| Summary |
| Title |
Politics and Power: A Gendered Perspective from
South Asia |
| Author |
Shaheed, F. |
| Publication Date |
January2003 |
| Publisher |
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era
(Dawn) |
| Summary |
This paper produced for Dawn"s Political Restructuring
and Social Transformation Programme outlines the spaces, strategies
and contradictions arising from women"s political involvement in South
Asia. The paper describes political activity in national party politics,
local self-governance (panchayats, jirgas and salishes) and women"s
activism - with detailed analysis of political and historic context.
Gender norms of honour and shame and the significance of social roles
are explored, as are material constraints such as mobility and resources.
Through such contextualisation, Shaheed is able to evaluate whether
gains in participation through measures such as quotas actually indicate
real advances. She concludes that the appointment of women is often
simply tokenism. Women who do gain positions of power tend to do so
despite the fact that they are women, and may fail to support the
causes of other women. She also argues that the disturbing involvement
of women in the recent communal violence in India will hinder women"s
collective struggle for political participation. Recommendations include:
linking grass-roots activism to policy-level interventions; provision
of resources for women candidates; and the importance of locating
allies.
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