Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Political Representation and Economic Agency
- 3 Property and Power: A Political History of the Hindu Joint Family
- 4 Where Are the Women? Investigating Reform’s Roots
- 5 The Politics of Property Rights Enforcement
- 6 The Long Arm of Resistance: Refusal to Care for Parents
- 7 Representation and Violence: Gender Equality and Sex Selection
- 8 Conclusion
- 9 Data Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - The Long Arm of Resistance: Refusal to Care for Parents
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 October 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Political Representation and Economic Agency
- 3 Property and Power: A Political History of the Hindu Joint Family
- 4 Where Are the Women? Investigating Reform’s Roots
- 5 The Politics of Property Rights Enforcement
- 6 The Long Arm of Resistance: Refusal to Care for Parents
- 7 Representation and Violence: Gender Equality and Sex Selection
- 8 Conclusion
- 9 Data Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Can enforcement of India’s gender equal property inheritance reform advance equality by bringing about meaningful reorganization of familial responsibilities? Quotas increasing women’s political representation strengthen enforcement of gender-equalizing land inheritance reform (as Chapter 5 shows). Such enforcement may increase conflict within the family. This chapter finds families are more likely to block equal distribution of inheritance to daughters, conditional on the anticipated cost of losing ancestral property rights. This “cost” can be transformed into a benefit for the entire family when female gatekeepers spur integrative bargaining solutions, striking agreements about the distribution of rights and responsibilities across multiple domains simultaneously. This chapter identifies the causal effect on behavior of as-if randomly applied reservations for female elected heads of local government on the willingness of children to support aging parents. It finds that when daughters leverage female gatekeepers to exercise symbolic land rights, conflict is unlikely, and women are more able to care for aging parents, choosing closer marriages and planning to financially support parents. However, when a daughter gains gender-equal property inheritance after exiting marriage negotiations, all children revoke support for parents.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Women, Power, and PropertyThe Paradox of Gender Equality Laws in India, pp. 164 - 190Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020