Self help groups and politics: A complex relationship

Despite a large body of literature investigating the impact of self-help groups (SHGs) on women, less detailed attention has been paid to the complicated relationship between SHGs and politics, beyond political ‘awareness’. Based on qualitative on the ground research in West Bengal, this article shows that the relationship between politics and SHGs is highly complex, since political involvement in SHGs can create conflict and division in communities but also can provide unique opportunities for women. By drawing on theories of social exclusion and feminist literature on the public/private binary, this article argues that politics is critical in understanding how SHGs operate, particularly the way in which political exclusion through SHGs fuels ostracisation and conflict in communities.