How does collective action occur?
People not only identify with certain groupings, but they act collectively. Part of this is in explicit action such as becoming a member of a trade union or participating in a political party or social movement. But part of what Folbre is discussing here is how individuals act on a daily basis. For example, why do men sometimes discriminate against women, even when it may not be in their own best interests? That is, why is there sometimes solidarity on the basis of sex or gender, rather than on the basis of class or even of family? Under what circumstances do women resist this? Folbre establishes a framework to analyze these issues in Chapter 1. She develops a four fold classification that can lead to developing a more adequate analysis of the issues raised above. These are summarized in the stylized feminist approach on page 49 and are as follows: • Structural factors are assets (monetary, biological, connections), rules (laws or contracts, boundaries of acceptable behaviour), norms (
