The Gendered India

This book explores the relationship between the state, development policy, and gender (in)equality in India. It discusses the formation of state policy on gender and development in India in the post-1990 period through three key organising concepts of institutions, discourse, and agency. The book pays particular attention to whether the international policy language of gender mainstreaming has been adopted by the Indian state, and if so, to what extent and with what results. The author examines how these issues play out at multiple levels of governance – at both the national and the subnational (state) level in federal India. This comparative aspect is particularly important in the context of increasing autonomy in development policymaking in India in the 1990s, divergent development policy approaches and outcomes among states, and the emerging importance of subnational state development policies and programmes for women in this period. The author argues that the state is not a monolith but a heterogeneous, internally differentiated collection of institutions, which offers complex and varying opportunities and consequences for feminists engaging the state. Demonstrating that the Indian empirical case is illuminating for studies of the gendered politics of development, and international debates on gender mainstreaming, the book highlights the politics of negotiating gender equality strategies in the contemporary context of neo-liberal development and brings together complex issues of modernity, postcolonialism, identity politics, federalism, and equality within the broader context of the world’s largest democracy. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in the politics of gender equality, state feminism, and gender mainstreaming; federalism and multi-level governance; and development studies and gender in South Asia.

Since the mid-1980s, the presence of women in governance has become a major marker of successful democracy in global and national discourses on the democratization of society. A diverse set of nation-states have legislatively mandated gender quotas to ensure the presence of elected women representatives (EWRs) in various rungs of governance. Since 1993, the Indian state has legislated a massive program of democratization and decentralization. As a result, more than 1.5 million EWRs have taken office within the lower rungs of governance or the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). This book is an ethnography of the Indian state and its policy of legislated entry of women into political life. It argues that political participation of women is necessary to change the political practices in society, to make institutions more gender, class and caste representative, and to empower individual women to negotiate both formal and informal institutions. Its locus is the everyday life contexts of EWRs in the southern Indian state of Karnataka who negotiate their own meanings of politics, state, society, empowerment and political subjectivity. Analysing three factors – structural boundaries, sociocultural divisions and conjunctural limitations imposed on the participation of EWRs by political parties – the book demonstrates that the social embeddedness of PRIs within everyday practices and social relations of identity and power severely constrain and shape the political participation and empowerment of EWRs. Providing a valuable insight into contemporary state and feminist praxis in India, this book will be of interest to scholars of grass-roots democracy, gender studies and Asian politics.

Religious nationalists and women’s activists have transformed India over the past century. They debated the idea of India under colonial rule, shaped the constitutional structure of Indian democracy, and questioned the legitimacy of the postcolonial consensus, as they politicized one dimension of identity. Using a historical comparative approach, the book argues that external events, activist agency in strategizing, and the political economy of transnational networks explain the relative success and failure of Hindu nationalism and the Indian women’s movement rather than the ideological claims each movement makes. By focusing on how particular activist strategies lead to increased levels of public support, it shows how it is these strategies rather than the ideologies of Hindutva and feminism that mobilize people. Both of these social movements have had decades of great power and influence, and decades of relative irrelevance, and both challenge postcolonial India’s secular settlement – its division of public and private. The book goes on to highlight new insights into the inner dynamics of each movement by showing how the same strategies - grassroots education, electoral mobilization, media management, donor cultivation - lead to similarly positive results. Bringing together the study of Hindu nationalism and the Indian women’s movement, the book will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Religion, Gender Studies, and South Asian Politics.

Theft, poisoning, affairs, flights home, refusals to work, eat or have sex, threats to divide the joint household, and sly acts of sabotage are some of the domestic warfare tactics employed by Muslim women attempting to resist patriarchy. Gender, Law, and Resistance in India dramatically illustrates how a patriarchal ideology is upheld and reinforced through male-governed social and legal institutions and how women defy that control. Based on anthropological fieldwork in rural Rajasthan in northern India, Erin Moore's book details the life of an extended Muslim family she has known for twenty years. In many ways the plight of the central character, Hunni, is representative of dilemmas experienced by the majority of north Indian peasant women. Ultimately an account of cultural hegemony and defiance, Gender, Law, and Resistance in India reveals how so-called "modern" state institutions and practices reinforce traditional arrangements, resulting in women being silenced, deprived of equal rights before the law, and returned to their male guardians. Still, women resist in overt and covert ways. The first ethnographic work to focus principally on the law and legal institutions of gender and agency in South Asia, this unique volume examines the interpenetrations of north India's pluralistic legal systems. Moore adeptly connects engrossing case histories to national dialogues over women's rights, discussing these issues in terms of Muslim personal laws, secularism, and communal violence. Gender, Law, and Resistance in India is a rich and truly significant contribution to gender studies, South Asian studies, and sociolegal studies.

The status of women is how the society perceives a women and not what it should be. Women at every stage are deprived of opportunities because of their sexuality. This book is a small step towards the realization of the fragrance called woman and to accept the Kasturithat is the inherent qualityof a woman. India is our motherland and we belong to it. It is high time that we learn to give our women respect and treat them with dignity they deserve. Women are the pillars of any society and the foundation stone of any family. Now they should be accepted as such with all their innate abilities, talents, qualitiesand more than that as 'Women' - a wonderful creation blessed with the power of creation and the power to reproduce and replicate. I hope any small step towards the realization of this concept would bealong step in changing the mindset of all our self-acclaimed social gurus and custodians of dharma and fatwas in treating women as equal partners in the growth of the nation, family and children – an asset which cannot be treated lightly. Gender Inequality In India by Mamta Mahrotra: "Gender Inequality In India: Challenging Social Norms" is a thought-provoking book by Mamta Mahrotra that critically examines the issue of gender inequality in India. Drawing on research, case studies, and personal narratives, the book sheds light on the systemic barriers, social norms, and cultural biases that perpetuate gender disparities. It calls for collective action and societal transformation to achieve gender equality and empower women. Key Aspects of the Book "Gender Inequality In India: Challenging Social Norms": Systemic Analysis: "Gender Inequality In India" provides a systemic analysis of the factors contributing to gender inequality. It explores social, economic, and political dimensions, dissecting the patriarchal structures, gender roles, and discriminatory practices that hinder women's progress and perpetuate inequality. Case Studies and Personal Narratives: The book incorporates case studies and personal narratives that highlight the lived experiences of women affected by gender inequality. These stories bring a human face to the issue, fostering empathy and understanding while illustrating the diverse challenges faced by women in different spheres of life. Call for Transformation: "Gender Inequality In India" advocates for societal transformation to challenge and overcome gender disparities. It emphasizes the importance of collective action, policy reforms, and changing cultural attitudes to create a more inclusive and equitable society. The book aims to inspire readers to actively participate in the movement for gender equality. Mamta Mahrotra, a passionate advocate for gender equality, delves into the complex issue of gender inequality in "Gender Inequality In India: Challenging Social Norms." With a deep understanding of the social, cultural, and systemic factors at play, Mahrotra presents a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by women in India. Her book serves as a call to action, urging readers to confront and dismantle the barriers that perpetuate gender inequality. "Gender Inequality In India" invites individuals, policymakers, and society at large to work together towards creating a more just and inclusive world, where women have equal opportunities and their rights are fully realized. Q

Radical ideologies, revolutionary movements, political upheavals, legal frameworks and many such initiatives have been taken up to prove a Woman’s Equality, and uplift her status all over the world. Though the voices raised are loud and heard; but the moot question is whether the word ‘Feminism,’ in its true sense, has been understood and implemented in the ‘still very much’ patriarchal society of today. The undercurrent answer to this question is echoed and retorted in this book on Gender studies. Elaborating on the Indian woman, this book comments on the condition of women, from ancient India to the modern day India—her transforming status; the laws devised to protect her; social taboos surmounting her; and the changing social patterns that are being brought to nullify the gender differences—be it at home, within an office and within the society. The book begins with a feminist approach to politics, movements led by the feminists, their treatment in literature, autobiographies, their contribution towards economic sectors, their health, education, e-governance, and role towards environment. A dedicated chapter elaborates on women in Tagore’s work, with original text excerpts in Bengali and their literal translations. The final chapter deals with Indian women and their tryst with crime day in and out; the unchanged age-old laws which are in need of serious review; and the role of media and society in providing them the due accreditation of ‘being someone’. The book is intended for the students of Gender Studies, Political Science, English, Sociology, and Media Studies.

This volume explores the links between gender, space and agency in India. It offers fresh perspectives and frameworks within which these links can be analyzed across diverse geographical contexts in India. The chapters in this volume are based on field studies which showcase how agency is gendered. The volume examines how gender and agency are fashioned by a multitude of everyday contexts, socio-economic processes, policy interventions and geographic phenomenon and manifest in diffusion of education, decentralization of politics, rising social inequalities, poverty, green revolution, mechanization of agriculture and even drought. This book will be of interest to researchers, teachers and practitioners of human geography, social and cultural geography, and those interested in geographies of gender. It will also be helpful for policy makers interested in the issues of gender and development in India.

Examines the colonial and postcolonial governance of gender and sexuality through the history of transgender Hijras in north India.