Women Work Together: My Unforeseen Transition from Academic to Feminist Change Agent

Whether as professional endeavor or intimate personal experience, anthropologists are going beyond the ivory tower to work on projects where intervention and social change are the norm. This paper traces the journey of one academic as she ventures out of the classroom to become a social change agent late in her career. Discussion focuses on the dynamic process of applying twenty-five years of women and development studies to the creation of a campaign for girls' education in a Guatemalan town. Based on her considerable knowledge of gender relations in the community, the author is able to work collaboratively with women's groups and local government to dramatically influence attitudes and behavior about the value of sending girls to school.