1. Recasting Culture to Undo Gender : A Sociological Analysis of Jeevika in Rural Bihar, India
- Author
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Sanyal, Paromita, Rao, Vijayendra, and Majumdar, Shruti
- Subjects
PUBLIC DEBATE ,COMMUNITY RESOURCE PERSONS ,MIGRANT ,CHILDREN ,ECONOMIC GROWTH ,FAMILIES ,CULTURE ,PUBLIC SUPPORT ,HEALTH CENTERS ,AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ,India [L13] ,TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ,BENEFIT ,SOCIETIES ,EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN ,POPULATION ,MIGRANTS ,MANDATES ,WOMEN ,SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ,HOUSES ,POLITICAL POWER ,STATUS OF WOMEN ,TOWNS ,MATERIAL RESOURCES ,PENSION ,HUMAN BEINGS ,DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ,Sociology [T19] ,WIDOWS ,GIRLS ,POPULATIONS ,ANTHROPOLOGY ,SOCIAL CLASSES ,SOCIAL ACTION ,SANCTIONS ,OLD AGE ,PARTICIPATION IN DECISION ,VICIOUS CYCLE ,POLITICAL PROCESS ,"Social services ,association" ,STORIES ,PENSIONS ,POLICY DISCUSSIONS ,SOCIETY ,SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS ,SUBSIDIES ,DEMOCRACY ,LAND OWNERSHIP ,POLICE OFFICER ,PUBLIC SERVICES ,RELIGION ,PEACE ,SANITATION ,SOCIAL SCIENCES ,SPATIAL MOBILITY ,RITUAL ,PROGRESS ,HOUSE ,MODERNIZATION ,SYMBOLS ,POLITICAL PARTICIPATION ,DISTRICTS ,CULTURAL SYSTEMS ,SOCIAL NORMS ,LITERACY ,WIDOW ,DEVELOPMENT POLICY ,PUBLIC SPHERE ,HOUSEWIVES ,WARS ,LIBERTY ,PATRIARCHY ,CULTURAL CHANGE ,NUMBER OF WOMEN ,FEMININITY ,IDENTITY ,LIVING CONDITIONS ,SOCIAL IMPACT ,INEQUALITY ,LABOR LAWS ,HUSBAND ,EQUALITY ,FEMALES ,CAPITALISM ,ALLIANCES ,PEER PRESSURE ,GENDER NORMS ,EMPOWERMENT ,DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ,KINSHIP ,MASCULINITY ,RITUALS ,OLD-AGE ,WIVES ,CULTURAL PRACTICES ,HISTORY ,SOCIAL PROCESSES ,JAIL ,SOCIAL CHANGE ,WOMANHOOD ,HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ,MARRIAGE ,WILL ,WOMAN ,FOOD SECURITY ,ENHANCING WOMEN ,SELF-SUFFICIENCY ,POOR FAMILIES ,VILLAGES ,GENDER DIFFERENCES ,POLICY ,FAMILY ,GENDER INEQUALITY ,Anthropology [T18] ,FORMAL EDUCATION ,INEQUALITIES ,NUTRITION ,SEX ,HOUSEHOLDS ,PUBLIC HEALTH ,RESPECT ,DAILY LIFE ,HOUSEHOLD WORK ,SOCIOLOGISTS ,TRAINING ,MIGRATION ,POWER ,WOMEN LEADERS ,ANTHROPOLOGISTS ,POLICY RESEARCH ,CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ,BENEFITS ,SOCIAL GROUPS ,SEXUALITY ,KNOWLEDGE ,HOME ,POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER ,ABUSE ,LABOR MARKETS ,CIVILIZATION ,DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS ,WIFE ,MARGINALIZATION ,HOMES ,WORKSHOPS ,GENDER EQUALITY ,PARTNER ,WEDDING ,CORRUPTION ,SOCIAL INEQUALITY ,SOCIOLOGY ,COERCION ,SUBSIDY ,ILLITERATE WOMEN ,LAWS ,NORMS ,DISCOURSE ,SMALL LOANS ,NURSE ,GENDER ,GENDER ROLES ,HUSBANDS ,FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS ,LAW - Abstract
This paper brings together sociological theories of culture and gender to answer the question – how do large-scale development interventions induce cultural change? Through three years of ethnographic work in rural Bihar, the authors examine this question in the context of Jeevika, a World Bank-assisted poverty alleviation project targeted at women, and find support for an integrative view of culture. The paper argues that Jeevika created new “cultural configurations” by giving economically and socially disadvantaged women access to a well-defined network of people and new systems of knowledge, which changed women’s habitus and broke down normative restrictions constitutive of the symbolic boundary of gender.
- Published
- 2015