Feminist Constitutional Activism in India (original) (raw)
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Feminist Movements and Political Empowerment of Women: With Special Reference to India
Empowerment is now increasingly seen as a process by which the one's without power gain greater control over their lives. This means control over material asserts intellectual resources and ideology. It involves power to power with and power within. Some define empowerment as a process of awareness and conscientization of capacity building leading to greater participation in society and use of decision making power effectively.
Feminist politics in India: Women, identity and political activism
The equality of men and women in the matter of right has been established by a large number of the Constitutions, codes and laws. The real question is to what extent the legal declaration about the equality of the sexes has been effective in real life. It is globally acknowledged that 'gender equality and women's empowerment' is at the core of achieving development objectives, fundamental for the realisation of human rights, and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. The bitter truth is that in India, which still requires schemes like 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' against the most horrific societal discriminations like female foeticide, women are treated as 'second class citizens' and denied their rights; hence their political status has remained relatively low. No doubt, various constitutional amendments, Acts are able to create a political space for women but they are not capable to guarantee a non-discriminatory environment for women to participate. Constitutional provisions do not mean automatic enjoyment of the rights conferred therein. This study stresses that women are still second-class citizens in spite of the equal rights conferred on them and seeks to identify the challenges of women in political leadership positions in India, the largest democratic nation. Findings from the study reveal that there is considerable progress in women's equality in the leadership role; however, there are certain crucial obstacles that still exist for women to be active in the political realm.
Indian Feminists in the Legal Reform Process.pdf
Journal of International Women's Studies , 2016
This paper examines the critique of what has been termed as “governance feminism” and analyses its conceptual utility with reference to the legal reform process undertaken in India in the aftermath of the Delhi anti-rape demonstrations of late 2012-early 2013. Governance feminism refers to the process by which feminists influence institutional decisions and policy, and critiques of governance feminism focus on its tendency to maintain an equivalence between womanhood and victimhood, and its blindness to unintended consequences of feminist legal reform. This paper will reflect on the critiques that have been made of governance feminist interaction with the state, and examine their exportability to the Indian context, with reference to Indian feminist engagement with the Justice Verma Committee (JVC) that was set up to make recommendations to the criminal law. I will go on to argue that the critiques that have been made of governance feminist intervention in the West have limited exportability to the Indian context. The insights of the governance feminist critique remain invaluable, and the methodological emphasis that it places on unintended consequences are of relevance to Indian feminists who (like any feminist movement) do not operate as a monolithic movement, but are constantly negotiating unstable political categories and identities. However, this paper will pay attention to the fact that where the Indian feminist movement was self-critical in its recommendations for legal reform, they were largely unsuccessful in having them reflected in the Ordinance and Act later passed. In the light of this, it will argue that while the governance feminist critique tends to espouse taking a break from feminism to account for other justice projects, the Indian feminist’s experience suggests that feminists may be better off taking a break from the state.
The last 50 years of feminist activism in India has managed to challenge the 5,000 years of patriarchal order. The main achievements were the deconstruction of violence against women, questioning of male domination within the family, kinship, religion, media and the State, in addition to a series of legal reforms. Understanding of privilege to reshape the world has been the distinct contribution of the feminist movement along with the focus on the marginalised. The feminist space in India is distinctive and builds upon a diversity of women’s groups, political party networks, feminist and HIV/AIDS-related NGOs, nonfunded feminist and queer groups and individuals, democratic rights groups, eco-feminists, non-feminists, research institutes and universities. Despite the broad experience, this space remains rather disunited.
THE CONCEPT OF RELIGION AND THE DEBATE ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATES OF INDIA
I intend to show that religion was seen as an obstacle to the improvement of women's rights in India in the debates of the Constituent Assembly during the 1940s. In order to understand this negative view of the role of religion in society, we need to understand two very different concepts of religion current in India during the period. I call these the universalist and the particularist concepts of religion. These two concepts were associated with dichotomies like universal religion and particular religious traditions, positive religion and negative; inclusive and exclusive, progressive religion and conservative religion. To most members of the Constituent Assembly, religion was seen as inseparable from the caste-system, from local customs, rituals, law, and general worldview. I argue that this particularist concept of religion shaped the dominant views and attitudes about the public role of religion in the debates about the Constitution of the Republic of India. As a consequence, religion was perceived as a barrier to social reform in a number of different areas. My focus will be on the rights of women.
INDIAN WOMEN AND CONSTITUTION: A PERSPECTIVE
India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women and empowerment of women. The Constitution makers were sensitive to the problems faced by women and made specific provisions relating to their protection, welfare and progress. There are several articles which guarantee equality, liberty, justice, protection and empowerment of women in India. There are a good number of legal measures adopted by the Government of India in the post independence era to ensure the welfare and progress of women. These provisions have not been strictly enforced by the authorities due to lack of social commitment and political will. India cannot emerge as a powerful nation without the empowerment of women who matter most
2015
The present paper maps the terrain of activism in the feminist and the Women’s Movement in India. The Indian women’s movement is extremely diverse; the cultural, historical, geographical, religious, political and regional factors specifically contribute to this diversity. Such a rich diversity makes it very difficult to comment and describe the movement in its entirety. It is possible to talk about the main issues in terms of evolution of this movement, its main currents and broad trends. The women’s movement is not a homogeneous group or federation of different groups. There is no one voice but there is a basic acceptance of women’s oppression and the belief that that it can be eliminated. Key-words:Feminism, Women´s Movement, activism