An analytical paper on monitoring, evaluation and learning from collective action movements in Africa.

Abstract

This analytical report examines approaches to learning, monitoring and evaluation within collective action movements in Africa. It considers how citizen-led movements challenge existing policies, programmes and governance arrangements and how conventional evaluation approaches can be adapted to understand these fluid and evolving forms of collective action. The report explores the theories of change and theories of action that underpin collective movements, including the ways leadership, mobilisation strategies and changing political circumstances influence their goals and activities. It also considers different forms of mobilisation and how movements evolve in response to opportunities, constraints and emerging priorities. A central focus of the analysis is learning within and from collective action. The report identifies three forms of learning — learning in struggle, learning through struggle and learning to struggle — through which activists and the wider public develop knowledge about the contexts, possibilities and strategies of collective action. The paper argues for evaluation approaches that are flexible enough to recognise the evolving nature of collective movements while supporting deeper learning about accountability, citizen participation and social change in Africa.