Women Among Marginalised Communities Of India

Bringing together original contributions from scholars, researchers and social activists, this volume explores the initiatives, strategies and potential obstacles in the way of the social development and empowerment of the marginalised in the current scenario. The contributors contend that there is the need for an alternative model for sustainable, self-reliant and participatory development and formation of a new collective identity through civil society and social movements. To illustrate these possibilities, the contributors present various success stories including panchayati raj institutions, worker’s cooperatives, women’s participation in decision-making processes, and education through the open learning system.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: We ask you to rethink: Different Dalit women and their subaltern politics -- Part I Imagining a new Dalit women's politics -- 1 Foreword: Dalits, Dalit women and the Indian State -- 2 For another difference: Agency, representation and Dalit women in contemporary India -- Part II Dalit women's conceptualizations of caste difference and their means of collectivization -- 3 Gendered negotiations of caste identity: Dalit women's activism in rural Tamil Nadu -- 4 Liberation panthers and pantheresses? Gender and Dalit party politics in South India -- 5 Microcredit self-help groups and Dalit women: Overcoming or essentializing caste difference? -- Part III A broken empowerment? Are women still trapped by caste and patriarchy? -- 6 Dalit women, rape and the revitalisation of patriarchy? -- 7 Different Dalit women speak differently: Unravelling, through an intersectional lens, narratives of agency and activism from everyday life in rural Uttar Pradesh -- 8 Subsidising capitalism and male labour: The scandal of unfree Dalit female labour relations -- Part IV Religion as Dalit political practice -- 9 Transformation and the suffering subject: Caste-class and gender in slum Pentecostal discourse -- 10 Improper politics: The praxis of subalterns in Chennai -- Afterword: The burden of caste: Scholarship, democratic movements and activism

The fast-consolidating identities along religious and ethnic lines in recent years have considerably ‘minoritised’ Muslims in India. The wide-ranging essays in this volume focus on the intensified exclusionary practices against Indian Muslims, highlighting how, amidst a politics of violence, confusing policy frameworks on caste and class lines, and institutionalised riot systems, the community has also suffered from the lack of leadership from within. At the same time, Indian Muslims have emerged as a ‘mass’ around which the politics of ‘vote bank’, ‘appeasement’, ‘foreigners’, ‘Pakistanis within the country’, and so on are innovated and played upon, making them further apprehensive about asserting their legitimate right to development. The important issues of the double marginalisation of Muslim women and attempts to reform the Muslim Personal Law by some civil society groups is also discussed. Contributed by academics, activists and journalists, the articles discuss issues of integration, exclusion and violence, and attempt to understand categories such as ‘identity’, ‘minority’, ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘nationalism’ with regard to and in the context of Indian Muslims. This second edition, with a new introduction, will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in sociology, politics, history, cultural studies, minority studies, Islamic studies, policy studies and development studies, as well as policymakers, civil society activists and those in media and journalism.

This book provides a comprehensive account of community newspapers in India discussing their reach, practices, management and influence on communities. It focuses on the core characteristics associated with community media, such as access and participation, advocacy and self-management among other. With the help of detailed case studies of two established newspapers – Khabar Lahariya and Namaskar, the book highlights the unique aspects of their rhizomatic expansion and the practices for social change. By examining their manifestations and metamorphosis, the book shows how community media is fluid and evolves with time owing to diverse motivations. The author also examines themes such as media democracy and citizens engagement; role of alternative media and the diversity of practices and profiles to highlight the relevance, identity and purpose of alternative media in general and community newspapers in particular. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of media studies, journalism and mass communication, political studies, development studies, law and South Asian studies. It will also be useful to NGOs and CSOs working in the areas of community engagement, social development and empowerment, and literacy.

Study conducted at Muzaffarpur District of Bihar, India.

A rise in female entrepreneurship signifies progress for women's rights and improvement in their social and economic lives. Women's entrepreneurship and female empowerment go hand in hand. Similar to their male counterparts, female business owners contribute significantly to the nation's Gross National Product (GNP) in terms of innovation, employment generation, and more. When women and men enjoy an equal playing field, economies flourish. Entrepreneurship can work as an instrument of innovation. Despite the social obstacles, Indian women stand out from the other women and are praised for their accomplishments in their various fields. Indian women had to alter their way of life in order to accommodate the changing social structure of Indian society, which was brought about by the growing educated standing of women and their diverse desires for a better life. This article aims to review studies on women's entrepreneurial and creative thinking in India. To clarify the study, some examples from India were also included.