Women's local community activism: Paths to politicization

Women's activism at the local level is a critical resource in the ongoing work to support families, healthy communities, and the development of a more just and equitable society. This exploratory study examines how their politicization serves to engage them in work for social change at the grassroots level. Politicization is defined as the ways in which individuals develop a framework of meanings and beliefs that challenge dominant ideologies and empower political action. This research presents a grounded substantive theory of politicization guided by three research questions: What are the major processes through which women's politicization occurs? How do women define themselves as activists? What are the incentives for women to take the risks associated with becoming more politically active?;Utilizing a snowball sampling strategy, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women who were active in a campaign to regain citizen control of a neighborhood based public library system. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to develop conceptual understanding of the subjective processes through which women activists generate, hold and use belief systems; the role of structural contexts in which women's collective activism occurs; the intersection of structure and culture, and the effect of that intersection on the processes of politicization.;Results suggest that politicization consists of three major stages with mediating processes: the everyday, engagement and oppositional consciousness. The everyday is the "mix" of who women are in their daily lives; it is from this stance that women were engaged in politicization. Engagement is the process through which women came to identify and join with a group, understand one's and the group's position as it relates to the dynamics of power relations, and decide to mobilize for collective action. Oppositional consciousness is both a product and process of politicization. Developed out of the everyday, and through engagement, it is a set of beliefs and ideas that guided these women as individuals to name and confront injustice through collective action. These activists interpreted their participation in the library campaign in terms of their roles as effective caretakers of their families and community, and as responsible citizens.