Women's Education and Empowerment in Rural India

Description

This is a book about understanding women's empowerment and pathways as well as roadblocks to women's economic empowerment in rural India, as understood through an evaluation-based research of a state-funded social sector programme located in the education department - Mahila Samakhya (MS) - in Bihar, one of the socially and educationally most underdeveloped Indian states. The book presents findings of the three-year research that adopted a mixed-methods approach and evaluated the impact of MS on various facets of empowerment of women coming from the most marginalized communities. The study, therefore, tries to go beyond evaluating the MS programme and uses the research findings and insights to raise certain critical issues pertaining to social policy planning and implementation, especially in the context of women's education and empowerment. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Acknowledgments Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures Abbreviations Chapter 1: Empowerment, Education and Social Change: Understanding the Conceptual Context of Mahila Samakhya 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Women’s empowerment: Conceptual and historical understanding 1.2.1. Conversations of power 1.2.2. Influence of the feminist movement (WID), Women and Development (WAD) and the capabilities approach 1.2.3. Discourses of development 1.2.4. Definitions of empowerment 1.3. The story of MS 1.3.1. Genesis, coverage and objectives 1.3.2. Funding and withdrawal: Refection of wider pattern 1.3.3. The philosophy and structures of MS 1.4. Rationale, research questions and the research sites 1.4.1. Boundaries and definitions used in our research 1.4.2. Research methods Chapter 2: Women in Bihar: The Multivalent Contexts of Deprivation and Struggle 2.1. Introduction 2.1.1. A land of contradictions 2.1.2. Status of the economy 2.1.3. Status of development 2.2. Empowerment and inequality indicators 2.3. Education in Bihar 2.3.1. Pre-colonial and colonial contexts of education 2.3.2. Post-independence context of education 2.4. Mahila Samakhya in Bihar 2.5. Socio-geographical profile of study districts 2.5.1. Muzaffarpur 2.5.2. Kaimur 2.5.3. Katihar Chapter 3: Women’s Economic Empowerment: Indivisible Part of a Synergetic Process 3.1. Background 3.2. Construction of individual and overall economic empowerment measures 3.3. Estimation Strategy 3.4. Profile of our sample respondents 3.5. Composite economic empowerment index 3.6. Non-negotiable principles of ms philosophy 3.6.1. More than just economic activity 3.6.2. Women to take control 3.6.3. Information is key 3.6.4. Effective use of local resources 3.6.5. Ms model of economic empowerment 3.7. Unpacking the composite empowerment index 3.7.1. Information/awareness about laws and entitlements 3.7.2. Functional literacy and education 3.7.3. Decision-making 3.7.4. Self-efficacy 3.7.5. Economic activity 3.7.6. Political participation 3.7.7. Attitude towards violence 3.8. Conclusions 3.8.1. The effect of MS on economic empowerment 3.8.2. Multiple factors matter 3.8.3. Influence on different dimensions 3.8.4. Importance of examining structural barriers Chapter 4: Breaking the Cycle: Understanding the Intergenerational Impact of MS 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Importance of inter-generational impact 4.2.1. Education 4.2.2. Marriage 4.2.3. Measuring education and marriage 4.3. MS and education 4.3.1. Current enrolment 4.3.2. Functional literacy 4.3.4. Institutions for education 4.4. MS and marriage 4.4.1 Age at marriage 4.4.2. Mechanisms of change 4.5. Resistance encountered by MS 4.6. Conclusion Chapter 5: Economics of Empowerment: A Web of Negotiations and Adjustments 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Education 5.2.1. Education and informal institutions 5.2.2. Education and inter-generational effects 5.3. Work by women 5.3.1. Work and institutions 5.3.2. Work and identity 5.3.3. Work and empowerment 5.3.4. Work and closure of MS 5.4. Gender violence 5.4.1. Gender violence and collective knowledge 5.4.2. Gender violence and alternate institutions 5.4.3. Gender violence and co-option 5.5. Political participation 5.5.1. Political participation and process of engagement 5.5.2. Political participation and impact 5.5.3. Political participation and institutional constraints 5.6. A village study 5.6.1. The village and its people 5.6.2. Institutional structures 5.6.3. Politics of participation 5.6.4. Gender roles 5.6.5. Family dynamics 5.6.6. Personal transformations 5.7. An intricate web Chapter 6: Conclusion: Lessons for Understanding Pathways to Women’s Empowerment 6.1. MS effect on women’s economic empowerment: Understanding internal and external influences 6.1.1. MS effects: A recap 6.1.2. External Environment: An analysis of policy and political directions 6.1.3. Internal Influences: An analysis of the MS design, structures and process and priorities 6.2. Changing social norms through public policy: a mirage, a distant dream or a reality? 6.2.1. What enabled success? 6.2.2. What weakened MS? 6.3. ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’ Annexure References