The impact of women's mobilization : A study of the impact of civil society organizations on the implementation of the Special Land Titling and Cadastre Project (PETT) in Peru.

Abstract

This thesis investigates how Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) influenced the implementation of the National Land Titling Project (PETT) in Peru. The study of the impact of women’s mobilization is approached from the perspective of social movement theory and theory on women and land rights.

Land titling projects such as PETT raise a number of questions about the social implications of formalization. Women often are disadvantaged when it comes to land titling, due to several factors such as lack of legal documentation, illiteracy and the predominant gender division of labor. However, evaluations of the formalization process in Peru show that there has been an increase in the incidence of joint ownership from the first phase of the implementation process to the second, even though the joint titling of land to couples was never adopted as official policy. Heavy criticism was raised towards PETT by feminist NGOs and social movements in the late nineties, promoting equal land rights. Researchers mention the mobilization as a possible explanation for the increase in joint ownership, suggesting that the activism of CSOs led the implementing agency to favor joint ownership between spouses.

Even though the result of PETT was an increase in the incidence of joint titling, and the goal of the civil society campaign was to include women in the titling process, one cannot exclude other explanations. Defining outcome is more complex than this. All the effects are taking place within a broader political and cultural context that will form the political opportunity structure and influence the impact of civil society mobilization. In Peru political changes were occurring, and there was recognition of women’s land rights in international politics. The changes in the political space created space for new actors, and a change in the extent of repression of collective actors, both from the government forces and from terrorist groups. These changes seem to have created a good environment for action. However, the increase in joint titling might not have occurred had it not been for PETT’s willingness to improve and the changes that have taken place in the broader political context.