Abstract:
This study analyzes the implications that women’s participation in social movements
may have on the level of empowerment in a developing country context. A social
movement is a multifaceted phenomenon as it aspires to change not only specific policies
but also, simultaneously, broad cultural and institutional structures. Women-specific as
well as mixed gender movements provide examples of how collective action can
influence mobilization and public opinion. Such collective behavior not only challenges
limitations on gender roles but also mobilizes women to demand for equal opportunities
in all spheres of life. We estimate a model for understanding this phenomenon by taking
the Anjuman-e-Mazareen Punjab Movement as an intervention due to the emergence of
women as active actors in this movement. This study provides empirical insights of
short- and long-term effects of participation in a social movement by exploring into the
employment conditions and educational developments. For this purpose, we draw data
from the Labor Force Survey for the years 1990 to 2012. We use a flexible Difference in
Differences technique to compare potentially “economically active” women and
potentially “school going” girls from rural regions in the treatment districts with two
groups: rural women in control districts and urban women from both control and
treatment districts. Evidence from the results show a rise in the number of working
women after the movement took place but the amount of time they spend at work remains
unchanged. We also observe an increase in literacy rates which indicates a preference
towards basic learning among women of all ages. Moreover, there is a positive shift in
the enrolment rates and years of education obtained by “school going” girls subject to
treatment. In addition, we exploit within household variation to show that the treated
households are relatively more likely to increase investment towards girls’ education in
comparison to women and men of the older generation in the post-treatment time period.
