Institutional work within the boundaries of multi-stakeholder initiatives: The relational agency of implementing partners and women cotton-pickers in practice change.

This article examines how the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI), influences the working practices and agency of women cotton-pickers in Pakistan, a context marked by restrictive social and institutional conditions. Drawing on 40 qualitative interviews with women workers and implementing partners, the study finds that the BCI’s boundary-setting and capacity-building efforts—carried out through local implementing partners—facilitate incremental changes such as collective work practices, training on safer and more effective cotton-picking methods, and engagement with women’s private and family spheres. These changes enhance women’s bargaining power, safety, and self-confidence within the MSI’s defined institutional space, yet the broader impact remains limited by prevailing poverty and patriarchal norms. The article highlights the critical role of implementing partners in translating global standards into local practices and underscores that sustaining meaningful change depends on maintaining clear MSI boundaries that differentiate certified practices from conventional ones.