The muting and unmuting of caste across inter-linked action arenas: inequality and collective action in a community-based watershed group

Governing the commons in the face of socio-cultural heterogeneity is a challenge for academicians and practitioners alike. Some studies find that socio-cultural heterogeneity has a negative, a positive, or a non-linear relationship with collective action. Another set of studies finds that institutions can mediate the effects of heterogeneity that influence collective action for improving natural resource conditions. We build on the second set of studies to identify the underlying conditions under which these institutions promote successful collective action in a socio-culturally heterogeneous group with two different castes. Our case study suggests that under conditions that create equity, accountability, symbolic capital, and member capabilities, institutions can promote successful collective action. By using the concept of interlinked action arenas, we also show that although the community-based watershed group chose to mute caste in one action arena for the purposes of collective action, outside of this action arena, caste-related norms of untouchability are actively practiced. Group members have to continually switch between the muting and unmuting of caste from one action arena to another action arena, which continues to produce, reproduce, and maintain power asymmetries between members of both castes.