Lobo Romero, Iván Darío;
(2020)
Agency in collective action: the role of Afro-Colombian community leadership in local economic development in the Colombian Pacific region.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis studies the role of rural Afro-Colombian leadership on the promotion of collective action for economic development. Specifically, the formal leadership established by Law 70 of 1993, which granted communities collective property rights over their territories. No study has so far focused specifically on the role of Afro- Colombian community leadership. Eighty-three in-depth semi-structured interviews, 3 focus groups, 541 household surveys and a geo-referenced database of illicit crops in the municipality of Buenaventura provided data for the analysis. The role of leadership is analysed in three interrelated phenomena: development of community enterprises, collective resistance to illicit crops and the provision of development aid. This research characterises the exercise of leadership as a form of brokerage. Three central functions of leadership are identified: First, the transition from governance structures associated with a common property regime to those needed for developing community enterprises demands from leaders the adaptation and translation of logics inherent in two or more epistemic contexts or institutional spheres of action. Second, communities with stronger leadership and capacity for collective organisation are more able to resist the influx of illicit crops due in large part to the ability of leaders to infuse social capital with specific normative meanings. Third, the provision of aid for development is sustained by a system of short-term incentives that prevents communities from seeking more advantageous development outcomes. Leaders are key elements in this system for they act as intermediaries who share the collective benefits from aid but reap individual rewards. This leads to conflicts of representation that undermine legitimacy for leaders and their communities. This research contributes to theories of leadership and entrepreneurship in collective action and studies of leadership in subaltern or non-elite groups in Colombia and similar contexts.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Agency in collective action: the role of Afro-Colombian community leadership in local economic development in the Colombian Pacific region |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2021. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10118263 |
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