NMCH

External co-investigator: Prof C Campbell (London School of Economics)

The mobilisation of grassroots communities is a core commitment of current development policies, but it is often difficult to achieve. This research examines two uniquely successful community mobilization projects led by sex workers in India, with the aim of understanding the social conditions that support effective grassroots development.

While evaluation research has typically looked ‘within’ projects to understand reasons for their success or failure, this research focuses on the social relationships between the projects and the powerful groups which form their wider context. It investigates how the projects have built relationships with groups such as funding agencies, public services, local politicians, the police, and agents of the sex trade, and how these relationships have enabled the projects to overcome the common obstacles to community mobilization.

Using observation of project activities, analysis of project documents and interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders, the study will examine key events in the projects’ development from multiple points of view. Findings will be used to produce useful tools for sex workers’ organizations, learning materials for community development workers, implications for development policies and academic journal articles.

Related publications:

Cornish, F. & Ghosh, R. (2007). The necessary contradictions of ‘community-led’ health promotion: A case study of HIV prevention in an Indian red light district. Social Science & Medicine, 64(2), 496–507.

Cornish, F. (2006). Challenging the stigma of sex work in India: Material context and symbolic change. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 16(6), 462–471.

Cornish, F. (2006). Empowerment to participate: A case study of Indian sex workers’ participation in HIV prevention. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 16(4), 301–315.