A systematic presentation of the status of women of India throughout the long history of about 6000 years has been presented starting from the Vedic times to the post-independence period. A detailed description of the status of women during the Vedic times, which is rarely available in any of the existing literature, and in the following periods is very significant to the study of this subject. The author has discussed how the political and religious conditions over the periods have affected the conditions of women. The age-old evils, which had got firmly entrenched in the Indian society, such as the tradition of Sati, illiteracy, child marriages, and deplorable treatment of widows and so on, still persist and some new ones have joined the list. These are: bride burning, dowry, female feticide, domestic violence, to name a few. Short biographies of some outstanding women have been included to illustrate that in spite of adversities some women had achieved eminence. To the credit of the Indian Government, legislative measures have been taken to protect and improve the status of women after independence and just prior to it. These have been outlined. Unfortunately, these measures have not been able to achieve their intended results on account of wide spread corruption and lack of education and awareness among women, especially in the rural areas. A snapshot of the present conditions is given along with concluding remarks and recommendations for improvement. Improvement of the status of women is extremely improvement for India if it wishes to become a developed and progressive country and a world leader in culture and ideology.

The volumes of the Project on the History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization aim at discovering the main aspects of India`s heritage and present them in an interrelated way./-//-/ This volume offers insights into women’s lives in colonial and post-colonial India, fully cognizant of the complex interlinking of class, caste, ethnicity, religion, nation, state policy and gender./-//-/The essays in this volume explore the operation of power and the resistance to it, the space that was denied to the disadvantaged gender—women—and the space they created for themselves, and the history of the mutual roles of women and men in colonial and post-colonial India. Eminent scholars on women’s studies and reputed scientists, drawn from diverse disciplines and located in different parts of India, present themes that are crucial to the understanding and experience of gender in India.

This volume addresses the issue of Hindu peasant women's ability to effectuate the statutory rights to succession and assert ownership of their share in family land. The work combines a critical evaluation of law with economic analyses into allocation of resources within the family as a means of addressing gender relations and explaining resulting gender inequalities.

In Religion and Women in India, Tanika Sarkar provides an account of gender prescriptions and proscriptions and their operation among various Indian religious communities, beginning with early British rule and concluding in the late twentieth century. Tracking various shifts and displacements in doctrinal thought and practice, she argues that Indian modernity was initiated largely through debates on gender, scripture, custom, and caste, which shaped ideal forms of masculine and feminine conduct. She demonstrates the organization of a modern public sphere around the controversies, cultural imaginaries, and political agitations over such issues as the age of consent, child marriage, widow remarriage, rape laws, and intercaste and interfaith relations. Gender norms are shown leaching into social attitudes, labor processes, and legal rights—leading eventually to modern Indian feminism. Closely analyzing the interpenetration and co-constitution of religion, politics, and gender in India, while also comparing parallel developments in Pakistan and Bangladesh, this pioneering work offers a brilliant and synthesizing account of the battles between orthodoxy and its opponents over two hundred years. No historian, no feminist, no student of politics can afford to miss it.

Looks at Indian history from ancient to modern times revealing precisely why ideas of gender rights were not static across eras or regions. Integrates women's issues, roles, and achievements into the general study of the times, providing a clear presentation of the social, cultural, religious, political, and economic realities that have helped shape the identity of Indian women. With a focus on gender and female sexuality in terms of representations in male texts of the premodern era; their later use by men and women for contemporary social and political purposes; women's narratives in their social contexts; and the issues of female agency and objectification, addresses women's subordinate nature in India, but also their active resistance, avenues for self-expression, negotiations with patriarchy, and support of oppressive traditions.

Building on their insightful work on India’s 1998 and 1999 parliamentary elections, distinguished scholars Ramashray Roy and Paul Wallace’s current book focuses on the landmark elections of 2004. Bringing together contributors from India and abroad, this volume adds to the body of work on electoral politics and social change in India, and will be of interest to students and teachers of political science, journalists, as well as the informed, general reader.

The Indian Constitution is the largest written constitution that guarantees equality to women and empowers the State to take affirmative actions in favour of women. India has adopted International conventions for protection of rights of women and granting them equality and ratified the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the year 1993. The National Policy for Women Empowerment was presented in 2001, the goal of that policy to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women and enable women to become financially independent. Currently, India is the only country where the economic gender gap is larger than the political gender gap. Women are required to understand their own potential and overcome social barriers. With constant support of the government, change in stereotype mindset and skill development in women, India will continue witnessing gradual increase in women entrepreneurship in future. The aim of this book is to show the latest state of knowledge on the topic of women entrepreneurship, the role of women in business and women empowerment in India. Many aspects relating to role of women in business, sustainable business development and aspects going beyond economic empowerment of women are discussed in addition to presenting legal and regulatory frameworks. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of entrepreneurship, empowerment, gender studies, and law.

These ground-breaking collections offer 200 texts from eleven languages, never before available in English or as a collection, along with a new reading of cultural history that draws on contemporary scholarship on women and India. This extraordinary body of literature and important documentary resource illuminates the lives of Indian women through 2,600 years of change and extends the historical understanding of literature, feminism, and the making of modern India. The biographical, critical, and bibliographical headnotes in both volumes, supported by an introduction which Anita Desai describes as "intellectually rigorous, challenging, and analytical," place the writers and their selections within the context of Indian culture and history.