1st Edition

Women, Land and Power in Asia

Edited By Govind Kelkar, Maithreyi Krishnaraj Copyright 2013
    408 Pages
    by Routledge India

    408 Pages
    by Routledge India

    Across the world women constitute an integral part of the agricultural sector. This volume is based on feminist responses to farming women’s struggle for economic rights and social justice in Asia, and seeks to provide a greater understanding of the development consequences of women’s marginal, limited ownership rights to land and other productive assets.





    Using comprehensive analyses, quantitative and qualitative data, and case studies from India, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region, this volume brings together scholars and activists engaged with women’s unmediated entitlement to land and productive assets. While generally taking a position in favour of asset redistribution, the volume addresses two major issues: first, the conflict between legal measures and socio-cultural norms, in a context where laws that seek to secure gender equality and women’s economic empowerment are often overruled by norms that favour men; and second, how changes in the global economy in relation to traditional farming practices have adversely impacted women’s rights, especially in regions where they previously enjoyed more customary rights in asset control and management. The book draws attention to issues of economic security, gender equitable access to resources and asset-building, human rights and law, land-based livelihoods, caste and ethnic diversity, and voices in the women’s movements.





    This book will be useful to policy makers, civil society organisations, researchers and students of gender and women’s studies, development studies, sociology, economics and agriculture.

    List of Tables. List of Figures. List of Boxes. Foreword Anne F. Stenhammer. Acknowledgements. Introduction Govind Kelkar and Maithreyi Krishnaraj. Part I. Land Rights for the Farming Women in Asia. 1. Policy Formulation, Law Reform and Women’s Property Rights in South Asia Savitri Goonesekere 2. Gender Asset Gaps and Land Rights in the Context of the Asia-Pacific Region Rajini Menon and Preet Rustagi 3. Gender and Productive Assets: Implications for Women’s Economic Security and Productivity Govind Kelkar. Part II. Farmers’ Relationship to Land and Livestock. 4. Women’s Ownership Rights and Access to Land in Bangladesh Sadeka Halim 5. Women’s Land Rights in China: An Unpromising Future Wang Yunxian 6. Gender and Productive Resources: Nepal’s Case of Landownership Ganesh Gurung 7. Women’s Land Use Knowledge and Entitlement in Swidden Agriculture Govind Kelkar and Lily Wangchuk 8. Rules and Norms in Women’s Access to Productive Resources: Ponds in Bangladesh Dev Nathan and Rownok Jahan 9. Gender and Livestock in Nagaland Rosemary Dzuvichu 10. Mal Chhe to Mobho Chhe: Livestock is Dignity for Us Lalji Desai. Part III. Women’s Entitlement to Land and Productive Assets in India. 11. The Status of Indigenous Women and Land Rights in Jharkhand Samar Bosu Mullick 12. Land, Livestock and the Rights of Women in Rural India N. C. Saxena 13. Women’s Entitlement to Land and Livestock inMatrilineal Meghalaya Patricia Mukhim 14. Changing Context of Women’s Entitlement to Land in Gujarat Meera Velayudhan 15. Women’s Landownership in Gujarat: What has Worked and What Needs to be Looked At! Sejal Dave 16. Women and Land Rights in Maharashtra Seema Kulkarni 17. Resistance and Struggle for Survival:

    Biography

    Govind Kelkar is Senior Adviser to Landesa India and to International Center for Research on Women, New Delhi and formerly Senior Adviser, Economic Empowerment Program UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), South Asia Sub-Regional Office, New Delhi.





    Maithreyi Krishnaraj is Honorary Visiting Professor, Institute for Economic and Social Change, Bangalore.