Land, Labour and Livelihoods: Indian Women's Perspectives (Gender, Development and Social Change)

This book brings together a unique collection of theoretical and empirical analyses of women’s access to land, labour and livelihoods in contemporary India. The authors recognize that gender relations must be viewed intersectionally, along with other social relationships such as caste, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and age, in order to inform an integrated analysis of women’s persistent disadvantage in India. The chapters examine a diverse range of rural and urban livelihoods within sectors such as tea plantations, nursing, hair salons, sex work and waste collection. Documenting the shifts in these sectors in the context of economic liberalization, the authors offer insights on the challenges of development interventions as women negotiate shifts in their livelihood options. Written to engage, the contributions to this book will be of interest both to the general reader and to academics and practitioners in development and gender/women’s studies. Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Against the Grain: Indian Women Negotiate Land, Labour and Livelihoods in the New Millennium....Pages 1-27 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 Tribal Women Organising for Land Rights in Dahod and Panchmahaals, Gujarat....Pages 31-52 Securing Land Rights for Women: Government Land Allocation in Odisha....Pages 53-71 Deserted and Widowed Women’s Struggles for Land and Livelihood: A Case from Maharashtra....Pages 73-88 Claiming Space, Claiming Rights: Inheritance and Land Rights for Muslim Women in Uttar Pradesh, India....Pages 89-108 Front Matter....Pages 109-109 Female Labour in Tea Plantations: Labour Process and Labour Control....Pages 111-131 Sex Work as Livelihood: Women, Men and Transgender Sex Workers in Karnataka....Pages 133-153 Nhavi Women in Pune City: Renegotiating New Opportunities for Livelihood....Pages 155-174 Front Matter....Pages 175-175 Karma and the Myth of the New Indian Super Woman: Missing Women in the Indian Workforce....Pages 177-196 ‘Here, We Are Addicted To Loitering’: Exploring Narratives of Work and Mobility Among Migrant Women in Delhi....Pages 197-216 All Aboard the Job Train: Government-funded Training and Recruitment in India’s Apparel Industry....Pages 217-237 Care (Un)skilled: Fragmented Markets and Nursing Labour, Contemporary Kolkata....Pages 239-260 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Making Waste Matter: Reimagining Urban Renewal and Advocating for Women Waste-Pickers’ Right to a Dignified Livelihood....Pages 263-283 Self-Employment, Waged or Unpaid Work: Influences on the Choices of Poor Women....Pages 285-307 Renegotiating Patriarchal Bargains? Rural Women’s Collective Livelihood Initiatives in India....Pages 309-329 Back Matter....Pages 331-352