted in passivity, denial of the group or alienation, but also, in other instances, in a new appreciation of an individual’s own identity; it is clear that it has perverse effects on the appreciation of people’s ethnic identity. In a context where prejudice is the norm --against the Indian in the provinces, and against the serrano in Lima—the need for denial or suppression of identity, or the creation of clear differences between groups can be understood. The imperative of this differentiation can include harm to an individual’s own group.
The paper also brings insights as to the different effects and consequences of salient ethnic identities.

Most people are aware of the effects of racial and cultural traits on people’s chances of getting access to jobs. While much has been accomplished for them or their parents through the process of migration and education, still the most desirable jobs in the private sector seem to run up against the devastating exclusionary power of appearance, whether this is purely aesthetic or ethnic. In the government, access to opportunities comes up against problems of connection and corruption. Power is seen to be in the hands of whites and mestizos. In the provinces, mestizos are aware of their power locally, but in Lima, all agree that power is in the hands of the whites in most institutions of the government, and even more so, in the private sector. Finally, while ethnicity is deeply felt in the private life, it does not crystallize in public sphere. The feeling of a fragmented community and a complex political system results in the frustration of leadership and the belief that any political effort will run into the sand of corruption: too many people from different places to trust, too many different and complex steps to manage the system and too much risk in the informal economy and insecure jobs to get organized.


“You are not going there to amuse yourself,” Barriers in constructing wellbeing through international migration: The case of Peruvian migrants in London and Madrid -

Katie Wright-Revolledo [email protected]

This paper investigates the processes through which migrants achieve wellbeing and the blocks that they experience drawing on research conducted over a period of eighteen months with Peruvian migrants based in London and Madrid. The findings reveal insights into changes in subjective states that relate to the experience of moving between different cultural systems or repertoires of meaning. The main blocks to achieving wellbeing outcomes are explored as losses at the individual level leading to behavioural shifts such as cultural shedding or cultural learning. It also evidences how lack of social support experienced in the societies of settlement (compounded by changes experienced in the acculturating group) lead to social isolation and acculturative stress undermining the achievement of wellbeing.

Full paper

Wellbeing, Democracy and Political Violence in Bangladesh -

Joe Devine [email protected]

Contemporary discussions of wellbeing tend to focus on the idea of individual enhancement or flourishing and in so doing, empty the concept of any real political meaning. This paper works from the premise that wellbeing is a fundamentally political concept and that its everyday pursuit is inherently contested, fraught with uncertainty and subject to constant challenge. This argument is developed and illustrated using empirical data from WeD research in Bangladesh. The evidence presented in the paper points to the emergence of a new political landscape in Bangladesh that rests on two linked social phenomena: the deepening of political party activity and the rise of organized groups known as mastaans or musclemen. The overlap between political party activity and mastaan activity is considerable, and comes to mark the boundaries of social interaction; dominate the struggle for valued resources; and inform the articulation of wider social order. The co-existence of the two phenomena introduces an important paradox. On the one hand, the deepening of political party activity heralds the opening up of new democratic spaces in which, in theory, people can address their wellbeing needs in a more direct manner. On the other hand, the fact that musclemen control the rules that govern these new democratic spaces, means that the practical struggle for wellbeing exposes people to an intimidating and violent form of politics. The article will also explore the implications of this paradox for people’s experience and expectations of citizenship.

Rethinking agency in collective action

Frances Cleaver [email protected]

Participatory approaches to development have gained increased prominence over the past decade, encompassing ideas about the desirability of citizens actively engaging in the institutions, policies and discourses which shape their access to resources.
Central to participatory approaches is the concept of human agency. Purposive individual action is seen as potentially radical and transformatory. Through everyday social practices, participation in public institutions and political engagement people can supposedly re-negotiate norms, challenge inequalities, claim and extend their rights.
In this paper I explore how we need better understandings of the ways in which individual human agency shapes and is shaped by relations to others, institutions and social structures. The intention is to explore the factors which constrain and enable the exercise of agency for different people. Why are some individuals better placed to participate, politically engage and shape decision-making than others? Examples from participatory natural resource management are used to conceptually engage with these questions.
The paper examines six dimensions of agency:

• How moral/ world views (concepts of the ‘right way of doing things’, the perceived relationship between social and natural orders, respect etc) shape the exercise of agency.

• How the complexity of individual identities impacts upon agency.

• How agency is exercised in situations of the unequal interdependence of connected livelihoods.

• How structural limitations shape individuals’ ability to exercise agency .

• Agency and embodiment. How the physical capacity to exercise agency affects ability to participate and access resources.

• Emotionality and motivation: the conscious and unconscious ‘disciplining’ of subjects, which shapes their exercise of agency and impacts on individual and collective decision making

Prospects of Collective Action and Well-Being of Subordinate Groups in Contexts of Inequality and Domination

Shapan Adnan
[email protected]

Attainment of well-being through collective action of the poor and the weak remains unrealistic under conditions where domination reinforces social and economic inequality. Even if there is covert resistance on the lines suggested by Scott (Weapons of the Weak), it is largely ineffective in making substantial dents in prevalent relationships of domination and exploitation. A crucial question is: under what conditions do subordinate individuals and groups risk collective action which may involve open confrontation with the powerful and the wealthy? While this issue is not problematized in Scott’s formulation, there is significant evidence to demonstrate that there can be departures from everyday resistance leading to overt collective action by the poor and the weak. The interesting analytical issues pertain to the factors and mechanisms through which such collective action takes shape, involving transmission of will between individuals, crossing of thresholds of fear, and coordinated group activities, despite apprehension about reactive violence and repression unleashed by dominant groups.

In this paper, I present and analyze selected instances of collective action in contexts of domination and inequality from South and Southeast Asian countries. In particular, case studies of open defiance by poor peasants, wage workers and marginalized groups, based on my own research in Bangladesh, are drawn upon to illustrate the alternative scenarios under which everyday resistance can be punctuated by overt confrontation. A typology of such forms of collective action is presented on the basis of the analysis. It is arguable that a better understanding of these processes can indicate ways of mobilizing subordinate groups that may lead to alternative means of enhancing their well-being. These may be also suggestive of policy implications that are somewhat outside the range of conventional development discourse.

Collective Action: Contested Values in the Pursuit of Wellbeing in Thailand

Buapun Promphakping [email protected]

There has been longstanding recognition of the potential positive impacts of collective action in development processes. Collective action has variously been argued to have social, political and economic benefits. It may contribute to social capital formation; it may increase the efficiency of democratic institutionalization; and it can also minimize transaction costs in ways that can help to improve economic performance. However, with the increasing acknowledgement that growth or wealth does not simply equate to development, and with growing interest in exploring development from a wellbeing perspective, the issue of collective action demands further attention. Collective action touches on many elements of life that are central to our notions of wellbeing: for example, competence, relatedness, identity and community. This paper examines the link between different forms of collective action and the social and cultural construction of wellbeing in the context of rapid change of Thailand. It is based on empirical research undertaken by the WeD -Thailand team in the South and Northeast, between 2004 and 2007. Thailand has a history in which collective action has been promoted by a number of different development agents; the state, the market, NGOs or civil society, international development agencies such as the World Bank and ADB, and communities themselves. All of these forms of collective action have been intended to have particular outcomes for the people who are involved in them, but in conventional development analysis there has been a tendency to focus only on the instrumental outcomes of the action. Using a wellbeing perspective this paper argues that collective action driven by different agents promotes different sets of values and goals. In villages and communities this means that collective action is a locus where identities and meanings are contested. The extent to which local people can achieve wellbeing through collective action therefore cannot be understood only from an objective welfare perspective; rather it is necessary to considered how the shaping of values and meanings has a broader significance for different people in their pursuit of wellbeing. The paper considers three types of collective action: religious based collective action; saving and credit based collective action; and occupation based collective action, and presents an analysis of three case studies.

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