Reshaping community development through participation: Livelihood experiences of disadvantaged rural youth in India

This study examines how disadvantaged rural youth participate in reshaping community development through participatory practice, questioning individualized and technocratic approaches to livelihood development. Drawing on participatory research in Moti-Borvai, Gujarat, India, the study conceptualizes participation as an epistemic and political process through which youth identify structural constraints, navigate institutional barriers, and co-produce locally grounded livelihood pathways. Findings show that livelihood insecurity is shaped by institutional barriers, weak local market connectivity, seasonal labor dynamics, and unequal access to development programs. Participatory spaces enabled youth to reframe individual livelihood difficulties as shared structural concerns and articulate forms of collective agency. The study contributes to critical community development scholarship by showing how participation can support epistemic recognition and youth influence over development priorities. A participatory Theory of Change (ToC) links collective diagnosis, inclusive engagement, institutional facilitation, locally relevant livelihood strategies, and pathways toward sustainable livelihoods, offering implications for more context-responsive rural development interventions.