Violence Against Women: New Movements And New Theories In India (kali Primaries)

Omvedt revisits establishment liberal viewpoints, conventional Marxism, and radical feminist theories of patriarchy and violence to describe and explain the nature of violence against women in India. The book also discusses recent theoretical approaches to the role of caste, women's labour, and destruction of the environment by modern capitalist systems. One of the most important issues that the Indian women's movement has taken up has been that of violence against women. From the very early campaigns around rape and dowry deaths, to the continuing struggle against all forms of domestic violence and, increasingly, political rape, the issue of violence has remained in the forefront, both for the movement and for Indian women in general. By making an assessment of the theories which attempt to explain the origins of violence, this booklet prepares the ground for a deeper understanding of a phenomenon which has systematically kept women in fear and subordination for centuries. In addition to a discussion of the radical feminist and traditional Marxist analyses of violence, the author puts forward three recent theories which see a nexus between economic exploitation and patriarchy; caste, patriarchy and violence; and ecological crises, maldevelopment and violence.