IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v7y2017i3p2158244017723953.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Fares the Well? A Study of the Interstices of the Welfare State: Bharati Sarabhai’s The Well of the People (1943), Mahasweta Devi’s Jal/Water (1976), and Vinodini’s Daaham/Thirst (2005)

Author

Listed:
  • Tutun Mukherjee

Abstract

The essay examines India’s journey from “colonialism†to “post-colonial awareness.†It also explores the ideals of the Republic and their fulfillment as seen in India as a nation founded on the principles of a welfare state. Discussion of three selected texts explores the connections between water management and social welfare to instantiate the obstacles in India’s aspirations as a functioning welfare state as well as narrativizing resistance built in the interstices of society against caste hegemony and power politics. One instance is access to or denial of the life-sustaining element, water. Interestingly, Rabindranath Tagore’s 1922 play Muktadhara/Free Current conveyed a percipient warning about politics of control over water. The chosen texts, Sarabhai’s The Well of the People , Mahasweta Devi’s Jal/ Water, and Vinodini’s Daaham/ Thirst, besides highlighting the politics of “hydro power,†also portray the deep and mystical relationship between water, ecology, and gender. I argue that India as a welfare state would obviously benefit from gender sensitization of its developmental policies, especially regarding water management if women’s views are taken into serious consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • Tutun Mukherjee, 2017. "How Fares the Well? A Study of the Interstices of the Welfare State: Bharati Sarabhai’s The Well of the People (1943), Mahasweta Devi’s Jal/Water (1976), and Vinodini’s Daaham/Thirst (2005)," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:7:y:2017:i:3:p:2158244017723953
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244017723953
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244017723953
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244017723953?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Margreet Zwarteveen, 1998. "Gendered participation in water management: Issues and illustrations from water users‘ associations in South Asia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 15(4), pages 337-345, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ogada, Maurice Juma, 2012. "Forest Management Decentralization in Kenya: Effects on Household Farm Forestry Decisions in Kakamega," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126319, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Handapangoda, Wasana Sampath & Sisira Kumara, Ajanth, 2012. "From silence to voice: Examining the empowerment potential of mobile phones to women in Sri Lanka The case of dependent housewives," MPRA Paper 41768, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Oct 2012.
    3. Barbara Ntombi Ngwenya & Ketlhatlogile Keta Mosepele & Lapologang Magole, 2012. "A case for gender equity in governance of the Okavango Delta fisheries in Botswana," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 109-122, May.
    4. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & McClafferty, Bonnie, 2006. "Using gender research in development: food security in practice," Food security in practice technical guide series 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Awal Abdul‐Rahaman & Gazali Issahaku & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Agrifood system participation and production efficiency among smallholder vegetable farmers in Northern Ghana," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 812-835, July.
    6. Das, Priyam, 2014. "Women’s Participation in Community-Level Water Governance in Urban India: The Gap Between Motivation and Ability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 206-218.
    7. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Barbara Schreiner & Ndileka Mohapi & Barbara Van Koppen, 2004. "Washing away poverty: Water, democracy and gendered poverty eradication in South Africa," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(3), pages 171-178, August.
    9. Rebecca Nixon & Francis Owusu, 2017. "Choice, Inclusion, and Access to Information: Understanding Female Farmers’ Participation in Kyrgyzstan’s Water-User Associations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Fischer, Elisabeth & Qaim, Matin, 2012. "Gender, Agricultural Commercialization, and Collective Action in Kenya," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126659, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Shrestha, Gitta & Clement, Floriane, 2019. "Unravelling gendered practices in the public water sector in Nepal," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 21(5):1017-.
    12. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Pandolfelli, Lauren, 2010. "Promising Approaches to Address the Needs of Poor Female Farmers: Resources, Constraints, and Interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 581-592, April.
    13. McNamara, Paul E. & Lee, Han Bum, 2017. "Strengthening Nutrition and Improving Livelihoods through Linking Women Farmers to Markets," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258091, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Aarnoudse, E. & Closas, Alvar & Lefore, Nicole, 2018. "Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa," IWMI Working Papers H048782, International Water Management Institute.
    15. Reyes-Garcia, V. & Aubriot, O. & Ariza-Montobbio, P. & Galan-del-Castillo, E. & Serrano-Tovar, T. & Martinez-Alier, J., 2008. "Local perception and use of the multifunctionality of tanks in two villages of Tamil Nadu, South India," Conference Papers h042346, International Water Management Institute.
    16. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Behrman, Julia & Biermayr-Jenzano, Patricia & Wilde, Vicki & Noordeloos, Marco & Ragasa, Catherine & Beintema, Nienke, 2010. "Engendering agricultural research," IFPRI discussion papers 973, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. K. Gulam Dasthagir, 2021. "Exclusion of Women Beneath Patriarchal Enclaves in Participatory Irrigation Management in South India," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 408-425, October.
    18. Suhardiman, Diana & Raut, Manita & Pradhan, P. & Meinzen-Dick, R., 2023. "Irrigation systems management in Nepal: women’s strategies in response to migration-induced challenges," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 16(1):1-21..
    19. Emine Eminel Sülün, 2018. "Women, Water Resource Management, and Sustainable Development: The Turkey-North Cyprus Water Pipeline Project," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-13, August.
    20. Cook, Nathan J., 2024. "Experimental evidence on minority participation and the design of community-based natural resource management programs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:7:y:2017:i:3:p:2158244017723953. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.