Author: Srimati Basu
Publisher: Kali/Zubaan
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 305
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8186706496
Description
This book explores the complexity of women's decisions with regard to family property in this context. Using the contemporary working of property law in India through the lives of middle-class and poor women, this is a study of how cultural practices, and notions of gender ideology, guide the working of law.
Using the contemporary working of property law in India through the lives and thoughts of middle-class and poor women, this is a study of the ways in which cultural practices, and particularly notions of gender ideology, guide the working of law. It urges a close reading of decisions by women that appear to be contrary to material interests and that reinforce patriarchal ideologies.
The Hindu Succession Act was passed in India in1956 theoretically giving Indian women the right to equal inheritance of their parents' self-acquired property, but in the years since, its provisions have scarcely been utilized. Using interview data drawn from middle-class and poor neighborhoods in Delhi, this book explores the complexity of women's decisions with regard to family property in this context.
This book shows that it is not ignorance of the law, naiveté about wealth or unthinking adherence to gender prescriptions that guides women's decisions, but rather an intricate negotiation of kinship and an optimization of socioeconomic and emotional needs.
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER I
WOMEN AND PROPERTY
PART I
Women and Property
PART II
The Power of Law on Women and in the "New" Nations
PART III
Nominating Agents, Marking Resistance
PART IV
Camouflaging the Self : Methodological Choices and Other Fieldwork Angst
PART V
The Three Delhi Neighborhoods
PART VI
Looking Ahead
CHAPTER II
WOMEN AND PROPERTY INHERITANCE : SCANT AND SLIPPERY FOOTHOLDS
PART I
Property Values
PART II
The Significance
PART III
Women As Property Owners
PART IV
Property Distribution and Marital Status
PART V
Relative Wealth
PART VI
Non-Hindu Women and Property
PART VII
Blocking Women's Inheritance
PART VIII
"Hishabey to Amir Pai" ("Well, I Get It According to the Calculations"): Shipra's Family Property Conclusion: Stable Systems of Disentitlement
CHAPTER III
GIFT FOR ALLIANCE : MARRIAGE AND THE FLOW OF GOODS
PART I
Setting Up Matches : Gifts for "Alliances" Only
PART II
Wedding Ceremonies : The Framework for Gifts
PART III
"Jo dena hota hai" (What Has to Be Given") : The Nature and Parity of Wedding Gifts
PART IV
"Ladkiwale ko to dena hi parta hai" ("The Woman's Side Does Have to Give Things, of Course"): Issues of Dowry and Demand Paying for Weddings
PART V
Protima's Life : The Instability of Marriage
PART VI
Conclusion : Marriage and the Transfer of Wealth
CHAPTER IV
"Wo Ayee Hak Lene" ("There She Comes, to Take Her Rights"): The Dreadful Specter of the Property-Owning Woman
PART I
Multilayered Attitudes toward Natal Property and Women's Property
PART II
Equal Love : Conceptions of Equitable Distribution "Naihar Tut Hi Jaye" ("The Natal Home Is Broken for ME") : Fears of Natal Abandonments
PART III
Property over Time : Dowry and Long-Term Help in Relation to Property
PART IV
Surrogate Sons : Brotherless Women Inherit Property
PART V
Property as Payoff : Eldercare and Other Family Responsibilities
PART VI
Medha's Case : Complex Negotiations
PART VII
Conclusion : Multiple Position, Optimal Compromises
CHAPTER V
KNOWING THEMSELVES : WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD WEALTH AND WELL-BEING
PART I
Reconceptualizing Stridhan (Women's Wealth)
PART II
Crucial Problems, Imagined Solutions
PART III
The Shadow of the Legal Realm
PART IV
Conclusion : The Limits of Critical Analysis
CHAPTER VI
PROTECTING PROPERTY : GENDERED IDENTITY IN THE INDIAN HIGHER COURTS
PART I
Mise-en-scene : The Legislative Construction of Women's Property Rights
PART II
Patterns of Authority
PART III
Different Spaces for Daughters, Sons, and Wives
PART IV
Defining Religion, Faith, and Custom
PART V
Defining Religion, Faith and Custom
PART VI
Conclusion : " Spoilt Darlings" and "Patient Packhorses"?
CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION : PROPERTY AND PROPRIETY
Appendix A
Appendix B
Notes
Bibliography
Index