Women in Colonial India: Essays on Survival, Work and the State

The essays in this volume look at the impact of social and economic forces working through government policy, legal systems, social institutions, religion, politics and the market, on the lives of Indian women in the past. Thoroughly researched pieces addressing specific issues and covering diverse regions make this collection a rich and varied one, providing springboards for both specialists and interested lay readers. The historical reasons for the present socio-economic condition of women are examined from different perspectives; the historical, economic and macro-perspectives are complemented by, among others, private accounts and oral histories. The picture that emerges confirms the immense diversity of condition and experience. This volume contributes in important empirical and theoretical ways to the social and economic history of Indian women. It lays the ground and suggests new areas for research aimed at reducing the historical ‘invisibility’ of women in India."