GENDER, POWER AND EXCLUSION: A Relook into Women’s Empowerment

Book Details:

• Author: Asha Kaushik (Editor)

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• ISBN: 9788131612378

• Language: English

• Binding: Hardback

• Pages: 340

• Release Date: 2022

• Sale Territory: India

About the Book:

Gender inequality remains a pervasive and entrenched issue globally, spanning from the intimate private realm to the highest echelons of public life. Although there have been advancements in the past decades, progress has been slow, uneven, and often insufficient. At the core of this ongoing inequality lies the question of power and the dynamics of power imbalances that consistently disadvantage women, perpetuating ideologies and systems of patriarchy in various forms.

This book offers a timely re-examination of gender inequality as the world looks forward to achieving gender equality by the '2030 agenda.' Through a contextualized framework, it explores the dimensions of women’s exclusion from power, justice, and entitlements. The text delves into gender inequality in relation to state institutions, women’s vulnerability, and the interconnections between the local and global spheres, including the role of the United Nations in addressing these issues.

The book provides theoretical perspectives on exclusion, explores the limitations and potential of state-driven gender policies, and discusses the implications of women’s empowerment in the context of political participation, economic development, and judicial frameworks. It also investigates the vulnerability of women, considering issues like "honour killings," violence in conflict zones, and the empowerment of marginalized groups, including Muslim women.

This work is a comprehensive resource for researchers, teachers, students, gender policy planners, and civil society activists, offering valuable insights into the ongoing challenges and efforts for gender equality.

Contents:

Introduction: Contextualizing the Issue – Asha Kaushik

Part I: Conceptual Concerns

1. Power and Exclusion of Women: A Theoretical Perspective – Asha Kaushik

2. Women Empowerment: Emerging Issues and Challenges – Ameer Sultana

3. Empowerment of Women: A Study of Gender Justice Perspectives in Political Philosophy – Rahul Chaudhary

Part II: Institutional Ramifications: Potential and Limits
4. Achieving Gender Equality in India – Devendra Kothari
5. Economic Development and Women Empowerment: A Bi-directional Relationship – Vijay Vir Singh and Madhu Pundir
6. Political Participation of Women in India: Trends, Challenges and Prospects – Shashi Upadhyay
7. Judiciary and the Question of Gender Equality – Navneet Kumar Verma
8. Empowerment of Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions: Case Studies of Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh – Ritu Bakshi and Rita Arora

Part III: The Vulnerable Substrata and Power Dynamics
9. Women’s Agency, Activism, and Education in Rajputana States: Case of the Erstwhile Mewar State – Pratibha Jain and Sangeeta Sharma
10. Women’s Empowerment: The Paradox of India’s Disappearing Daughters – Meeta Singh
11. Women Empowerment and Muslim Women in India – Zenab Banu
12. Rooted Patriarchies and Rootlessness of Women: A Few Cases of ‘Honour Killings’ – Manjeet Bhatia
13. Women: Victim of Ongoing Violence in Jammu & Kashmir – Suman
14. Women and Conflict: Media’s Blind Spot – Urvashi Dev Rawal

Part IV: Betwixt Global and the Local: India and the UN
15. Gender and Human Security in South Asia: India on a Comparative Scale – Surendra Nath Kaushik
16. Turning the Gloomy into the Glorious: The Success Story of Polio Eradication in India and the Role of Women – An Overview of the United Nations Perspective – Ashlesha Kaushik and Sandeep Gupta
17. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment: MDGs to SDGs – Transition to the Post-development Agenda – Prerna Puri
18. Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in India – Seema Thakur

About the Author / Editor:

Asha Kaushik is a Professor of Political Science, former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Director of the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. She has an extensive academic career spanning four decades, specializing in political theory, gender studies, Gandhian thought, Indian politics, cultural studies, and development studies. Professor Kaushik has authored eleven books, with more than 300 international library holdings, and has published over five dozen research papers in national and international journals.