Development and Gender Capital in India

Reviews / Votes

Kerala has long been viewed as a model of development and particularly for its achievements in gender equality and women's empowerment. In this important new book Shoba Arun challenges this simplistic narrative. By applying a Bourdieusian gender capital framework she reveals ways in which patriarchical social structures constrain women's social and economic roles. Arun's deep scholarship makes this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how Kerala really works."

David Hulme, Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester

An extraordinary account about the interaction of development policy and the role of women. By constructing that role in terms of "gender capital," Shoba Arun gives us a different type of analysis. From all the negatives in women's situation she succeeds in extracting a significant positive. This move brings women's talents and hard work to the fore and should lead to changed policies.

Saskia Sassen, Columbia University

This is an important book on the welfare of women in India, in particular Kerala, with particular reference to how global and social processes value and devalue forms of gender capital (such as migration, work, neoliberal practices) in local contexts. The rising levels of violence against women in Kerala lead Dr. Arun to reassess the structure of gender relations in a state which is often upheld as a model of social development. The readership of this thoughtful and provocative book would extend beyond feminist sociology into the areas of development and global studies.

Vani Borooah, Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics, University of Ulster