History of Women’s Movement in India

Paper Code: 
WMS 102
Credits: 
3
Contact Hours: 
45.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 

The objectives of this course are-

  1. To understand the relation between women’s studies and women’s movements.
  2. To learn about the women’s movements taken place in both pre- and post- independence India.
  3. To study the work of several experts of the field.

 

Course Outcomes (COs):

Course

 Outcome (at course level)

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies 

Paper Code

Paper Title

WMS 102

History of Women’s Movement in India

CO 5: Outline the role of women in several social movements.

CO 6: Critically study the several women’s movements of the local region.

CO 7: Identify the contribution of several pioneers of the field.

CO 8: Develop insights for understanding the dynamics of women’s movements in co-relation to women’s studies.

Approach in teaching:

Interactive Lectures, Discussion, Reading assignments

 

Learning activities for the students:

Self learning assignments, Effective questions, Seminar presentation, Giving tasks

Class test, Semester end examinations, Quiz, Assignments, Presentation, Individual and group projects

 

9.00
Unit I: 
Women’s Movement in India

Concept, nature and dynamics

9.00
Unit II: 
Women Movement in Pre- Independence India

Indian Women and the Freedom Movement: Role of women in non-violence movement, Indian National Army; and Revolutionary movement – Bengal (as example).

9.00
Unit III: 
Women’s Movement in Post Independence India

Women welfare and rights: Legislative measures; CEDAW in relation to India

9.00
Unit IV: 
Pioneers of Women’s Studies and Women’s Movement

Neera Desai, Vina Mazumdar, Maitreyi Krishnaraj, Bina Agarwal

Emergence and growth of Women’s Movement in Rajasthan

9.00
Unit V: 
Women’s Movement and Women Studies

Interface, Links and Dynamics.

Essential Readings: 
  1. Sen, Ilina. (ed.) A Space within a Struggle: Women’s Participation in People’s Movement, Kali for Women, 1990
  2. Nandita Gandhi and Nandita Shah,  Issue at Stake: Theory and Practice in the Contemporary Women's Movement in India, Kali, Delhi, 1991
  3. S. P. Sathe, Towards Gender Justice, RCWS, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, 1996
  4. Bina Agarwal, Gender and Command over Property: An Economic Analysis of South Asia, Women Unlimited(an associate of Kali for Women) New Delhi, 1996
  5. Menon, N. (ed.), Gender and Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.
References: 

Unit I

Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, 2008, Introduction; 1-19

Kumar, Radha. The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women’s Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, Kali for Women, New Delhi, 1993, Introduction pp 7-29

 

 Unit II

Geraldine Forbes, Indian Women and the Freedom Movement: A Historian’s Perspective, RCWS, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai 1997

 

 Unit III & IV

Veena Mazumdar, Memories of a Rolling Stone, Zubaan, New Delhi 2010 Introduction

RCWS News letter, IAWS Newsletter

 

Unit V

Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, 2008, Introduction; 1-19

Kumar, Radha. The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women’s Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, Kali for Women, New Delhi, 1993, Introduction pp 7-29

Academic Session: 
2020-21
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