1. Global Rhetoric and Local Realities- Globalization and Women in the Agrarian Sector in India.
- Author
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Pande, Rekha
- Subjects
- *
WOMEN in agriculture , *FREE enterprise , *GLOBALIZATION , *GENDER inequality ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
Most of the economies of the developing world are now in the process of restructuring in the direction of free market and liberalization with an overall aim at developing outward looking internationally competitive economies, with negative social consequences. India had adopted the New Economic Policy in 1991 in the wake of the debt crisis, as an essential part of the Structural Adjustment Policy urged by the IMF and the World Bank. It was believed that this would make India overcome its foreign exchange deficits, encourage foreign investments and strengthen the balance of payments. The present paper looks at the women in the agricultural sector in India to show that there is a lot of difference between the global rhetoric and the local reality. The paper show that the contemporary process of globalization with emphasis on technical change in agriculture associated with higher capital intensity, greater mechanization of production and post harvest operations, the development of crop and livestock with varied characteristics geared to the requirement of commercial commodity production has been accompanied by changes which women experience in unique ways. These include the loss of knowledge, skills and production contributions. Due to the existing difference between women and men's access to knowledge, skills, responsibilities and concerns and control over resources they are affected widely by the global process. Since women in the informal sector have none they continue to bear the brunt of gender and class inequalities, experience increasing marginalization and pauperization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005