Reflecting on the restriction of women’s agency to exclusive platforms in rural North East India, this article locates women’s agency in common resources, which define their sociocultural identities. The exclusivity of common knowledge, skills, practices, resources, and social security has restricted women farmers from accessing equitable power and decision-making. Women’s agency in common institutions is marginalised where patriarchal practices dominate. Exclusivity cannot replace empowerment outside common village-level institutions. The emergence of an exclusive strategy to marginalise women’s perspectives within the larger context of sustainability, policy formulation, political assertion, and ecological regeneration is examined.
