Community Voices on Social Organization, Justice and Social Change in El Salvador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66778/RH.e06n04.02Keywords:
community justice, community participation, social change, social organization, womenAbstract
Community participation is a key dimension for understanding how women, youth, adolescents, girls, and boys interpret well-being, justice, and social change in territories shaped by structural inequalities. This article was aimed to analyze perceptions and imaginaries of social organization in Salvadoran communities and their relationship with notions of dignified life, listening, collective agency, and community justice. A mixed-methods study was conducted using an expansive sequential design and an exploratory-descriptive scope. A total of 231 participants took part through two structured surveys, 15 semistructured interviews, and dialogue circles involving 70 participants. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis. The findings demonstrate that social organization is highly value as a way to enhance community life, defend rights, and strengthen solidarity-based relationships. However, barriers persist, including lack of time, distrust, adult-centered practices, exclusion, relational violence, and limited institutional openness. The article concludes that social organization is imagined less as a formal structure and more as an ethical practice of listening, mutual aid, respect, care, and situated transformation
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