Women, Politics and the State in India

Paper Code: 
WMS 401
Credits: 
3
Contact Hours: 
45.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 

The objectives of this course are-

  1. To acquaint students with the position of Indian women in political sphere.
  2. To evaluate conceptual understanding of issues like migration and reservation.

Course Outcomes (COs):

Course

 Outcome (at course level)

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies 

Paper Code

Paper Title

WMS 401

Women, Politics and the State

CO 37: Acquaint the students with the political scenario with respect to women.

CO 38: Critically examine women’s role in decision-making process.

CO 39: Identify migration as a social issue.

CO 40: Assess and develop theoretical insights for women’s reservation.

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

Fundamental Rights for women as per the Constitution of India

9.00
  • Women in Elections as voters, as contestants: Elections of 1952

 

9.00
  • Women in political decision making – Dilemmas and Contributions

 

9.00
  • Introducing Transition from tribe to state, impact on women’s status with reference to migration and rehabilitation (Case Study of Chipko Movement)

 

9.00
  • Perception of Women by the Indian State – Women’s Reservation Bill

 

Essential Readings: 
  • Sinha, Niroj, Empowerment of Women Through Political Participation, Kalpaz Publications, Delhi, 2007
  • Das, Veena, ed. Handbook of Indian Sociology, OUP, New Delhi 2004
  • S. P. Sathe, Towards Gender Justice, RCWS, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, 1996
  • Banerjee, Somya, National Policy for Women, Arise Publishers & Distributers, New Delhi, 2009
  • Kabeer, N., Reversed Realities, London: Verso, 1995.
  • Hasan, Zoya (ed.) Forging Identities: Gender Communities and State, Kali for Women, New Delhi, 1994
  • 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
  • Janaki Nair, Law in Colonial India, Delhi, Kali for Women, 1996
  • Lucy Caroll, The Law, Custom and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu ‘Widow’s Remarriage Act of 1856’ in J Krishnamurti ed. Women in Colonial India, Delhi OUP, 1989.
  • Agarwal, Bina, Field of her Own, Kali for Women, New Delhi
  • JC Johri, Principals of Modern Political Science, Sterling Publisher, 1995
  • Kapur, Ratna (ed.), Feminist Terrains in Legal Terrains, Kali for Women, Delhi 1996
  • Butalia U, Sarkar, T (ed.), Women and the Hindu Right, Kali for Women, New Delhi 1996.

 

References: 

·      Fundamental Rights (Related to women) in Subhash Kashyap, Our Constitution, An Introduction To India’s Constitution, 2014

·      Election Commition of India – website eci.nic.in/eci_main1/ElectionStatistics.aspx

·      p.105, pp.139-142 Mazumdar, Vina, Memories of a Rolling Stone, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2010

·      pp 27-32 WSI 2008

·      pp 475-491Virginius Xara, ‘Women and Gender in the Study of Tribes in India’, and TiplutNongbri, ‘Ethnicity and Gender: Identity Among the Khasis’ in Mary E John ed. Women’s Studies in India, A Reader, Penguin Books, 2008,

·      pp 211-217 Sharma, Kumud, Women in Struggle: A Case Study of the Chipko Movement in WSI, 2008

·      pp 91-97, Articles on Women’s Reservation Bill in WSI 2008

Women’s Reservation Bill passed in Rajya Sabha 2010

Academic Session: