The Indian State and the Women’s Problematic: Running with the Hare and Hunting with the Hounds

This collection of essays grew out of dissatisfaction with the tone and tenor of public discourse on the women’s  problematic in India, in particular by the feminists leading the women’s movement. While this long drawn out debate has been critical of society and the state in general and entrenched culture of patriarchy in particular, it has not directly addressed the basic question: how have some sections of the women’s movement itself collaborated with the state apparatus, and has been responsible for introducing ‘welfare’, ‘development’, ’empowerment’, and ‘participation’ programmes for the Indian women that have, instead of genuinely promoting gender balancing, tended to reinforce patriarchy and reproduce the unequal gender and class relations. It consists of a total of 21 very carefully selected papers. It is organized into five parts. Part one examines the relationship between the women’s problematic and the Indian State. The second part deals with the diagnoses of the women’s problematic and nature of commitment made by the Indian State and its translation into reality in terms of formulation of policies and programmes, designing of structures and processes indicating the presence or absence of a good fit between intentions and their actualization by the Indian ruling class. Part three analyses the impact of initiatives undertaken by the government in different sectors. Part four focuses on the impact of efforts of the autonomous organizations and communities. Given the mixed performance of both the state and women-initiated initiatives, part five addresses the future course of action on women’s empowerment. This very original and authentic account of the conduct of the state will certainly interest all those involved with women’s issues and particularly in more effective ways of empowering the Indian women.