Gender and Development in India: Current Issues

Book Details:

• Author: U. Kalpagam

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• Edition: 2011

• ISBN: 9788131604700

• Pages: 256

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches

About the Book:
This insightful book by U. Kalpagam critically examines the pressing issues of gender and development in India, particularly within the framework of globalization and economic liberalization. As the Indian economy undergoes rapid transformation, this volume highlights how women’s livelihoods, social security, and empowerment are being significantly reshaped.

The book explores a range of concerns—from the impact of macroeconomic policies on women’s employment to grassroots-level livelihood challenges, drawing on both macro-statistical data and micro-level field studies. It pays special attention to the growing vulnerabilities caused by climate change, such as livelihood insecurity and food scarcity, and how these disproportionately affect women.

Furthermore, the book addresses the rise of rights-based development discourse, emphasizing the need for evolving multiple layers of security for women in the informal sector. It discusses how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) affect women workers and how participatory development and decentralized governance, especially through women’s active roles in panchayats, can drive genuine empowerment.

This volume presents valuable strategies for women's grassroots activism, aiming to forge an inclusive and sustainable development path where women's rights and agency are central.

About the Author:
U. Kalpagam is a distinguished Professor at the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. Trained as both an economist and anthropologist, she has worked extensively on gender, labour, and development issues.

Her published works include:

• Labour and Gender: Survival in Urban India

• Women in India: Contemporary Concerns (Ed.)

• Ethics, Health and Medicine: Anthropological Perspectives (Forthcoming, Ed.)

• Development and Empowerment (Co-edited)

• Rural Women in South Asia (Co-edited)

• Rural Women in India: Issues and Challenges (Co-edited)

• Labour and Poverty: Studies on Uttar Pradesh (Co-edited)

She has also contributed widely to national and international journals, particularly on women’s issues, informal sector labour, and the anthropology of colonialism.