Gender, Caste and Class in India

275 Pages·2006·12.376 MB·English

by  Neelima Yadav

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GENDER, CASTE AND
CLASS IN INDIA
By
Neelima Yadav
PRAGUN PUBLICATIONS
(A O.K. PUBLISHERS DISTRIBUTORS ENTERPRISE)
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Preface
An analysis of the status of women depends on an
understanding of gender relations in a specific context.
Examining gender relations as power relations makes
clear that these are sustained by the institutions within
which gender relations occur. For women, absence of
power results in the lack of access to and control over
resources, a coercive gender division of labour,
devaluation of their work, and a lack of control over their
own labour, mobility as well as sexuality and fertility.
Gender equality thus demands substantive
transformation, a set of policies and conditions created by
the state that facilitate the reallocation of resources,
thereby increasing women's control over resources that
confer power at individual, household, and societal
levels.
Transformation for gender equality envisages the
empowerment of women, requiring conditions that
enable women to exercise their autonomy; it also
envisages a process of self-empowerment, in which
women begin to re-examine their lives critically and
collectively. While the former involves the facilitation of
women's access to and control over resources, the latter
emphasizes women's agency in seeking greater access
and control.
Measures of gender equality therefore require an
assessment of the degree to which resources have been
vi Gender, Caste and Class in India
redistributed; whether state policy has facilitated
women's autonomy; and the extent to which unequal
gender relations have been transformed. Contemporary
India's political landscape is characterized by a great deal
of social upheaval. This is the result of growing
democratic consciousness which is increasingly
conflicting with the forces of domination,
authoritarianism and hegemony.
The control of women's physical mobility, a crucial
aspect of status, is also influenced by caste, class,
religious, and community strictures. While women's
physical mobility may increase with their entry into the
labour force, it also makes them vulnerable to assault,
molestation, and rape.
This book looks into the dynamic interconnection of
class, caste and gender in the Indian political systems.
The complex issues of caste, gender and class have been
studied through a collection of chapters that look into the
people's struggle for social equality. Social oppression
has been analY$ed in the context of protests against such
exploitation. Anti-caste movements and women's
movements have been studied in much detail.
The book also is divided into eleven chapters. This
important book will contribute immensely in the
understanding of the contemporary Indian gender
analysis. Gender, caste, and class in India demonstrates
that caste and class processes cannot be fully addressed
without considering their interrelationship with gender.
Editor
Contents
Preface v
1. Gender Analysis' 1
2. Caste in Indian Society 41
3. Caste and Social Articulation 52
4. Caste, Gender and Schooling 94
5. Gender and the Legal Liberalism 118
6. Caste Based Reservation 128
7. Dalit Women in Indian Society 144
8. Wages, Employment and Agrarian Economy 151
9. Women's Autonomy 181
to. Gender Discrimination and Poverty 200
11. Gender Disparities among Poor 238
Bibliography 263
Index 265

1
Gender Analysis
GENDER AND CASTE
The upper classes, insulated from the effects of caste-based
discrimination, tend to believe that the caste system is a
part of India's antiquated past, an age-old system that no
longer has relevance. Invisibility of caste is a fallacy. The
caste system is very much a part of modem Indian society
and politics. Its interactions with gender, religion and other
variables make it a defining factor in many social and
economic processes and its effect on these processes must
be c.:onsidered in any accurate analysis of the Indian polity.
Dalit communities, schedule castes (15% of the
population) and schedule tribes (7%) are the largest and
most well known lower caste groups in India today.
Historically discriminated against, studies show that
poverty rates among these groups are still markedly higher
than those among other groups. However, the position of
women within these gro.ups is worth noting. DaHt
communities have only marginally lower Gross Enrolment
Ratios for girls than the national population, and there is
only a negligible gap between GERs for boys and girls.
Women within these groups also have higher labour
force participation rates, and are thus less likely to be
involved exclusively in domestic duties, thou&h their