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Jain and Rajput have brought together some of the pioneers in
women’s studies in India, as well as newer entrants to the
field. Many of them note their motivation to link research to a
practical concern with social justice and the emancipation of
women. In fact the efforts to establish women’s studies
centres in various universities were themselves an integral part
of the women’s movement. And, as the editors note, the
contributors to the volume are not just researchers but also
"catalysts, networkers, activists, policy makers, teachers,
counsellors, marchers, agitators, documenters, itinerant
travellers`85"
Three of the
pioneers in the field, Neera Desai, Vina Mazumdar and Kamalini
Bhansali, frame the 16 individual case studies with a useful
historical overview of the movement for women’s education in
the 19th and 20th centuries, and its
evolution into the movement for women’s studies after the
1960s. The turning point came in the 1970s and 1980s, with the
rise of the women’s movement within the context of social,
economic and political trends and crises and an increasing
awareness of the variety of issues affecting women that had so
far remained largely invisible.
Even as several
international agencies, such as the United Nations, entered the
fray, the University Grants Commission moved to support the
setting up of women’s studies and research centres in several
academic institutions from the late 1980s onwards. In fact, the
publication of this book is itself supported by the UGC,
reflected in the inclusion of accounts of 10 such centres among
the 16 case studies in the book.
Activists and
women’s studies scholars will find the histories of the
UGC-sponsored women’s studies centres important and useful as
legitimising their own work, and as models and motivation for
generating new programmes. Not all the narratives are engaging
to read. While it is clear that most of the contributors are
passionate about their work and the centres they have nurtured,
the passion does not always translate as well into the written
word.
Most of the
narrators start out by talking about their personal journeys
into the field of women’s studies. However, the concern with
being taken seriously in academia seems to limit many of the
pioneers at these centres from discussing in greater detail the
dialogical process of personal growth and change alongside the
growth of the centres and their location as participants in the
women’s movement.
Not all the
contributors tell us enough about other individuals they have
worked with and nurtured. I longed to hear more from those
involved other than the authors. Chaya Datar’s discussion of
her transformation from a "housewife-turned-activist"
to a women’s studies scholar is particularly enjoyable to
read. Surinder Jaitley also does a wonderful job of outlining
her own personal and professional transformation from an
impersonal and ‘objective’ social scientist and rural
sociologist to a women’s studies scholar.
While many of the
activities of the women’s studies centres in academic
institutions are somewhat similar, a touch of uniqueness is
added when their work is situated within the specific
socio-historical, cultural and political context of the region
where the centres are located. Pam Rajput is particularly
skilful in highlighting the ‘multi-nuanced’ character of
Punjabi culture and society born of diverse historical currents.
We learn of the significant contributions made historically by
women in Punjab, as also the "carefully fortressed
patriarchal and feudal society where women are treated as
inferior beings, where customs such as female infanticide, child
marriage, purdah and the like were, and are, widely
prevalent."
The narratives
about the women’s studies centres outside the UGC network make
for more compelling reading in my view, and I wish there was a
better balance between UGC and non-UGC centres in the book.
The stories of
three individuals and their own personal journeys as scholars
and activists within the women’s movement in India are my
favourite. Women’s studies scholars are, after all, as human
as the women they study and work with. I found V. S. Elizabeth’s
‘journey into women’s studies’ most interesting and
engaging as she reflects on her experiences teaching history to
law students. Leela Gulati describes her path-breaking studies
of women’s work experiences and poverty while being formally a
housewife with no institutional affiliation. Uma Chakravarti,
meanwhile, traces her own journey into women’s studies as part
of the women’s movement in the 1970s and student activism at
the college she taught at since the late 1960s, Miranda House,
Delhi. The significance of these political currents is reflected
in the long discussion of the politics of feminism that inspired
her to work for curricular change and development within
academic institutions.
Many issues cry
out for more detailed discussion, such as the nature and quality
of research and curricular development. This gap is partly
filled by another recent book I came across, Women’s
Studies in India: Contours of Change edited by Malashri Lal
and Sukrita Paul Kumar and published by the Indian Institute of
Advanced Studies, Shimla. This book as well as the one under
review should both be important resources for anyone interested
in women’s studies and the women’s movement in India.
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OVER
the past two decades, studies and reports on a variety of issues
relating to women and the women’s movement in India have become
increasingly accessible. Little thought, however, has been given to
the endeavours of numerous people who have made such studies
possible.
