Resisting the coastal squeeze through village associations? Comparing environmental, organizational, and political challenges in Philippine seaweed‐growing communities

This article investigates collective action dynamics and local politics amidst Philippine seaweed‐growing communities. Government agencies and civil society organizations generally encourage collaboration at village level through the formation of cooperatives and associations, often on the assumption that it facilitates the translation of economic growth into rural poverty reduction. Here, we explain how the formation of associations is entangled with the local and central state politics. We argue that civil society initiatives cannot be analysed separately from local and community‐level politics. This contribution reveals a gap between the objectives of rural, coastal associations, and the organizational capacities of communities to sustain such initiatives. Utilizing community support as a means to compensate for market and government failures does not only depend on a facilitative policy environment and start‐up support but also on household‐level capabilities. It also demonstrates that in addition to the interests of big business and national‐level politics, village‐level politics can obstruct effective and sustained implementation of value chain interventions.