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
2 - A Theory of Political Representation and Economic Agency
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
How do women access social, economic, and political power in settings where multiple, interlinked systems prevent female influence and agency? More fundamentally: how does a low status group challenge and destabilize what prior to that point appeared to be a highly stable, inegalitarian system? In this chapter, I construct a theory linking women’s political representation to their economic agency. I utilize analysis of electoral behavior and negotiations of political authority and rights garnered from extensive field research to develop my “gatekeeper theory” of how women’s representation impacts enforcement of economic rights and subsequent welfare. I argue that constitutional reforms mandating female representation catalyze change. We see this clearly where economic reforms present an opportunity for women to translate political voice into entitlements to inherit the most precious resource and primary repository of wealth in contemporary India: land. Whether an individual experiences backlash or benefits depends on her bargaining power at the time she gains enforceable property rights, thanks to the confluence of reform and quotas mandating female representation. I include individual narratives to explain the scope and significance of my theory. I also investigate how social norms and their enforcement and contestation are evolving in light of changing political representation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Women, Power, and PropertyThe Paradox of Gender Equality Laws in India, pp. 19 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020