International Seminars
	A World in Transition: New Challenges for Gender Justice ...read more
National Seminars
	Disability and Gender ...read more
	Adoption and Minority Laws ...read more
	Consultation on Curriculum Development ...read more
	Women and Migration ...read more
	Re-presenting Indian Women: 1875 to 1947, A Visual Documentary ...read more
In-house Seminars
	Dr. Marie Percot (Associated with Urban Anthropology Laboratory, National Council for Scientific Research, Paris) delivered a talk on ‘Malayali Nurses Abroad: Between Migration Tradition, Family Strategies and Individual Aspirations’ on 4 February, 2009
	Dr. Anupama Rao (Assistant Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University) delivered a talk on “The Biopolitics of Caste" on 14 January, 2009
	Prof. Uma Chakravarti (Historian and Former J.P Naik Fellow) delivered a talk on ‘Gendering Transitions: Sexuality and the Reification of Women in Early India’ on  3 December, 2008
	Prof. Erica Burman (Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) delivered a talk on ‘Between Justice and Pathologisation: Juxtapositions of Epistemic and Material Violence in Transnational Migration and Domestic Violence Research’ on 14th November  2008
	Prof. Tani E. Barlow (Department of History, Rice University) delivered a talk on ‘Addressing an Enigma - The Modern Girl Project: Problems and Solutions' on 4th August 2008
	Dr. Kanchana Natarajan (Faculty, Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi) delivered a talk on ‘Avudai Akka , A Study of Advaita Vedanta from the point of view of a Female Seer’ on 25th April 2008
	Ms. Snigdha Singh, (Senior Lecturer, Miranda House, University of Delhi)  delivered a lecture on ‘Evidence of Patronage and Matronage at an Early Stupa’ on 4th April 2008
	Dr. J. Devika, (Faculty, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum) delivered a lecture on “A Tactful Union”: Domestic Workers’ Unionism, Politics, and Citizenship in Kerala? on February 29, 2008
	Dr. Geetanjali Gangoli (School for Policy Studies, Bristol) delivered a lecture on ‘Forced Marriage in the U.K. – Religious, Cultural or State Violence on 5th December 2007
	Prof. Patricia Jeffery (Professor of Sociology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland) delivered a lecture on ‘Gender and Pharmaceuticals: The Case of Intrapartum Oxytocin’ on 26th September 2007
	Dr. Zhang Hong (Visiting Scholar, Centre for Women’s Development Studies and Associate Professor of History in Dalian University, China) delivered a lecture on ‘Women and Nationalism: A Historiographical Study of Indian Women’s History since 1970s’ on 10th September 2007
	Dr. D. Raghunandan (General Secretary, Delhi Science Forum) delivered a lecture on ‘Climate Change: Politics and Sciences’ on 30th August 2007
	Dr. K.P. Kannan (Member, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector) delivered a lecture on ‘Social Security for the Unprotected Workers: Issues and Impediments’ on 11th April 2007
	Dr. K.P. Kannan (Member, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector) delivered a lecture on ‘Social Security for the Unprotected Workers: Issues and Impediments’ on 11th April 2007
	‘The Failure of Patriarchy: Men, Women and Servitude in Kolkata’ by Raka Ray, Sarah Kailath Chair in India Studies & Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, March 21, 2007
	The West Bengal Predicament in Singur and Nandigram’ by Prof. Sumit Sarkar, Formerly Professor, Delhi University  and Prof. Tanika Sarkar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University  on January 17, 2007
	The Pleasures of Domesticity: Renovations and Recycling by Rosemary Marangoly George,  Professor, Literature Department, University of California, San Diego, 7 December 2006
	Screening of and discussion on the Documentary Film titled, “Delhi –Mumbai-Delhi” by Saba Dewan, Film Maker, A -19 Gulmohur Park, New Delhi - 49 on October 2006
	Gender Issues in the Software Outsourcing Industry: Control, Individualisation, and ‘Empowerment’ by Carol Upadhya, Fellow, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, 7 September 2006
	Provincialising Gender? Women qua Women in Late Colonial India by Mrinalini Sinha, Professor, Department of History, Penn State University, 17 August 2006

  A World in Transition: New Challenges for Gender Justice

An international conference was organized in collaboration with GADNET (Gender and Development Network, Sweden) during 13-15 December 2006, with financial support from SIDA/ SAREC.  While international in perspective, this conference drew especially from participants in India, South and South-East Asia. As the title suggests, the Conference aimed to explore the complex underpinnings of gender justice from different perspectives and locations.  

The Conference had six sub-themes, initiated by a total of nine keynote speakers, with each of the sub-themes organized by facilitators and moderators. The sub-themes were:

It would not be possible to summarize all the papers that were presented. The keynote presentations – from India, Sweden, Mexico, South Korea and Sri Lanka – brought genuinely global perspectives to the issues at stake, and provided the parameters for subsequent discussions. The papers in the sub-theme on political restructuring dealt with shifts in the relationships between the state and civil society, and their consequences for political interventions.  The second theme on violence and conflict had presentations drawing from issues of atrocity, domestic violence, sex work and international law.  A running theme of the papers in the third on sexuality session, whether from India, Taiwan, Mexico or Peru was engagement with the stranglehold of the patriarchal family, whether the focus was on heteronormativity, virginity testing, disabled femininity, concubinage, reproductive health or HIV/AIDS.  Paper presenters in the fourth theme on globalization and livelihoods approached their subject matter from a range of perspectives and different levels of analysis, both at the micro and macro levels. The fifth theme had three papers dealing with different aspects of Muslim identity (in India, Nigeria and Malaysia), and two papers on shifts in the news media and popular cinema.  The last sub-theme on feminist knowledge production brought a comparative and cross-cultural perspective in many of the presentations, while others dwelt more specifically on critiques of specific disciplines and institutions, pointing to the heterogeneity in the organizations and locations from which research on women’s issues is being generated today. 

  Disability and Gender

Persons with disabilities are amongst the most disempowered groups. They are constantly faced with discrimination and are subjected to neglect, prejudice, revulsion, rejection and pity. They face economic, educational, architectural, legal and health barriers, which prevent them from leading a fulfilling life and achieving their full potential. Women with disabilities face violations of their rights at every level. They are considered a financial burden and social liability by their families, denied opportunities to movement outside the home and access to education, viewed as asexual, helpless and dependant, live with high levels of vulnerability, their aspirations for marriage and parenthood often denied.

The rise of the disability movement in different parts of the world and the proactive role of the United Nations since the 1970s has moved the issue of disability from the realm of charity and welfare to that of rights and entitlements. In that spirit India passed the landmark ‘Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995 mandating a range of policy initiatives for persons with disabilities in the fields of health, accessibility education, employment and social security. In this scenario, India’s signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 1st October 2007 is a significant event, the meaning and implications of which will unravel in the coming years.

In the light of the above, the Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), New Delhi decided to jointly organise a two-day conference on gender, disability and society with the Women’s Studies and Development Centre (WSDC) of Delhi University. The conference was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Professor Deepak Pental who appreciated the collaborative effort between the WSDC and CWDS. The inaugural function was also addressed by the Director of CWDS, the Director of WSDC Professor Vibha Chaturvedi and the Conference Co-ordinator Dr. Renu Addlakha. 18 original papers were presented, spread over eight sessions. Over 250 participants from different university departments and NGOs attended the conference. Student participation from both undergraduate and postgraduate levels was substantial.

In order to make the conference accessible to persons with different kinds of disabilities, documentary material was made available in Braille for visually challenged participants and sign interpretation was provided throughout the conference for the benefit of persons with hearing impairment.

The conference sought to engage with the concept of disability from a variety of disciplinary positions, socio-cultural contexts and subjective experiences. Each of the papers addressed disability in relation to Indian realities, bringing a strong gender perspective. While in some papers gender was the principal focus (Bhargavi Davar, Amita Dhanda, Asha Hans and colleagues, Anita Ghai and Rachna Johri, Nandini Ghosh. Nilika Mehrotra and Shubhangi Vaidya), others engendered their analysis in novel ways. For instance, Upali Chakravarti examined family caregiving and Michele Friedner mapped transnational discursive flows through a gendered lens. Shilpaa Anand deconstructed notions of disability in colonial discourses and how they can be analysed from a gender perspective. In a more contemporary vein, Gajendranath Karna and Jagdish Chander engendered their analysis of the disability movement and the discipline of disability studies in India respectively. Jeeja Ghosh and Vandana Chaudhry looked at grassroot empowerment modalities with a particular focus on women with disabilities.

Disability is no longer confined to a limited number of physical, sensory, psychosocial and communicative limitations with negative social consequences. The disability paradigm has emerged as an analytical tool that can be used to analyse a range of biological and social conditions. Surabhi Tandon Mehrotra constructed the life histories of women affected by leprosy showing the interface between personal experience, family dynamics, institutionalisation and ‘cure’ through a revolutionary multi-drug treatment regime that has made it possible to eliminate leprosy. From another perspective, Sabiha Hussain looked at the ongoing social suffering of a woman having to bear the stigma of infertility. Focussing on the interface between psychosocial and physical disabilities, Renu Addlakha examined the emerging paradigm of disability, interrogating notions of deviance, difference and diversity.

  Adoption and Minority Laws

A Workshop on Adoption and Minority Laws was held 9-10^th February 2009 in collaboration with the Centre for Minority and Dalit Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia. 

The issue of the adoption of children and, more specifically, the adoption laws for religious minorities (particularly Muslims) have occupied a marginal position in our rights discourse as well as in women studies and the women’s movement in India. The existing laws on adoption deny adoption rights to members of religious minorities. The Guardianship and Ward Act, 1890 that governs adoption related issues for minorities in India only allows for guardianship. The personal law of Muslims in India does not allow for adoption, though Section 3 of the Shariat Act recognizes adoption amongst certain Muslim communities.  However, the complexity of the situation regarding the existence of religious based personal laws (under which questions of adoption and guardianship come) in the Indian context are heightened in a situation where even Christians and other minority religious groups are unable to adopt in India.

This National Seminar was organized to discuss issues related to adoption laws and practices in general, and to the laws and practices applicable to minorities in particular.  The Keynote Address was delivered by Justice Rajinder Sachar who noted the lack of attention given to questions of adoption and the need for a secular response to an unjust situation.  The following session offered different perspectives on adoption law – within Muslim law (Asghar Ali Engineer), Christian law (Chiramal Jos), the Bahai perspective (A.K. Merchant) and Jain widows’ right to adopt (Manisha Sethi).

The afternoon session opened up different issues, contradictions and possibilities in the existing laws and Acts focussing on possible alternatives to adoption laws (Kirti Singh), Minority views on adoption laws (Atiyab Siddiqui), Adoption in the Shariat Act (Kahkashan Danyal), the Guardianship and Ward Act, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act; and finally the Juvenile Justice Act and its implications for minorities (Jagdeep Kishore).  The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was amended in 2006 to allow non-Hindus to adopt, but it remains unclear if Muslim personal law, which does not permit adoption, would lend it support.

The final session of the first day concluded with discussions of possible amendments by Yogesh Mehta and Jyotsna Chatterjee.

The first session of the second day focussed on the Convention on Child Rights and its relationship to questions of Adoption (Razia Ismail), given that India is a signatory to the UN CRC, according to which a child deprived of parental care is entitled to protection and assistance from the state. Other social perspectives on adoption were provided by Shabnam Hashmi and Amod Kanth.

Another emerging context for considering adoption is that of infertility and the growing spread of Artificial Reproductive Technologies.  The possible role of adoption in this context was addressed by Imrana Qadeer and the SAMA Team.

The final session on agencies and institutions was addressed by Vineeta Bhargava, including critiques of adoption Guidelines by Suneeta Swach, CARA and Tarini Bahadur, PALNA.  The workshop as a whole concluded with a general discussion on the way forward and the need to build a stronger forum around adoption rights.

  Consultation on Curriculum Development

Mary John organized a Curriculum Development Consultation, 11-12 January 2008, at the YWCA, New Delhi.

The curriculum development consultation brought together about 30 teachers located in different institutional contexts, all involved in the teaching of women’s studies.  The institutions represented included the School of Women’s Studies at Jadavpur University Kolkata, the M.G.A. Hindi University at Wardha, the Department of Women’s Studies at Calicut University, the Women’s Studies and Development Centre, Delhi University, Women’s studies Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia, the Women’s Studies Programme at JNU, faculty from IGNOU, the Centre for Development Studies Trivandrum, Madras Institute of Development Studies Chennai, Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies Hyderabad, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society Bangalore, and NALSAR Hyderabad.

The consultation took the form of short presentations and a sharing of experiences and curricula.  As the members present discovered, in the space of about a decade, many centres have begun teaching full-fledged courses in women’s studies. While many of these take the form of a paper or component of a larger course, what is distinctive today, compared to the past, is the presence of full-fledged degree courses in women’s studies, both at the M.Phil. and M.A. levels. There was considerable discussion on the history of such courses, differences of approach, and problems faced, including different perspectives on the pros and cons of offering full-fledged courses.  There was also discussion on the different levels where such courses can be offered, beginning at the under graduate level and the difference this makes.  An interesting and knotty area turned on the issue of inter-disciplinarity and multi-disciplinarity.  Many women’s studies courses have in fact emerged in institutional contexts where a particular discipline played a formative role – such as literature, sociology or economics.

Discussion also focussed on the student – what kind of student is interested in taking a women’s studies course as a degree? Is it seen as a soft option?  Are differences emerging between metropolitan contexts where women’s studies has become more familiar compared to locations where it is still relatively unknown?

The discussions as well as the curricula gathered in the course of the consultation will feed into the Centre’s plans of developing their own teaching programme.  The consultation was supported by a grant from the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

  Women and Migration

A National Seminar on Women and Migration was organised on 19^th-20^th September, 2007. It was supported by the National Commission for Women. Overview presentations highlighted the fact that Census and NSSO data on migration have been unable to capture the magnitudes or trends in women’s migration. Systematic studies of women’s labour migration are needed. Field observations indicated increasing levels of migration and brought out new features of contemporary migration: increasing incidence of women travelling – on their own or in groups – to find work, greater willingness of many to travel long distances for short-term work or even without the promise of any work, mass migrations from certain areas, and even daily commuting across large distances. These showed that while some migration is demand-driven, a substantial part is distress-led, driven by the agrarian crisis and poor rural employment generation. A strong tendency to exclusionary urban growth has developed with negative approaches to migration, and also an elitist attempt at sanitization of the issue. Further, our public service delivery is residence based, requiring proof of residence at every point. This affects access of short-term migrants to food from the Public Distribution System, and other public facilities. Migrant workers need to be factored into the ongoing proposals and discussions regarding legislation for social security and regulation of conditions of work in the unorganized sector.

Discussions covering the rural context, the urban landscape and sectors of migrant labour concentration highlighted the fact that the way female labour migration fits into circuits of migration has to do with nature of labour demand, cost and discipline. Little is known about how industry interacts with regionally variant social structures in the formation of labour markets and shaping migration patterns. Despite references in migration literature to ‘women left behind’ little is known about their experiences. There is a need to address issues of social dislocation caused by such migration, for families left behind, for families of migrant women with young children, for care of the young, the old and the sick, for daily survival of households left behind with uncertain remittance income as well as for return migrants.

Regional issues were covered in a variety of presentations. These focused on statistical trends, on particular sectors such as brick kiln migrants at source and destination, seasonal agricultural migration, intra-state migration and its different streams and, inner conflicts and tensions, slum dwellers, domestic workers and nurses. There was a focus on tribal women’s experiences and issues, both in a special session on tribal women’s migration as well as in other presentations.

Social linkages were drawn out in a special session. Long distance migration for marriage in Haryana, particularly the bringing of brides from far eastern states highlighted the fact that in the process of globalization, there has been a restructuring of not just economic institutions, but also in social institutions. However to address these women as ‘purchased’ or ‘bought’ wives is degrading, and there is a real need to be more aware and vigilant about the kind of language that media or even activists use. Isolation and lack of social status and rights in such marriage relations need to be carefully studied and addressed. The invisibility of gender in displacement and resettlement and rehabilitation emerged as a serious concern. Women are subsumed within the family and are ignored for rehabilitation purposes even though displacement-induced migration often leads to women losing livelihoods.

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion where speakers pointed out that loss of political voice and voting rights occur because of exclusion from voters’ lists, or being away when the voting is actually taking place for elections at all levels: national, state assembly, panchayat elections, also inhibiting active participation in gram sabhas. Of special concern was the issue of migrant and other unorganized workers in the bill tabled by Government on social security for unorganized sector workers. Discussions highlighted the need for a critical review of the different constituent elements of citizenship viz., civil, political, social and cultural, and the corresponding structures of the state and policies of the state. Laws, political practices and social policies—especially since the 1990s-- have been marking out, externalizing and criminalizing the outsider, tending to make migration a process of progressive deprivation, dispossession and disenfranchisement.

Co-ordinators: Indu Agnihotri, Indrani Mazumdar, Anupama Roy, Sabiha Hussain and Sreelekha

  Re-presenting Indian Women: 1875 to 1947, A Visual Documentary
 

  Exhibition at Lucknow, Shillong, Guwahati and Bhubaneshwar

In February 2008, the exhibition travelled to Lucknow for the IAWS session followed by displays at Shillong under the auspices of the North east Regional Institute of NCERT, Guwahati at Kalakshetra in collaboration with North-east Network (NEN) and Bhubaneshwar, again under the auspices of NCERT. At a conservative estimate, at least 1000 persons saw the exhibition, a number of them being from our target audience, school and college students.  On balance, participating in the planning, organizing and display has been an empowering experience for all those who are now involved with Re-presenting Indian Women. In all four places, the exhibition received considerable publicity in both the print and visual media, adding to our substantial portfolio of press clippings ever since we started out in 2001. Re-presenting Indian Women has now had twenty showings, with invitations for more trips during 2008-09.

  Exhibition at Mussoorie, Dehradun, Bhopal, Panipat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysore,
    Madurai, Pondicherry and Chennai

The travelling display Re-presenting Indian Women: 1875 to 1947, A Visual Documentary visited 10 venues. The traveling exhibition and seminar were made possible by a special grant from the ICSSR commemorating 150 years of the first War of Independence of 1857. The exhibition celebrated Independence day at Hanifl Center, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, inaugurated by actor Tom Alter. The next day saw several high school students and staff members visiting the Center set among stately deodars.  A senior history teacher decided to hold his class at the display, firing pertinent questions at his students! Coming down the mountain to Mahadevi Kanya Pathshala, Dehra Dun was an experience of a different kind. In her inaugural speech on August 18, Nayantara Sahgal said that she was indeed happy to be at the display as it aptly commemorated her mother Vijayalakshmi Pandit’s birthday on that day. The event attracted school and college students as well as senior citizens. A number of students – including a few from Welham Girls school - commented that they would like to do similar projects.

In Bhopal (November 14 -15) the display was held at Kala Parishad under the aegis of the Regional Institute of Education, NCERT. It was inaugurated by the governor, Shri Balram Jakhar and the chief guest on that occasion was the Minister of Women and Child Welfare, Susri Kusum Mahadele. The display proved to be hugely popular with all students – boys and girls - of Bhopal-based Central Schools. It was at this venue that, for the first time, the Hindi panels were displayed. These are the translations of all introductory panels, and needless to add, they proved to be of immense help and aid to majority of the students and other viewers.

The exhibition was held at Panipat’s Bal Vikas Progressive School on 8^th and 9^th December and was inaugurated by Mr H. K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief of the Chandigarh-based The Tribune. Other than the students of this school, the display was viewed by media students from Panipat colleges as well as students from Kurukshetra University.

In Mumbai (January 19-20) the exhibition was held in the Bombay University’s Kalina campus. It was organised by the Department of Sociology and Indian Association of Women’s Studies. The eminent actor, Rohini Hattangady was present to inaugurate the display. It was part of the IAWS workshop on ‘Archiving Women’s Lives: Perspectives and Techniques’ at which Dr Karlekar presented  ‘Curating a Visual Documentary on Women through Archival Photographs’. This audio-visual was followed by a discussion on problems and challenges faced in the process of collecting photos and also on issues of techniques regarding preservation and dissemination.

The display then moved to University of Hyderabad’s Sarojini Naidu’s School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts and Communication’ (27-30 January). The chief guest was Prof Meenakshi Mukherjee and Prof Rama Melkote of ‘Anveshi’ was the guest of honour and the next day the Vice Chancellor of the University came to see the exhibition. Students and faculty– as well as visiting Swedish students - from all disciplines were interested visitors.

The exhibition travelled to Mysore (6-7 February) next under the aegis of the Regional Institute of Education, NCERT. Chief guest Smt Rameshwari Varma spoke about the role of women’s studies in India, and T. S. Satyan, the legendary photo journalist, inaugurated the display. The hall was full of school students, so much so that the hours had to be extended. 

The display then moved on to Tamil Nadu, first to the historic Lady Doak College, Madurai (12-13 February). It was organized by the college’s Centre for Women’s Studies and was inaugurated by the Principal of the college, Dr Nirmala Jeyaraj. Fifteen student docents were initiated in methods to help other students appreciate the display. Their assistance was of immense value as the majority of the viewers were more at home in Tamil. In all 1400 students from Madurai came to see the exhibition. An interactive session with a select group of students also helped to bring some issues out in the open. 

As Prof. Sachindanda Mohany of the University of Hyderabad had introduced the exhibition to Mr. Lalit Verma, owner and curator of Aurodhan Art Gallery, Pondicherry, it was possible to squeeze in a two-day showing on 15-16 February, 2007 at the Gallery. It was inaugurated by the French Consul-General, Mme Joelle Rayet. Here the cognoscenti of the town and of Auroville visited the exhibition and were particularly pleased to see the photograph of the lady in whose home Sri Aurobindo was born!

DakshinaChitra on the outskirts of Chennai – where the display was mounted in the three rooms of the Art Gallery – was the longest stop on this tour February 17-25. This was at the specific request of the organizers who felt that it would tie in well with their other programmes. It was inaugurated by the actor-director Revathy, and as the day (February 17) was also the Board Meeting of DakshinaChitra, some members were also present. On February 19, the workshop on `Archiving the Visual’ was held in the seminar room; apart from CWDS’ invitees, DakshinaChitra too had invited interested people and the ICSSR was represented by Shri. R.P. Prasad.