President of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies Sumi Krishna is an independent researcher, teacher and writer, based in Bangalore. Editor of Women’s Livelihood Rights: Recasting Citizenship for Development, a Sage publication, she speaks to Shruba Mukherjee of Deccan Herald about gender, poverty and control over resources.

Excerpts:
It is often seen that when the family needs women’s wage labour (or salary) they are allowed or rather asked to work. But when that is not required, their social space is restricted through social norms or domestic responsibilities. What is your take on this?

The “freedom” to work and earn outside the domestic space does not, in itself, lead to the right to decision-making or liberation from the traditional constraints that societies have imposed upon women. Development and upward economic mobility also foster the adoption of middle class norms that circumscribe women’s independence to make choices in their own interest. In Kerala, Mizoram, Delhi and Chandigarh, with high female literacy and work participation, violence against women is also high. Gendered constraints exist even among the relatively more egalitarian tribal people.

Do you subscribe to the view that globalisation has led to feminisation of poverty in south Asia in general and India in particular?

Neither women nor “the poor” are homogenous groups. Globalisation may have provided new opportunities for certain sections of poor women, as reports from Bangladesh suggest. In India, we know that impoverishment has compelled many women to work for low wages in degrading and unsafe conditions that affect their health and aggravate male violence, both at home and outside. Moreover, national policies and global forces are together eroding the livelihood options of poorer groups, men and women. This is especially so when their livelihoods depend on local natural resources. In south Asia, small and marginal farm families and women-headed households are among the most vulnerable.

Apart from patriarchal restrictions, what are the roadblocks in establishing women’s control over available resources in the society?

The ownership of assets, particularly land, is a key factor, but title deeds do not guarantee control and decision-making power. Even “new” resource rights are undermined by the prevalent social structure. In Andhra Pradesh, thousands of decentralised Water User Associations were formed with membership depending on land-ownership. This excluded women and the landless.

Many official policy documents speak of “mainstreaming” women in agriculture. These are strong on advocacy but weak on strategy and programmes. Indeed, the entire agricultural system — policy, research, education, extension — has a middle class, patriarchal outlook. Extension workers are trained to perceive women as housewives rather than as knowledgeable and skilled farmers. So, farming women are taught juice-making and needlecraft while men are given farming information and technology.

Do you think women’s movement in the country has done enough to ensure this control/ownership? What are the grey areas which should be looked into?

Although land rights for women have not figured prominently in most socio-political movements, including women’s struggles, gender justice — as a fundamental human and political right — has been at the heart of the women’s movement. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 removes certain gender inequalities in inheritance of agricultural land. Gender-just laws facilitate change but social transformation is a complex process. Hence, Goan women have not derived the benefits of their egalitarian Portuguese “Civil Code” on inheritance and property. Yet, there are also several small interventions, generally by NGOs, that have enabled women’s groups to collectively gain control over resources. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, women elected to panchayats are also gaining influence.

I believe that there is much to be learnt from the collective struggles of poor women, from action and dialogue on the ground. The concept of citizenship rights needs to be extended, to include recognition of ways of life and livelihood, so that women take their legitimate place as productive humans, entitled to dignity and not merely to protection and welfare.