Women's Land Rights in India and China

The suggestion that roughly half the world's farmers are women is an often repeated statistic but the fact that almost one third of all women live in either India or China is less often noted. Govind Delkar has spent her life involved in women's issues among the farming women of the two countries and in this book describes the contemporary social history of these women and the social-economic conditions in which they live. She describes the political interventions that have been attempted or have succeeded in improving their condition and looks at the policies and programmes that have emerged, particularly since China's Cultural Revolution and the parallel periods in India. She considers the issue of land reform and women, the place of women in rural families, rural development policies, women and the ecology question and the contemporary resistance from women to the movement to push them back into the kitchen. Beginning with an historical survey, the author ends by describing both the importance and the successes of contemporary movements in both countries. She also discusses the relevance of these issues to international feminism. The author has also written "China after Mao".