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.

中文翻译：

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通过村会抵制沿海挤压？比较菲律宾海藻种植社区的环境、组织和政治挑战

本文调查了菲律宾海藻种植社区的集体行动动态和地方政治。政府机构和民间社会组织通常通过成立合作社和协会来鼓励村级合作，通常认为这有助于将经济增长转化为农村减贫。在这里，我们解释了协会的形成是如何与地方和中央国家政治纠缠在一起的。我们认为不能将公民社会倡议与地方和社区层面的政治分开分析。这一贡献揭示了农村、沿海协会的目标与社区维持此类举措的组织能力之间存在差距。利用社区支持作为弥补市场和政府失灵的一种手段，不仅取决于有利的政策环境和初创企业支持，还取决于家庭层面的能力。它还表明，除了大企业和国家层面的政治利益外，村级政治也会阻碍价值链干预措施的有效和持续实施。