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Caste, Kinship, and Life Course: Rethinking Women's Work and Agency in Rural South India

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  • Nitya Rao

Abstract

This paper reexamines the linkages between women's work, agency, and well-being based on a household survey and in-depth interviews conducted in rural Tamil Nadu in 2009 and questions the prioritization of workforce participation as a path to gender equality. It emphasizes the need to unpack the nature of work performed by and available to women and its social valuation, as well as women's agency, particularly its implications for decision making around financial and nonfinancial household resources in contexts of socioeconomic change. The effects of work participation on agency are mediated by factors like age and stage in the life cycle, reproductive success, and social location - especially of caste - from which women enter the workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Nitya Rao, 2014. "Caste, Kinship, and Life Course: Rethinking Women's Work and Agency in Rural South India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 78-102, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:20:y:2014:i:3:p:78-102
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2014.923578
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    Cited by:

    1. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    2. Dhanaraj, Sowmya & Mahambare, Vidya, 2019. "Family structure, education and women’s employment in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 17-29.
    3. Rao, Nitya & Singh, Chandni & Solomon, Divya & Camfield, Laura & Sidiki, Rahina & Angula, Margaret & Poonacha, Prathigna & Sidibé, Amadou & Lawson, Elaine T., 2020. "Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    4. Dhanaraj, Sowmya & Mahambare, Vidya, 2019. "Family structure, education and women’s employment in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Gupta, Tanu & Negi, Digvijay, 2021. "Daughter Vs. Daughter-in-Law: Kinship Roles and Women’s Time Use in India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315021, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Isabelle Guérin & Arnaud Natal & Christophe Jalil Nordman & Govindan Venkatasubramanian, 2024. "For Money Can’t Buy Me Love? The Political Economy of Marriages Over Two Decades in Tamil Nadu, South India," Working Papers DT/2024/07, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    7. Reboul, E. & Guérin, I. & Nordman, C.J., 2021. "The gender of debt and credit: Insights from rural Tamil Nadu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Balhasan Ali & Preeti Dhillon & Sivakami Muthusamy & Udaya Shankar Mishra, 2023. "Understanding Female Labour Force Participation and Domestic Work in India: The Role of Co-residence and Household Composition," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 8(2), pages 162-193, July.

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