Indian Suffragettes: Female Identities and Transnational Networks

Description

Popular depictions of campaigns for women's suffrage in films and literature have invariably focused on Western suffrage movements. The fact that Indian women built up a vibrant suffrage movement in the twentieth century has been largely neglected. The Indian 'suffragettes' were not only actively involved in campaigns within the Indian subcontinent, they also travelled to Britain, America, Europe, and elsewhere, taking part in transnational discourses on feminism, democracy, and suffrage. Indian Suffragettes focuses on the different geographical spaces in which Indian women were operating. Covering the period from the 1910s until 1950, it shows how Indian women campaigning for suffrage positioned themselves within an imperial system and invoked various identities, whether regional, national, imperial, or international, in the context of debates about the vote. Significantly, this volume analyses how the global connections that were forged influenced social and political change in the Indian subcontinent, highlighting Indian mobility at a time when they were colonial subjects. Halftitle Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: Indian Suffrage Networks and Identities 1 Indian Suffragettes and British Imperial Connections 2 Indian Suffragettes and Commonwealth Networks 3 Indian Suffragettes and International Feminist Networks 4 Indian Suffragettes and Asian, Oriental, or Eastern Networks 5 Indian Suffragettes and Nationalism: Rejection of British Networks Epilogue: Women, Votes, and Seats in the Indian Subcontinent after 1947 Appendix 1: Brief Timeline Appendix 2: Brief Biographies Bibliography Index About the Author