Development and Gender Capital in India

Abstract

The Indian state of Kerala has invoked much attention within development and gender debates, specifi cally in relation to its female capital-an outcome of interrelated historical, cultural and social practices. On the one hand, Kerala has been romanticised, with its citizenry, particularly women, being free of social divisions and uplifted through educational well-being. On the other hand, its realism is stark, particularly in the light of recent social changes. Using a Bourdieusian frame of analysis, Development and Gender Capital in India explores the forces of globalisation and how they are embedded within power structures. Through narratives of women's lived experiences in the private and public domains, it highlights the "anomie of gender" through complexities and contradictions vis-à-vis processes of modernity, development and globalisation. By demonstrating the limits placed upon gender capital by structures of patriarchy and domination, it argues that discussions about the empowered Malayalee women should move from a mere "politics of rhetoric and representation" to a more embedded "politics of transformation", meaningfully taking into account women's changing roles and identities. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Development Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cracking IT: Negotiating Working-Class Gender Capital through Group Enterprises in India

“…Kerala's tradition of the matrilineal system, social reforms, high literacy and higher educational levels has contributed both to women's well-being and to empowerment. Yet, contradictions and paradoxes in asymmetrical gender and power relations within the Kerala model have been much documented (Arun, 2018;Devika and Thampi, 2010;Kodoth and Eapen, 2005), including lower economic participation, rising levels of violence against women and persistent dowry practices. The state's development trajectory has hinged much on its social and human development record amid lower economic growth; hence, Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction offers a paradigm of social analysis, and is highly relevant to the Kerala context, where material and symbolic power relations are at play.…”

“…Sociological debates on the gender digital divide in information technology (IT) have paid little attention to how class origins intersect with gender in such fields. Through elitist references to technology and 'higher' professions related to knowledge-based sectors, such as software industries, narratives focus on 'young' and 'educated' women from 'urban' and 'middle-class' locations (see Arun, 2018;Herbert, 2017;Mirchandani, 2009), particularly for the global South. Thus, the effects of such new technologies on the workers in lower socio-economic classes are less known.…”