Problems and Purpose

This cooperative was founded with three objectives in mind: increasing the agency of women in Costa de Pájaros, Costa Rica by providing them with income, alleviating the financial strain that the declining fishing industry is placing on families in the area, and fighting back against fast fashion and the environmental damage it does by offering a high quality, sustainable alternative. The cooperative achieves these objectives through acting as a site of ‘quiet activism­­’, defined by Steele et al. (2021) and Hackney (2013) as an everyday practice aimed at combatting issues on a daily and local basis while allowing individuals to feel empowered in their actions and everyday life—empowering those involved to resist social and economic barriers that otherwise constrain their agency.

‘Quiet activism’ is a term that has seen growing study in recent years, as it has proven to be an increasingly important strategy for empowering disempowered groups through allowing them to express resistance immediately in the here and now, rather than an unspecified future. It is not a loud, protest-oriented activism, but an everyday practice embedded in individual’s daily lives. ‘Agency’ in this paper draws upon the definition provided by Amartya Sen (1985, p. 203) of “what the person is free do and achieve in pursuit of whatever goals or values he or she regards as important”, and is expanded by the work of Gammage et al. (2016) to include distinct expressions of agency that grant capacity to exercise greater control of one’s own life through renegotiating relationships with others—especially men in this context—to create a more equitable distribution of power. ‘Fast fashion’ refers to the rapid production of fashion styles that mimic those of high-fashion, “offering consumers frequent novelty in the form of low-priced, trend-led products” (Niinimäki et al, 2020, p. 189); the consequence of which is massive consumption, and therefore waste, as consumers try to keep up with changing trends.

The supporting NGO, MarViva, was concerned with ensuring the cooperative was self-reliant out of fear of replicating colonial patterns of dependent-development, and thus prioritized supplying policy, technical, and business training to the group—acting “not as their spokesperson but their enabler” (Arroyo-Arce, 2024, para. 12). By utilizing fish skins, which is a waste product of the existing fishing industry, the group embraced the idea of upcycling, simultaneously fighting against the waste created by both fast fashion and the fishing industry.

Background History and Context

Fishing has long been a core part of Costa Rica’s economy, with many communities in its coastal region relying on it as their main source of income (Jorge & Papageorgiou, 2019). However, since 2008 it has been an industry in decline, leaving many families wondering where to turn for income in the future as the cost of living continues to rise. This industry is a largely male-dominated one, with women required to stay at home and tend to the hearth and home—activities that are not valued in any sort of economic measure, and yet are integral to the social fabric of the society (OECD, 2024). This has led to dual-effects of women being largely indentured to the men in their lives owing to their lack of income or marketable skills (Navarro-Mantas et al., 2022), while also facing the pressure of trying to continue with the practice of homemaking on an ever-stricter budget—with a decreasing amount of support from the men as they explore new and more strenuous methods of making an income. Despite adopting gender parity laws, Costa Rica remains a largely traditional country outside of its city centres, with women fulfilling much of the work in the informal sector of the economy (OECD, 2024). This creates a situation in which women are robbed of their agency to explore their own passions and desires, rather having to rely on their male partners to provide them with the economic support required for daily life.

The Costa Rican government has attempted to address the economic aspects of this problem by increasing their support of fishing activities by foreign companies in their economic exclusion zone off their coasts, permitting access to fish the relatively abundant stocks of tuna found there (Jorge & Papageorgiou, 2019). This approach has met with limited success in increasing the income in the area, highlighting the necessity of exploring alternative forms of income in order to maintain the economic viability of the country’s fishing towns. Many of these methods are modeled off of Costa Rica’s already successful eco-tourism industry, however some companies have pushed the envelope further by seeking to transform existing waste products in the industry into novel forms of income. Enter MarViva and Piel Marina.

MarViva, a Costa Rica-based NGO that focuses on creating and supporting initiatives aimed at protecting the aquatic life in the region (MarViva, n.d.), was approached by a pair of women, Marta Sosa and Mauren Castro, from Costa de Pájaros about supporting an all-female cooperative that would transform an existing waste product—the fish skins left over from the processing of fish in the area—into high quality leather and leather goods (AFP, 2024a; Pathak, 2024). The initiative would serve tri-purposes of increasing agency and empowering women by providing them with their own sources of income, reducing waste from the fishing industry, and fighting back against the harmful practices of the ‘fast fashion’ industry. The NGO was approached because of its focus on building agency with the communities it works with through providing them with the resources, education, and knowledge required to create self-sustaining industry (Arroyo-Arce, 2024). While the practice of converting fish skins to leather is one that has long been practiced by Indigenous groups across Central and South America (AFP, 2024b; Pathak, 2024), this initiative was the first of its kind in Costa Rica (notably, Nova Kaeru is a Brazilian company that operates in a similar manner, employing the same tanning method).

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

This idea for this co-operative originated with Marta Sosa and Mauren Castro—two women from Costa de Pájaros in the province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, who presented it to the local NGO MarViva. MarViva provided the initial funding required for the procurement of the materials and dyes needed for the tanning process, and further provided economic, policy, and organizing support for the initiative in the form of education and advising (AFP, 2024b). After getting the group up and running, MarViva transitioned to a purely support role, focusing on providing guidance with navigating government policies and answering questions when they arise (Arroyo-Arce, 2024). This was an important consideration for Piel Marina when choosing which NGO to approach for help with the project, as they wanted to ensure they were not reliant on external support, effectively avoiding replicating colonial patterns of dependency.

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment was done by invitation from the initial founders and focused solely on women (AFP, 2024a; Pathak, 2024), as men already have access to financial opportunities; dedicating their time to fishing and other activities that women cannot access. This symbiotic relationship allows families to leverage all of their available resources (both physical and human) without drastically upsetting the working-order of the society. Enticement to get involved includes the money produced through the work created and the opportunity to establish strong community relations with fellow women—both serving to increase the agency and well-being of those involved (Hackney et al., 2020; Hackney, 2013). Further expansion will be done as capacity is available and interest is shown using the funds generated through the sale of the goods produced—thus avoiding the need for restrictive and predatory loans.

Methods and Tools Used

For this case, a variety of participatory techniques and tools were used to ensure that neo-colonial relationships are not created between Piel Marina and MarViva. From Piel Marina’s perspective, they employed traditional Indigenous methods that have long been practiced in the region for turning fish skins into leather, leaning on a long history of sustainable and renewable practices (AFP, 2024b; Pathak, 2024). The two founders of the program then relied on word of mouth and traditional forms of kinship and community building to incorporate more women into the cooperative, allowing it to grow piecemeal as they had the time, resources, and ability to do so. From MarViva, they were careful to avoid creating a dependent relationship through their actions, ensuring that they adopted the role of advisors and supporters, rather than getting involved in the active running of the initiative (Arroyo-Arce, 2024). In addition to the donation of the required startup resources (AFP, 2024b), MarViva focused on providing education in business and policy to the group; and continues to provide support to them overtime by acting as consultants to answer any questions that may arise. In this way, the organization was able to leverage its resources and expertise to aid in the creation and continued success of Piel Marine without reinforcing dependency.

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

Marta Sosa and Mauren Castro, the co-founders of Piel Marina, began the initiative about 3 years ago with the goal of securing a source of personal income while simultaneously working to fight back against the issues of fast fashion and pollution created by capitalist consumerism. The decision to transform an abundant waste product (fish skins) into high quality leather goods was chosen for a few reasons: the aforementioned abundance of fish skins, the low environmental impact of the chosen method of cleaning and dyeing the skins, and the ability to secure a personal source of income for themselves and the future members (AFP, 2024a; Pathak, 2024). While the coop began with just the two of them, after realizing the viability and potential of their business Mrs. Sosa and Mrs. Castro approached MarViva for aide in scaling their operation so they might help to provide the same opportunity to others in their community. They ‘hired’ very informally, choosing to invite families according to kinship bonds in favour of relying on a formal interview process. The group has since rapidly grown to include 15 families in Costa de Pájaros, a 7.5x increase over a period of just 2 years.

The actual process of tanning the fish skins is surprisingly simple, with Marta Sosa describing the initial stages as akin to “washing clothes” (AFP, 2024b, para. 11). First, the discarded fish skins are gathered and scraped to remove all of the scales and any remaining flesh on the skins. Then, they are washed thoroughly with soap and water before being dyed using a mixture of glycerin, alcohol, and natural pigments; all of which are biodegradable and leave little to no impact on the environment. Finally, the skins are left to dry in the sun for about 4 days, ultimately producing a product that is durable, pliable, and waterproof—ready to be converted into clothing or jewelry. From this stage, the women in the cooperative exercise their creativity, drawing on their local history and artwork to transform the skins into beautiful pieces of art which they showcase proudly on their social media (@pielmarinacr on Instagram). More recently, the group began working with local, small-scale textiles manufacturers to create high-quality leather clothing, expanding their inventory and reach.

This is where MarViva’s expertise has been invaluable to the group, allowing them to integrate their production into the global market and extend their reach far beyond the Puntarenas region. To this end, the NGO has provided investment into their infrastructure and training on how to better market their products online.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The initiative has been very successful at building agency for women in the region by providing them with financial independence and serving as a site of community building and resistance against patriarchal oppression. Through reclaiming what has historically been undervalued, informal work (weaving, housework, clothing repair, etc.), this work acts as a sort of quiet activism, becoming a site of active resistance through creating a strong sense of community among the women working in the coop—similar to knitting communities in the 1900s (Hackney, 2013).

The work also serves to empower the group to fight back against the effects of climate change caused by the wasteful state of fast fashion and global consumerism. The scale of the problem that is climate change can create a strong sense of disempowerment and hopelessness, especially among groups in the Global South who are far removed from the Global North centres that cause the worst of the pollution in this regard (Steele et al., 2021). As Marta Sosa points out, this work creates a sense of hope for families in the region by returning the locus of control to those most affected by the effects of climate change.

The coop serves the goal of empowering the women through the expansion of their personal and community agency, an effect that Alkire and Ibrahim (2007) studied extensively when looking to define specific actions that can serve to increase agency—an often used, but loosely defined, concept.

Analysis and Lessons Learned

Piel Marina is an example of participatory activism, with the vast majority of the work being done entirely by the citizens who stand to benefit the most from it. By serving in an advisory role, MarViva is successful at not replicating neo-colonial dependencies between themselves and the coop, providing insight into a potential framework for future work in the region. This is especially prudent as the coop continues to grow and incorporate more families, requiring decreasingly less support from the NGO as time goes on. The coop is able to grow naturally using the funds gathered through its sales, avoiding the need for continuous top-down investment and the problems inherent therein. Similarly, training can be done on an increasingly internal basis without the need for global ‘experts’, leaning rather on the experience and expertise of the women in the coop to train future members.

The most promising insights from this coop come from the framework of the relationship between Piel Marina and MarViva. The approach to development that MarViva employs is novel, informed by the history of dependent development that defined the global paradigm especially during the 1980s- early 2000s. In their capacity as advisors, they are able to avoid reproducing neo-colonial development practices and focus rather on supporting the goals and aspirations of the group as defined by them. The process of dyeing fish skins to produce goods is one that is common to Indigenous fishing communities across the world (including the Inuit in Northern Canada, the Ainu in Japan, and indigenous communities across Europe and Eastern Asia) (Palomino, 2019), and the style of support provided by MarViva holds promise as being replicable across these contexts. It employs similar reasoning to the micro-financing approach that was popular in the region over the last couple decades, in that it places the power and responsibility for the growth and success of the initiative back with the group itself (Essounga Njan, 2020).

This coop is an example of quiet activism working to build agency and empower otherwise marginalized groups in the fight against gender oppression and climate change. By engaging in these sorts of collaborative activities, small-scale “micro-revolts” (Hackney, 2013, p. 175) are created that empower marginalized groups to stand-up against the challenges they face day-to-day. This expands the agency potential for these groups while simultaneously working to resist oppressive structures, challenging their power in an indirect yet powerful way. The power of these movements is amplified when social media is incorporated into them, allowing community building to extend beyond the immediate environment and engage in connected yet geographically distinct resistance to the status quo (Hackney, 2013).

The major concern with this setup is that it requires communities and individuals to have some pre-existing awareness and understanding of the problems (and their causes) that they face. The benefit that this small-scale, quiet activism presents is that they do not need to tackle the overarching causes of large-scale issues (climate change, dependency, neo-colonialism), and allows communities to act immediately and locally to address the worst of the effects caused by them. NGOs could help promote the creation of further initiatives by hosting workshops and educational campaigns to raise awareness around these issues and present strategies that might help to address them, while leaving the specific details and methods of the projects open for communities to create in accordance with their local and lived histories.

Conclusion

This setup is not limited solely to the realms of financial and climate activism, but holds promise as a general framework for all sorts of collaborative development initiatives. MarViva’s focus on not acting as a manager of development projects, and rather as an advisor/supporter of them, is one that should be adopted in the mainstream discourse of development work as a method for avoiding the reproduction of neo-colonial hierarchies. Furthermore, this allows NGOs to allocate resources and time in a much more efficient manner as they are not required to oversee day-to-day operations of projects, thus providing the ability for an individual officer to assist in the creation and development of multiple projects simultaneously.

Expanding beyond this case, engaging in these types of collaborations between NGO advisors and community partners holds promise for creating and supporting decentralized, empowering movements built around resistance and community building. It is important for this work that MarViva, or another sponsoring NGO, are not the ones to initiate the projects, but rather continue to provide support in an advisory and financial capacity. Piel Marina is testament to how rapidly these small-scale movements can grow when the hearts of the community are behind the initiative, and presents an alternative to the sort of intrusive development work that is still practiced in much of the world today.

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