Relational and situated agency in communal women in Peru

The social history and experience of communal women in Peru are characterized by exclusion, discrimination, and violence, even more so if they are women affected by the internal armed conflict. However, this does not diminish their capacity for agency and mobilization, as well as their contribution to community organization. In this article, we present the results of a collaborative work with women from the community of Sacsamarca located in the southern Andean region of Peru. Our approach puts community psychology in dialogue with decolonial feminism. The methodology includes field ethnography and life histories. We argue that the women of this community have developed a relational and situated agency, which is sustained by their membership in a larger collective and can resist multiple systems of oppression present to this day. It moves away from the notion of Euro and egocentric agency-emphasis on the individual competence-because it stems from a different conception of human, defined as a being in relation, an "I-we." Relational agency, rooted in community capital inherent to women's individual and social cultural heritage, encompasses material support, knowledge, and skills from family and community. In this sense, the present study shows that, despite having suffered patriarchal and colonial violence, these women possess a remarkable capacity for action and mobilization. Their agency, which is relational and contextual, is manifested in four areas that must be taken into account when creating development and well-being policies. This is meant to promote the growth of these women's resources and empowerment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).