Overview

Examines the intersections of gender, religion, and politics among various Indian religious communities, from early British rule to the late twentieth century. 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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Tanika Sarkar
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.526kg
ISBN:  

9798855800272

Pages:   404
Publication Date:   02 February 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface 1. Women's Histories, Gender Studies: An Overview Historiographical Shifts: A Very Brief Glance Pre-Modern Gender The British at Home: How Similar and How Different References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 1 2. Redesigning Gender Laws Colonial Lawmaking Personal Laws Parsis ""Tribal"" Custom Muslim Laws Christian Personal Laws Hindu Personal Laws: The War Over Widows War Over Widows: Remarriage Beyond Personal Laws: Female Infanticide Beyond Personal Laws: Civil Marriage War Over the Child Wife: The Age of Consent Act of 1891 Matriliny Property Laws Back to Civil Marriages: The New Century Back to Child Marriages: The New Century References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 2 3. Redesigning Gender: Reformers and the Orthodoxy Changes in Tribal Culture Hindu Reformers and the Orthodoxy Widowhood Rebellious Women Educating Women Dalit Social Reforms Christian Reforms Muslim Reformers Sikh Reforms Births, Birth Control, and the Spectre of Female Sexuality References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 3 4. Gendering Work Work Within Households Slaves, Servants, Artistes Factory Work Labour Reformism New Professions References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 4 5. Gendering Politics The Queen of Jhansi Associations and Movements Mass Movements Armed Revolutionaries Gender on the Left Gender on the Right War, Independence, and Partition References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 5 6. Holy and Unholy Gender Holiness Unholy Gender – Beyond the Two Genders Courtesans, Concubines, Sex Workers Interracial Relationships Beyond Heteronormativity Prisons and Lunatic Asylums References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 6 7. Writing and Performing Gender The World of Printed Books Gender in the Modern Journals Gender on the Stage References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 7 8. Post-Colonial India Gendering Births and Deaths Gendering Labour Gendering Property Gender in Households Social Work for Gender Reform Legal Reformism Women's Political Activism and Feminist Politics Gendering State Repression Gendering Pogroms Re-Presenting Literature: Gender Gender in the Cinema References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 8 9. The ""Others"", Pakistan and Bangladesh Early Political Vicissitudes Scripture, Custom, Norms The Gendering of Dress Women's Activism The Hudood Decade Bangladesh: An Outline History Gendering War Culture vs Labour Political Women Gender and Faith References and Suggested Readings for Chapter 9 Index

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Author Information

Tanika Sarkar 's internationally recognized histories have focused on the interface of religion, politics, and women. Her many books include Hindu Wife, Hindu Nation: Community, Religion and Cultural Nationalism; Rebels, Wives, Saints: Designing Selves and Nations in Colonial Times; and Hindu Nationalism in India. She has been Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Visiting Professor at Yale University, the University of Chicago, and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She taught for many years at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and now teaches at Ashoka University.

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