<![CDATA[Women’s participation in village development is an important element in promoting sustainable development. Yet, villageprofiles differ widely, so it remains unclear whether the forms this participation takes are shaped more by a village’s economic base than by uniform regulation. This study compares two villages with contrasting economic profiles, Gampong Lampulo, a fishing-based coastal village, and Gampong Deah Raya, which combines small-trade and religious-tourism activity, to examine the forms of women’s participationin these two villages across five sectors of village development: education, economy, health, tourism, and socio-cultural activities. The research was conducted in the two villages using a qualitative approach, with data collected through interviews with community leaders and direct observation.The results show that, through the analysis of social capital, women in Gampong Lampulo actively participate in business groups, educational training, socio-cultural activities, and community-based health services, reflecting strong social networks, cooperative norms, and mutual trust. Meanwhile, in Gampong Deah Raya, women have established economic networksthrough collective business initiatives and are actively involved in community health services, religious study groups, and cultural preservation activities. Lampulo’s participation thus clusters around health and education services, while Deah Raya’s clusters around household-based economic activity; in both cases, the pattern is shaped less by formal village programmes than by pre-existing social capital. This suggests that village governments seeking to expand women’s participation should build on the networks already active in each village rather than apply a single, uniform programme across different economic settings]]>
