This introductory paper is intended to acquaint the students at the onset the need for Women’s Studies. This will help even students without any previous exposure to the perspective of Women’s Studies to acquire an interest in the subject and follow its interdisciplinary nature.
Origin, meaning, and scope; need for women studies
Social, political and economic issues and paradigms in post independent India
Definition, Facts and Myths
Subordination of women in Patriarchy.
Need to rethink Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; research orientation.
Unit I
Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, 2008, Introduction; 1-19
Unit II
Mazumdar, Vina, Making of a Founding Text, in Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, 2008 pp. 27-32
Chatterjee, Partha, ‘The Nationalist Resolution of Women’s Question’ in Recasting Women, Kali for Women, Delhi, 2006, pp 233-253
Unit III
‘Commonsense beliefs and Psychological Research Strategies’, and ‘Stereotypes, Attitude and Personal Attributes’ pp 1-38 in Archer, John & Lloyd, Barbara, Sex and
Gender, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002
Manimala, Bodhgaya Struggle, WSI Delhi, 2008, 46-52
Unit IV
Kamla Bhasin, What Is Patriarchy? Women Unlimited (an associate of Kali for Women) New Delhi, 2003
‘Origins – The Origins of Patriarchy’ pp 39-58 in Archer, John & Lloyd, Barbara, Sex and Gender, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002
Agarwal, Bina, Gender and Legal Rights in Landed Property in India, Women Unlimited (an associate of Kali for Women) New Delhi, 1999
Manimala, Bodhgaya Struggle, WSI Delhi, 2008, 46-52
Unit V
Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, Delhi, 2008, Introduction; 1-19
Kishwar, Madhu, Initiatives against Dowry Deaths, WSI 42-46
Mitra, Alok, Implication of Declining sex ratio in India’s Population, WSI, Delhi 2008, pp 52