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To Be or Not to Be: Problems in Locating Women in Public PolicyAuthor(s): Devaki JainSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 8 (Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 2007), pp. 691-696Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4419285.
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o e
r
o t
t e
Problems n
ocat ing
o m e n
n
P u b l i c
P o l i c y
This
paper
discusses
some
of
the
problems
women
face
in
gendering public
policy.
Thepaper elaborates on how women's collective identitycan be forceful
politically
when
backed
by knowledge
and
gives examples
of
this
from
Karnataka.
New
developments
n
decentralisation
of
governance
have
opened
possibilities
for
women's
agency
at the
local level.
Paradoxically,
developments
at
the
global
level have
the
possibility of undermining
his
process.
The
author
argues
that
we
can
only
thereforeconfront
this not
by
integrating
into the
existing
developmentparadigm
and
attempting
small
changes
at the
local
level but
by evolving
a
different
development
paradigm
that
will
ensure
justice.for
the
majority of
the
poor
and women.
DEVAKI
JAIN
~W~Tomen face three problems in incorporating their con-
cerns in
public policy.
Firstly,
how can we
have
"woman" as
an exclusive
category given
the
hetero-
geneity among
women.
Women
belong
to
all
the
classes, castes,
religions, political
ideologies
and
cultures
in
society.
Thus
to
project
an
identity
of
"woman"
as
defined
by
feminine
experience
to
represent
a collective
point
of view
or
opinion
is a
challenge.
Yet acase
can andhas
been
made for
taking
"woman"as a
specific
category
(as
an
imaginary)
on
the
basis of the fact
that
across
these conventional
divides various forms
of
discrimination
converge.
Indeed
it
was this
recognition, namely,
the
experience
of
discrimination
against
women
across all social
groups,
that
led the
pioneers
on women's
rights,
the
founding
mothers of the
UN's conventions, to craft the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms
of
Discrimination
Against
Women
(CEDAW).
The
universality
of
discrimination
against
women
gives
them an
identity
across differences. But discrimination
alone
cannot
overcome
the other
problems
of
gendering
mentioned
below
[Morrisson
and
Jutting
2005].
The second
question
arises from
the
flawed nature of
inherited
knowledge.
Women
studies
have
demonstrated
how
knowledge
of
society
and
knowledge
about women are
constructed
by
patriarchal
biases
-
that all
knowledge
is
gendered
[Jain
2004,
1986].
A
very
typical example
relates to women's
work.
What
kind
of
work is called
work,
how work is
valued,
the
measures
used
to determine
the value
of their
work
are all
determined
by
the
perception
of
women's
work
by
society,
official
agencies
and men. As a
result,
women's work is
undercounted,
underes-
timated and
often
is invisible.
There
are dichotomies such as
public
and
private space
[Jain 2000]
and hierarchies
[Jain
2001]
embedded
in
language
and
practice.
For
example,
the
large
space
occupied
by
the
majority
of
women
workers is
called
"informal",
mplying
its
secondary
status
to
the
so called
formal
sector. The
non-monetised
sector is
either accorded
a
lower value
or no value
compared
to the
monetised
[Goldschmidt-Clermont
1981]
-
an
approach
totally
invalid for
a
largely
subsistence
economy
where the
non-monetised sector is substantial. Thus if
a
policy
arises out of
such
inherited
"flawed"
knowledge,
women
advocates would
not
want to
participate
in
it.
They
would not
like toengendert.Theywould ike to deconstructt orchallenge
it or
reject
it.
Integration
as Surrender
Thus
ntegrating
nto an
existing
framework as
problems.
f
the
formulation
f
public
policy
thatarises out of the
accepted
theories
and frameworks nd out of
given
dataand
analysis
s
unacceptable
o,
say,
a
group,
ike
women,
or dalits
Guru
002],
then their
ntegrating
nto
that
set-up, sitting
at committees
or
negotiating
ables
s
surrender.nsofar s
we
start roma
premise
that
s
inaccurate nd
flawed,
it can leadto undesirable esults.
Butthis
stayingaway
also
has ts
negative
ffects,
i
e,
exclusion.
This is one of the dilemmas. n the languageof the feminists
this s
often
posed
as:"Do
we wanta
piece
of
the
poisoned
ake?"
[Jain
1999]
or another
way
of
raising
the
same
question,
"Do
we want
to
swim in the
polluted
stream?".Hence
ideas
like
integrating,gendering, mainstreaming,
used now
in
current
discussions
or inclusionof
women
n
policy-making
fforts,
do
not
achieve desiredresults.
The third
problem
arises out of women's
unhappiness
ver
constructing
boxes",
o contain
phenomena
within trictbound-
aries.
To
women,
such
boundaries re
invalid
especially
where
boundariesare fluid.
They
do
not
easily
accept
attempts
at
imputing
a false
identity
and
deriving
udgments
on thatbasis.
Ifone defines he
boundary
f
identity
as
women's
ways
of
doing
things
t is
rejected
s "essentialism".f one
suggests
hat
wage
work or women
empowers
hem, t is called"instrumentalism".
There
s a
tendency
amongst
he women
advocates hemselves
to
question
every
notion
or
concept
which
attempts
an
arrival
at a
boundary
or
identity fixing.
I
call
this
the
nethi nethi
syndrome,
borrowing
rom
the
Upanishads.
t is definition
by
negation.
But
such
an overcritical
iewing
of
identity
hat
negates
any
bounding mpedes
the
participation
f
women
in
policy
as
a
politicalpresence
drawn
rom a collective
identity.
An
identity
tag
(based
on
some
markings, odily
or
through
he
experience
of
subordination nd
exclusion),
s
crucial
for
claimingrights
and
special
attention
Jain
002].
Sucha clear
dentity
ag,
which
Economic
and
Political
Weekly
February
4,
2007
691
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3/7
is
more
easily
available
o,
say,
dalits,
or to
blacks
n
Africa
or
in white
nations,
s
difficult
to
forge
for the woman
identity
due to her
presence
n all these other
categories
with all
their
separate
olitics.
Gendering ublic
policy
is
intimately
elated
to
our answers
o
these
questions.
In
Women,
Development,
and
the
UN
-
A
Sixty-Year
Quest
for
Equality
and
Justice,
[Jain 2005b]
I
have reviewed
the
historical
truggle
f women o be
understood nd ncludedand
given pace
andcitizenhood n an
equal
basis n
the
nternational
arena
f
justice.
found
hat
whenever
womendid achieve
some
"success"
y breaking
hrough
he
male bastionsof
knowledge
and
power,
t was
through trategising
n collective
identity
as
woman,
s well
as
by
inclusionof even
one woman
n
a
drafting
committee. call this
strategising
pace
a
"place
of one's
own"
[Woolf1977]
or "the
women's
tent".l
While
the
place
of
one's
own is
needed
to
develop
self-confidence,
o
face the
bigger
world,
t
also
made
he"outside"eethe"tent" s
a
separatentity.
This
perception erpetuates
he
women for
women
by
women
to women
yndrome, syndrome
which s
excluding
womennot
only
rom
ecasting
nd
reordering
evelopment,
utalso
denying
the
course
of
development
o
reflect the lived
experience
of
women.
Policy
ssuesare
not
only
about
women's ssues.Women
needasayin all issues aspartnersnthedevelopmentf society.
Thus he
place
of one's own can be a
powerhouse
r a
ghetto,
or
both.
An
Organised
Voice
The
60-year
eview
referredo above
does
point
o some
useful
directions
or
women's
participation
n
social
change.
First,
here
is
value and
usefulness in
bonding
across
differenceson the
identity
of
woman,
and
strategising
n
meaningfulways
for
inclusion n
public
affairs.Hencean
organised
oice
represented
by
the
women's tent is a
crucialbrick in
this
effort.
Such an
inclusion
s
necessary,
or
nstance,
f
we
have ostem
militarisation.
Thenwomen'stentcan also be a peacetent.
Secondly
we
need
knowledge
hat
delineates oncealed
details
regarding
ifferences
within
householdsand
families,
between
the
sexes,
and
n the
various
processes
of
reproduction,
roduc-
tion,
xchange.
We
may
call this
mapping
hesocial
and
conomic
location
of women n
the
above
landscapes.Knowing
can be
a
first
step.
Thirdlypower
can
be
claimed
through
ome
semblance
of
a
collective
dentity,
USP
or
flag.
Therehas
been
much
discussion
on
this
issue
[Longino
1993]
of
building
a
maintainable
nity,
a united
stand. This
continues to
be a
quest.
However,
t
is
suggested
here that
t is
increasingly
being argued
hat
partici-
pation
n
leadership,
n
formal
politics,2
an
provide
he
turning
point.Bonding
across
differenceon the
identity
of
woman,
and
strategising
or
inclusion as a
collective voice can
redressall
aspects
of
gender
derived
discrimination,
whether
t
is
the de-
meaning
gaze,
the
mindset;
the
stereotypicalperceptions
of
women's olesand
capabilities,
r
the
embedded
iscriminatory
practices
all these
are inkedelements
of
gender
elations.
The
recent
conference
n
New York
called
Beijing
+103
revealed
again
he
continuing
isjunction
etween he
reality
n
the
ground
and hesenseof
progress
reated
by
the
"visibility"
Jain
2005a]
level
achieved
by
gendered
analysis.
This
disjunction
anbe seen n two
opposite
rajectories
elating
to women
nd
development.
hefirst
rajectory
s
the
emergence
of a
strongpolitical
presence
n the
nationaland
international
scene
of the
women's movement.
There is
now
a
widespread
consciousness of the
necessity
of
engaging
in
gendered
analysis
that
recognises
both difference and
inequality
and their
impli-
cations for
development
design.
The other
trajectory
reveals
that
the
situation on the
ground
for
many
women,
especially
those
living
in
poverty
and
in
conflict-ridden
situations,
seems
to
have
worsened,
despite
the
fact
that
it
has been
addressed
specifically
by
both
the state and
development
thought.
The
question
that arises then
is, why
does
this
disjunction
exist
after
decades of
what
appears
to
be a
vibrant and
ostensibly
effective
partnership
between
policy-makers
and the
women's
movement? How much of
the
oppositional trajectories
can
be
attributed o the external
atmospherics
of
global power politics
and
its
attendant conomics? How much can be
attributed
o
other
factors,
such as the
style
of
functioning
and
priorities
of the
women's
movement
or
its
experience
of the
gendered
institutional
architecture of
governance?
Interventions
in
Policy
Two
examples
from
Karnataka of
gendering policy
will be
discussed to
illustrate hese
problems
-
the
problem
of differences
between women need not be a hindrance; one can address the
common
experience
of
discrimination and
inequality
by
women
as a
group.
We can build
adequate
knowledge
of the
social
embeddedness of
gender
roles,
then intervene in
policy
by study-
ing
the
impact
of
gender
insensitive
formulations and
identifying
areas
where interventions
are
possible.
The first
is
drawn from an
attempt
made in
Karnataka to
integrate
women's interest into
a state
five-year
plan
(1983).4
Before
we
discuss the actual
study
it is
pertinent
to recall the
tremendous advances made in
understanding
women's work.
Without this
background
knowledge
one
would
not
have been
able
to evaluate
any
policy
or
programme.
The
field
of
women's work
became one
of
the
major
research
domains both nationally and internationally. It was one of the
most
creative
pursuits, influencing
international
organisations
like
the ILO. This
focus
helped
to underline
the
ground
realities
in the
developing
countries.
The women's
movement then
began
to
address the
core issue of
survival
security
for
the
principal
defender
of the
family,
namely
the
woman. This
generated
discussion
on issues such as
measurement
and
nclusion
of
invisible
unpaid
work,
rural women's
work,
discrimination in
wages, job
security
and
revaluing
what was called
the "informal"
sector.
This
new
research about
women
as
workers
entered the
development
discourse.
They
looked at
practices
of
national data
collecting agencies
that
list
women
engaged
in
domestic
work
as
unemployed,
concern
and
analysis
about
unequal wages,
discrimination
against
women in
the
workplace,
women's double
burden of work for
wages
and
work
at
home,
the role that the
tasks
women
perform
to
make
possible
other
members' involve-
ment in
marketable
production
or
service,
and the absence of
social
security
for women
who
perform
unpaid
labour at home.
From
a more
narrow and
focused
approach
on
women's status
vis-a-vis
men,
this
research
broadened the
scope
of
investigation
to look
at the broader
implications
of
global
and national
eco-
nomic,
political,
andsocial
changes
and
their
impact
on women's
lives in
their
entirety.
The
study
was initiated in
the
1980s
by
the
Institute
of
Social
Studies
Trust
(ISST)
partly
because of the
impetus
of the
overall
"ideology"
hatwas
developed
n
international
ora,
of
bringing
692
Economicand
Political
Weekly
February
4,
2007
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4/7
women nto
development;
nd
partly
due o our
nterest
n
finding
ways
to enable women to move out of
poverty.
It shouldbe
recalled hat t
was
around
he
1970s
and 1980sthat women's
studiesand
women's
advocacy
were
emerging
as
major
players
in
the
struggle
orwomen's
quality.
Therewas
now
a
recognition
thatthe
"household"
eeded
o
be broken
open
-
as it was not
as
believed,
a
"benign"
helter or
all its inhabitants.5
Disparate Impacts
Individuals
withinhouseholds
had
highly disparate
ocations
in
power,
apart
rom
inequalities
n
occupations,
healthand
education.
This
disparity mongst
ndividuals eemed
to be the
more
enlarged
he lower one
went down
in
the asset/income
scale.
Inspiredby
the
international
fforts at
documenting
he
disparate
mpact
of
development
etween
men and
women,
he
study
focused on
examining
the reach
of
the
anti-poverty
programmes
n women.
What
emerged
was that he household
was
not
benign
and
definitely
nota level
playing
ield
for men
and
women.
n
he
poor
households
womenhada different ource
of
income rom
men.The
study
ame
up
with
he
dea hatwomen
within
poverty
households hould be
independently
dentified
andreached utto with
anti-poverty rogrammes
uchas IRDP.
We
found
setting
a
target
or women
within such
programmes
was flawed on
many
counts,
not least
by
inappropriate
evel-
opment
offers and false
reportingby
functionaries.
This
was further orroborated
uring
he
process
of
preparing
a
report
or the
Karnataka
tate
Planning
Board
called
District
Level
Planning
for
Social
Development.6
For the
report
district
level studieswerecommissioned
one from
a
backward
istrict,
Gulbarga,
nd one
advanced,
DakshinaKannada.
Achieving
a
target
f
covering
ouples
of
reproductive ge
with
contraceptive
services was irrelevant
n
Dakshina
Kannada
a
district
on
Kamataka's est
coast,
known
for advancement
n
social
indi-
cators)
wherethe
fertility
rate had
already
reached
wo births
per woman in the reproductive ge group (the replacement
level
fertility),
nd
n some
villages
less than
wo,
but the fund
allocated o the district
ontinued o be allocated
only
for that
purpose,
ndwhen ts irrelevance
was
brought
ut
nothing
ould
be doneto shiftthe funds
rom
contraception
o moreadvanced
healthcare.7
Planned
evelopment
ppeared,
s it does
even
now,
as blind
rubber
tamping
f
schemes.
An even
more
significant
esson
was that the
methodology eing
used
did not
reach
poor
men
either.The
process
was
completely
lawed
for men and women
amongst
he
poor
or
deprived.
It
transpires
hat the
method
adopted
or
stimulating
evelopment
was
critical,
even
super-
seded he ask f
gendering
r
ntegrating
omen
nto
development.
The second s a
project
undertakenn
Karnataka
y
the World
Bank8 o
improve
he
quality
of the
cocoons
in
the sericulture
industry.
The
project
did
not
use the available
knowledge
about
women's work.
Sericulturewas one of
the
dominant
and-based ctivities
n
Karnataka
nd
the
perception
f
the
policy
designers
was that
womenwere not
an
issue in this
project.
t was
perceived
hat
womenwere
basically
using
thrown
away
cocoons which had
holes in
them
o make
garlands.They
were
seen
as not
engaged
in the
basic
chain
of
production
nd hesaleof cocoons.
An
actual
investigation
hat
sought
to
breakdown tasksin the chain of
production
evealed that while
mulberry
was
grown
by
the
farmers,
he
men,
t
was
womenwho not
only picked
he leaves
but looked after he
trays
n
which the silkworms
werenursed
or
nurtured.
The
silkworms are
usually kept
in
trays
called
"chandrikes"
n
shelves inside the home and have to be fed
mulberry
eaves
every
threehours
ust
like
a
child,
and
he offal
has to be removed s
frequently
o
that
hey
do not
get
diseased.
Women n
the
strong
ericulture reas
complained
hatnot
only
were theirhouses
completely
cramped
with
silkworms,
eaving
hardly
nyplace
or he
kitchen
rtheir
hildren,
ut he
silkworm
wasmore
demanding
han
hechildas
t
hada
compulsive
emand
for leaves
every
threehours.
Thus
they
were
awake
most of the
night
andmostof themhad hronic llnessesdue o the
suffocating
atmosphere
n the hut and the
unremitting
abourof cocoon
rearing.
Despite
heir
being
hemain
rearers
f
worms,
he
women
were
not at
all
brought
nto the
project.
They
were not
given
training
on better
rearing,
on what were the
special
characteristics f
feeding
andhealth or the new
worms hat
were
ntroduced,
hey
did not
receive nformation bout he
new
fodder;
hey
were
not
shown how to
upgrade
he
quality
of the
yar they spent
time
on.
Thus
women'scontributiono the
process
of silk
manufacture
was
unrecognised,
ith
consequences
or
policy.
It
appears
hat
the
old
Ester
Boserup9 tory
of the
1970s where she bemoans
thenon-recognitionf womenas farmersontinuesJain 003a].
Classical
Invisibility
As a resultof
lobbying
both n
Washington
nd
n
Karnataka
with the
government,
task
force on
sericulturewas
set
up
by
the
government
f Karnataka ith the
principal ecretary, gri-
culture,
as
its chair.All the
relevant
agencies
were
around he
tableand he
meeting
was
to
show that
hereneedsto
be
greater
inclusion
of
women
as
workers
n
the sericulture
evelopment
programmes.
twas
ound
hat his
classical
nvisibility
f
women
workers,
specially
when he
productive
work s within
he
home,
had
deprived
hemof
beingengaged
n the
training
or
mproved
rearingpracticesas well as marketing.
Therewas no hostel accommodation
or women at the Seri-
cultureTraining
nstitute,
state
overnment
nstitution.
proposal
was made
by
the
task
force
to build
a
women's
hostel
using
another
overnment
cheme alled"Hostels or
working
women".
However,
he task force
neither ustained tself nor
did
it
make
for
any
transformationn the lives
and
concerns
of
women
n
the
sericulture
roject.
A
similar
experience
s recorded
of the
matching tudy
that
ISST took
up
with the 'tasar'10
ndustry
n
Maharashtra.
gain
women
were
major
workers,
ut
unrecognised,
nd
nothing
was
done.The
report
unded
by
the Swiss
development
orporation
triedto
change
his
perception
ut t had
no
impact.
The
studies
undertaken
y
ISST n various
parts
of Indiaand n
Karnataka
presented
nformation n women's
productive
oles,
and
argued
that he
projects
were
losing
out on success
by
not
recognising
this.
While this resulted n
gendered
analysis,
t
did not
change
the
project.
Some
new
opportunities
re
emerging
in
India,
and more
strongly
n
Karnataka.
hese
mayhelp
us
incorporate
he
essons
learntrom
history,
mentioned arlier
n
this
essay.
To
reiterate:
we
had
talkedof
(i)
the
usefulnessand value
of
bonding
cross
difference
n
the
dentity
f
woman,
nd
trategising
or
nclusion,
(ii)
theneed for
knowledge
about
women's
various
productive
andotherroles
and
heir
ocationwithin
he
household,
amilies
and
community,
iii)
power
laimed
hrough
collective
dentity.
Economic
and Political
Weekly
February
4,
2007
693
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5/7
An
aspect
of
the
Kamataka
landscape
of
governance
and
development,
which offers some
niches,
some conduits for
affirming
these
views
is the
long-standing
and
politically
well
supported
decentralised
management
of
development,
especially
the
economic
and social
justice agendas.
For
example,
as far back as in
1994,
Karnataka' State
Planning
Board
(earlier
called Economic
Planning
Council
(EPC))
set
up
two
subgroups,
one
for district
level
planning
for
employment,
and the other for district level
planning
for
social
development.
The main
task
of the
subgroups
was
to
provide
effective social
and
economic
security
to the
poor
and
improve
the
quality
of
administering
these
services,
all at the
district
and
subdistrict
level
of
accountability. Interestingly,
in
2005,
the
Planning
Commission has set
up
an
expert
group
to
draw
up guidelines
for the
states on what
they
call
grassroot
planning
for
develop-
ment,
and
the thrust s to reduce if not
eliminate the state dictated
schemes,
the
pre-packageddevelopment
bundles that are handed
out,
and
leave
planning
to local
communities to
design
the use
of
untied
funds.
Consolidating
Multiple
Schemes
The subgroup working with secretaries to government of each
sector
and
some
CEOs,
or chief secretaries
of
districts as
they
were
called
at
the
time,
was able to
rationalise the 75 schemes
into 15
bundles,
and
suggested
that instead
of
having
15
schemes
coming
out of
15
departments
even these
could be bundled into
a social
development
service as one
sector,
and the
fund could
be used
for
"provisioning
of social
development
services
to
the
poor",
with the
functionaries
attached o the
service
coming
under
one
nomenclature called social
development
services
providers.
Thus
the
departmental
boundaries
would
be
liquidated,
and the
multiple
schemes wouldbe consolidated
without
osing
the overall
intention.
One of the
suggestions
made
by
the
subgroup,
that there
should
be social mapping of the state, to show variations in human
development
indices
between districts in order to
identify
gaps
in
performance
and to
spot
inter-district
variations,
was not
implemented.
However,
this
compliance
came
later.
During
1995-97
Karataka
developed
a human
development report
that
put together
district
evel
indicators and indices12 a first
in
state
level
human
development reports
in India.
In
neither of the
illustrations
from
Karnataka
given
above did
this
opportunity
for intervention
yield
a
clear
"tool"
to tell
us
what
to do and how to intervene.
However
there is
now,
as I
write
this
article,
an
opportunity
to
engage
with
political power
due
to the
clearer,
more firm
legally
and
politically
ordained
devolution
of economic
planning power
and
funds to
the
locally
elected
bodies
in
Karnataka.
Significant
changes
have been
brought
about in the
state in
the
fiscal
year
2005-06
(embodied
in
the
state
budget).
State
sector
schemes
pertaining
to
the
29
subjects
in
Schedule XI of
the
73rd amendment
have been
merged
in
the district sector
schemes
to be
implemented
by
the
panchayat
institutions. From
April
1,
2005
about Rs
3,500
crore have
been thus devolved to
panchayat
institutions
at
grama,
taluka and zilla levels. The
departments
have
been asked
to
amend and
issue afresh all
government
orders,
notifications, circulars,
etc,
in
accordance
with
these
charges.
Most
importantly
some of
the
negative
features
in
adminis-
tration
have also
beenremoved.
Departments
redirectednot
to establish
parallel
bodies
which were
scuttling
devolution
intended
by
the
73rd amendment.
Existingparallel
bodies
are
tobe now
reconstitutednder he
chairmanship
f
the
adhyaksha'
of
the zilla
parishad.
Besides,
World Bank or
externalaided
projects
are to be
implemented hrough
PRIs
only.
Right
from the
beginning,
when the
Ramakrishna
Hegde
government
n
Karataka,
in
collaborationwith
AbdulNazeer
Saab,
he
minister or rural
development, rought
n
legislation
to set
up
elected local
councils,
the
legislation
also
included
reservation
or women.
Women
elepted
o
councils
have been
invited o
meetings
held
by
women's
organisations
nd
attempts
are
made
o
give
thema
collective
dentity
nd
give
thema
sense
of
knowledge
ased onfidence.As the
panchayati
aj
movement
grew
and
broadenedwith the introduction
f the
73rd and 74th
amendments
by
the then
prime
minister
Rajiv
Gandhi,
the
Singamma
reenivasan
SS)
Foundation,
or
example,
got
even
more
deeply
engaged
n
strengthening
hose
women
who had
been
elected to
serve on
these councils.
Uniting
across
Party
Lines
One of
the
first initiatives
hat
they
took was
to
bring
them
under neorganisation,amely"anassociation felectedwomen
representatives".
hile this
may
look
baffling
since
the
repre-
sentatives
ome fromdifferent
arties,
n
Kamatakat was found
that
women
were
willing
to
join
an
associationof
themselves
across
party
ines.
They
seemed o need that
collective
strength
in order o
generate
he self-confidence
o
bring
heir
voice
into
the
meetings.
The
women's collectives and
collectivities
also
have an
additional
eature,
namely, hey
are
united
across
class,
where
poor
and
non-poor
women
engage
n issues
which
mpact
women
ike
domestic
violence,
or
water,
or
reproductive
ealth,
especially
n
urbanslums
and rural
areas.
Using
hecollectives
specially
t
he
evel
of
grama
anchayats,
the oundation
hen
built hreeother
programmes
n
these
groups.
The foundation hen initiated similarprojects n threeother
southern
tates, Kerala,
AndhraPradesh
and
Tamil
Nadu,
and
is
now
coordinating
network
of
agencies
n
these
four
states,
all
of
whichare
engaged
n
creating
ollectivitiesof
theseelected
womenand
enabling
hem o
strengthen
heir
echnical kills as
well as their
politicalpresence
in
the local
self-government
institutions.
Rather
han
"train"hem
they
have beenformed
nto
groups
and these
groupsengage
with
themselves
to
create their own
space,
debate
among
hemselves nddevise
programmes
nstead
of
being
in
mixed
councils. Women's
capability
or
collective
actionand
heir
apability
o form
collectivities
are
ransforming
manyprogrammes,
rocesses
and
outcomes.
Currently,many
women's
organisations
re
partnering
with
state
governments
o
strengthen
he
capability
f
women
elected
to
these ocal
self-government
nstitutions
o
participate
n if not
lead
development
n
theirareas.For
example,
he SS
Foundation
has madea
novel
endeavour o
enable
elected
women
represen-
tatives
(EWRs)
o construct
budgets,
such that
the
interest
of
women and
other
subordinated
roups
s
safeguarded.
t is
not
just
a
programme
o raise
awareness bout
budgets
mongst
ocal
women
politicians
but
to
enable
women to direct
he
economy
from
a
space
available
o
them.
This
helps
them
to
understand,
participate
nd
transformocal
budgets.
The
design
of the
effective
participation
as
been
enabled
by
collaboration
ith
Janaagraha,
n urban
NGOwhich
uses three
694
Economicand
Political
Weekly
February
4,
2007
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6/7
cornered takeholders'
meetings,namely
he civil servant
who
is the
commissioner
f the
municipality,
he
ward ommittee nd
the elected
corporators,
o have a
transparent
rocess
of
under-
standing
and
influencing
revenuecollection and
expenditures
and
monitoring
utcomes.This methodhas been
tried
in
two
municipalities
Mysore
and
Tumkur.
The
municipalities
ave
changed
heir
budget
llocations
s a resultof
collective
obbying
by
the elected
women
corporators
cross
party
ines. Similar
experience
has
been
found n two other
pockets
of
Karnataka
-
Bijapur
and
Bellary.
Another
project
hat
they
were
exposed
to was to use their
kitchen
gardens
or
growing
medicinal
plants.
This has now
caught
he
magination
f
the
grama anchayats
ndat least
our
districts
will
be
engaged
n a movement or
environment
ecurity,
health
security
and livelihood
security hrough
he
growing
of
medicinal
plants.
The
outcomeof these exercises
is
that
in
the
Mysore City
Corporation,
omen's ssues were not
only
included,
but allo-
cations
o certainwomen's chemeswere
ncreased
n the
budget
for
2005-06.
Dramatic
Shifts
Today,
the
situationand character
f
the
various actors in
governance
have shifted
quite dramatically
nd in
significant
ways.
The state s
receding
rom ts earlier
ole
as
being respon-
sible
to the
citizens or their
well-being,
specially
provisioning
of
basic
securities.Civil
society
including
he
women's move-
ment s
becoming tronger
n
the
one
hand
but
also
paradoxically
more
fragmented.
he international
onfiguration
f
power
is
changing,
with
the UN's influence
eceding
and he otherworld
organisations
ike theWorldBankand other
multilateralsike
the
WTO
occupying
entre
tage.
Themarket
conomy, ignified
by
the
corporates,
s
playing
a
larger
ole in
nationaland
inter-
national
overnance
han
before,
ncluding
he
provisioning
f
publicgoods.There s also areturnoconservative olitics,and
various
orms of
fundamentalism,
cross the
globe.
Simultaneously
here
are
the
usual
paradoxes
n
women's
domain.There is an
increase
n
the
political
participation
f
women n
governance,
specially
at the
local level.
There
s an
increase
n the
capabilities
nd
power
of the
women's
movement,
in
knowledge
nd
organisational
apacities
n
the
nformal
conomy
as
workers
nd traders
nd to contest
violence
against
women.
There
is a
shift in the nature of
employment
opportunities.
There s
increasing
absorption
of
female
labour
nto the
new
opportunities
or
earning
ncome
like
in
export
processing
and
simultaneously
decline
n
the
opportunities
ormen.Thisarises
because
of
the
nature
f
the
growth
poles
and the
nature f the
organisation
f
production
nd
trade.Women
are on the
move,
selling
either heirbodies
or
their
ime to
earn ncome
for
their
families.
The
UN
report
n
womenand
development
or
the
year
200413
hows how
the
largest
group
or
proportion
f
workers
uncovered
y any protection
rewomen and
women
migrants.
The
demand
or
women
as workers n the
flesh tradehas made
the
flow
of
womenacrossborders
ump by
leaps
and bounds.
The
valueof the flesh
trade
s now
greater
han he value of the
trade n
narcotics.
At the
very
beginning,
women's
quest
was for
equality
or
for
overpowering,
f not
eradicating,
nequality.
The
strategy
of
levelling
the
playing
ield
by bringing
n
laws,
introducing
he
power
of
rights,
and
findingways
to move
womenout
of
what
looked
ike
disadvantaged ositions
seemed
all
right
or several
decades.But it was
clearly
not
enough.
There
was
deep,
wide-
spread, nimaginable,
nd
nvisiblediscrimination. he
women's
movement
esponded
o
this
by
making nequality
visible. But
that
did
not
take care of the
ignorance
and
non-recognition
f
women's value
as
citizens,
workersand
providers.
Their con-
tribution
o
society
is
equal
to if
not even richer
n value
than
men's.
So the
movement
enerated
ew
knowledge
o show the
role
of women n
development again
withthe
expectation
hat
revealing
ruth
would lead
to
women's
equality
with men. But
that
strategy
till
disabled
hem
because
they
had no
voice in
the
determination
f
their ives
and
their
road
maps.
Thus,
the
notionof
equal
participation,
f
equalpower,
of
leadership
was
worked
nto
the notions of
ways
to redress
nequality.
Old Method
Continues
Whatwe
have seen is that
while
knowledge
has
increased nd
been
funnelled
nto the
policy
spaces,
the
advice of
womenhas
not been
taken,
their
eadership
n
directingpublic
policy
has
not
happened,
o
a
corresponding
xtent.
The
old
method of
"integrating"
hrough
women
only packages,
mainly
social
development ackageschemes for women,continues.
The
revelatory
spect
of this
story
can
be
summarisedn the
importance
f
space
not
only
in
funds
but
at
the
level of the
intellect,
or
the
excluded
o
claim their
rights.
Decentralisation
with
a
quota
of
one-third eats for
women has
opened
a
new
gateway
n
India nd
especially
n
Karnataka.
ut t
is
not
enough.
The first
need is to
reconsider he
paradigm
f
development
itself,
he
dentificationf the
engines
of
growth.
nstead
f
seeing
the
poor
as a
target
group
who need
special
ladderswithin a
framework f
economic
development, nabling
hem o
become
economicand
political
agents
could tself
become
he
engine
of
growth.
Thus,
roma"trickle own" rsocial
safety
net
approach,
it
would be
useful to
look
at
what can be
called
the
"bubbling
up" heoryof growth.Thisalternativeheoryargues hatputting
incomes and
political
power
in
the hands of
the
poor
could
generate
he
demand nd
hevoicethat
woulddirect
development.
The
purchasing
ower
and the
choices
of
the
poor
could
direct
the
economy
to a
pro-poor
r
poverty
reducing
economy.
The
review
of
the
past
seems to
suggest
some
dramatic
eversal
of
the current
heoriesof where
the
engine
of
growth
ies if
the
interest
s in
poverty
eradication
Jain2003b].
Mahatma
Gandhi n
fact had
designed
such
a
theory
and a
proposal
or its
practice.
To
some extent it could
evenbe
said
that such a
theory
s
close
to,
though
not
the same
as,
Keynes'
theory
of
stimulating
n
economy by
generating
ffective de-
mand.Herethe further
detailing
s:
whose
effective demand?
Whose
purchasing ower?
Gandhi's
alisman,
is
test
or
action,
was this:
"Whenever
ou
are
n
doubt,
or whenthe
self
becomes
too muchwith
you,
apply
the
following
test:
recallthe
face of
the
poorest
and the
weakestman/woman
whom
you
may
have
seen and ask
yourself
f the
step
you contemplate
s
going
to
be of
any
use
to
him"
[Jain
1996].
A
major
ault ine that
runs
hrough
narrations f
history
and
their
knowledge
base,
whether
t is
political,
economicor
social
history,
s
the
failure o take
note
of,
to understand
nd
respect
and
absorb,
women's
ideational and
intellectual
skills
and
outputs
n
the
area f
theoretical nd
analytical
nowledge.
While
some of the
values
emerging
rom
he
understanding
f
poverty,
inequality,
discrimination,
conflict
resolution,
deepening
Economicand
Political
Weekly
February
4,
2007695
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7/7
participation,
method,
politics
that
this
interaction
or
partnership
generated
has
been
applied
or followed
up
on
be-
latedly,
recognition
of the
intellectual and
leadership
powers
of
women
has remained
in the
ghettos.
The
minds of
men
have
not
changed.
And for that
to
happen,
it
seems
that
it
is
necessary
to
recast
the
development
framework,
to come
out with a
treatise,
a
theoretically
stand-alone
development
model
which satisfies the
external
world
changes
and
yet
women's
quest.
The movement
did some
of this
twenty
years
ago,
at
Nairobi, through DAWN,
the
thirdworld network.14
But
another
such framework
s
needed
now
and
it
can be done
if women
put
their minds
together.
Women's
brilliant
struggles
need
to
be treated
as a
body
of
knowledge,
chiselled
into
theory,
into an intellectual
challenge
to what
"is",
i
e,
the
currently
dominant
ideas for
national and
international advancement.
The
importance
of an intellectual
theoretical construct
out of the
ground experience,
which can
claim
space
in
the
world of theoretical
discourse,
must
not
be
minimised.
A
new Das
Kapital
or
Wealth
of
Nations is the
only
bomb that
can
explode
the
patriarchal
mindset and exclusion
of
the real
agency
of
women in
public policy.
[13
Email: [email protected]
Notes
1 In
many
international onferences
women
organised
a
separate
"tent"
where
many
activities were carriedout with
an
autonomy
not available
in
the
general
conference schedules.
2 UN Economic and Social
Council
(2000):
'Assessment
of
the
Implementation
of the
System-wide
Medium-Term Plan for the
Advancementof Women
1996-2001';
Report
of the
Secretary-General,
Commissionon the Statusof
Women,
Forty-fourth
ession,
February
8-
March
2,
2000;
Report
of
the
Fourth
World Conference
on
Women,
held
inBeijingfromSeptember
4
to
15,1995;
including
heAgenda, heBeijing
Declaration nd the Platform
or
Action
(Extract)
n
The United
Nations
and
the Advancement
of
Women,
pp
649-735.
3 Commissionon the Statusof Women,Forty-NinthSession, New York,
February
28-March
11,
2005.
4
Integrating
Women's
Interests
into State Five-Year
Plan,
submitted
o
the
ministry
of social
welfare,
government
of India in
September
1984,
used in
an
article
by
K
S
Krishnaswamy
nd Shashi
Rajagopal,
Women
in
Employment:
Micro
Study
n
Karnataka',
ased
on
the
ISST
Bangalore
Report,
Jain and
Banerjee
(1985).
5 'The Household
Trap: Report
on
a Field
Survey
of
Female
Activity
Patterns',
pp
215-46,
Jain and
Banerjee
(1985);
Folbre
(1994).
6
DistrictLevel
Planning
or
Social
Development,
Devaki
Jain,
Chairperson
of
Subcommittee,
Karnataka tate
Planning
Board
(1994),
government
of
Karataka.
7
Report
from
Dakshina Kannada
by
Shalini
Rajaneesh,
IAS.
8 Assessment
of
Women's
Roles: The
KarnatakaSericulture
Development
Project,
SST, 1982,
Task Force
on
Sericulture,
or a WorldBank funded
project,government
of Karnataka.
9 Boserup 1999; oral communication:Maithreyi Krishnaraj's tudy of
Women n
Agriculture
a Millennium
Study
forthe
government
f
India,
which
she
hadtitled
Women
Farmers
ofIndia
on
publication
was
retitled
Women
n
Agriculture
by
the
publisher
n 2004
10
Interstate
Tasar
Project,
report
on a field
survey
in
Chandrapur
istrict
of
Maharashtra, SST,
1982.
11
Impact
of
SericulturePilot
Project
in
Karnataka:
An
Evaluation,
ISST,
1989.
12
Human
Development
n
Karnataka
999,
Planning
Department, overnment
of
Karnataka,
1999.
13
Department
f Economic
and
Social
Affairs,
DAW
(2004):
World
Survey
on the Role
of
Women in
Development
-
Women
and International
Migration,
UN,
New
York,
2005.
14
The
Bangalore
Report:
A
ProcessforNairobi
at
Development
Alternatives
with Women for
a
New
Era, ISST,
New
Delhi,
1984.
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Volumes of Economic and Political
Weekly
from
1976
to
2006
are
available
in
unbound form.
Write to:
Circulation
Department,
Economic
and Political
Weekly
Hitkari
House,
284
Shahid
Bhagat
Singh
Road,
Mumbai
400 001.
Circulation
@
epw.org.in
696
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4,
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