Feminism in India

Feminism in India

Product ID: 12475

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Author: Eminent Contributors
Editor(s): Maitrayee Chaudhuri
Publisher: Kali/Women Unlimited
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 359
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8188965219

Description

Why is feminist a label that some liberal, emancipated women recoil from? Why is feminism often associated with aggressive women who disrupt social norms and harmonious families?

This book brings together the writing of prominent Indian academics and activists as they debate the issue in the context of Indian culture, society and politics, and explore the theoretical foundations of feminism here. The inevitability of the association with western feminism, the status of women in colonial and independent India, and the more recent challenges to Indian feminism posed by globalization and the upsurge of the Hindu Right in Indian politics are discussed at length.

Bridging the academic/activist, personal/political and local/global divides, this collection of feminist writing shows how the movement is part of a larger project of consolidating the liberal values of secularism and democracy. It deepens our understanding of why, despite the existence of legal and constitutional rights to prevent discrimination, women are subject to oppressive practices like dowry. Ultimately, the feminist voice merges with the voices of all disadvantaged and discriminated groups engaged in the battle for the recognition of difference.

This collection is invaluable as a succinct overview of Indian feminism.

Contents

Series Notes

Acknowledgement

Introduction

FEMINISM: QUESTIONS FROM THE INDIAN CONTEXT

Some Questions of Feminism and its Relevance in South Asia

Feminism: Indian Ethos and Indian Convictions

A Horror of Isms: Why I do not Call Myself a Feminist

Feminism in India and the West: Recasting a Relationship

Thinking Beyond Gender in India

SOME EARLY FEMINIST VISIONS

Sri Purush Tulana by Tarabai Shinde. Extract from A Comparison Between Women and Men: Tarabai Shinde and the Critique of Gender

Stray Thoughts of an Indian Girl by Cornelia Sorabji, The Nineteenth Century, October 1891

Sultana’s Dream and Selections from The Secluded Ones

THE NATIONALIST FEMINIST FRAMEWORK AND SOME QUESTIONS

The Indian Women’s Movement

Appendix No. 6
What Swaraj will Include
Karachi Congress Resolution, 1931

Report of the Sub-Committee, Women’s Role in Planned Economy, National Planning Committee Series (1947)

Periyar, women and an Ethic of Citizenship

FEMINISM IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

Women’s Movement: Some Ideological Debates

Women’s Politics in India

Dalit Women Talk Differently: A Critique of Difference and Towards a Dalit Feminist Standpoint Position.

CHALLENGES TO FEMINISM: GLOBALIZATION AND HINDUTVA

Birthing Terrible Beauties: Feminisms and Women’s Magazines

Gender and Development in India, 1970-90s:
Some Reflections on the Constitutive Role of Contexts

Problems for a Contemporary Theory of Gender

Feminism in the Print Media

Women’s Empowerment as International Showbiz: Rendezvous in Niala

INDIGENOUS FEMINISMS

New Movements and New Theories in India

Marathi Literature as a Source for Contemporary Feminism

Is the Hidnu Goddess a Feminist?

Perspectives for a Grassroots Feminist Theory

Bibliography

Contributors