| Women in the Indian National Movement: Unseen Faces and Unheard Voices, 1930-42 Contributor(s): Thapar-Bjorkert, Suruchi (Author) |
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ISBN: 0761934065 ISBN-13: 9780761934066 Publisher: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd OUR PRICE: $55.10 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: March 2006 * Not available - Not in print at this time *Annotation: Most studies of the role of women in the Indian national movement have concentrated on the contribution made by only a handful of prominent women leaders such as Sarojini Naidu, Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Sucheta Kripalani and Annie Besant. Less acknowledged but equally forceful was the participation of hundreds of women at the local level-out in the streets as well as inside their homes. This book, significantly, focuses on the nationalist participation of ordinary middle-class women in India??'s freedom movement, especially in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh). While capturing the nationalist expressions of women in the public and domestic spheres, the author Investigates how women engaged with nationalist politics despite constraints like the "purdah" system, social backwardness, and high rates of female illiteracy in the region; Identifies two parallel processes that were at work: ("a") the domestication of the public sphere-how women participated in the streets without compromising on their domestic values; and ("b") the politicisation of the domestic sphere-how women handled situations in the family when nationalism entered households through the activities of their husbands and sons; and Shows how women used the symbolic repertoire of the national movement and the political language of Gandhi to facilitate their own participation. To construct the nationalist narrative of unheard voices, the author goes beyond conventional sources of history such as official and archival records. Instead, she employs a diverse range of materials-including oral narratives, poetry, cartoons, vernacular magazines, and private correspondence-in order to let these women speak forthemselves. Drawing upon field studies in northern India??'s Hindi-speaking heartland, the author also sheds light on the domestic lives of middle-class women caught in the swirling vortex of political emotions. She discusses issues of contestation and subordination within patriarchal structures, and the contexts within which women??'s political consciousness are shaped. The book will be of interest to scholars of history, anthropology, women??'s studies and politics both for its content and for the methodology it employs. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Political Process - Campaigns & Elections - Social Science | Women's Studies |
| Dewey: 324.082 |
| LCCN: 2005024514 |
| Physical Information: 0.97" H x 6" W x 8.54" (1.02 lbs) 308 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Indian - Sex & Gender - Feminine - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Chronological Period - 1930's - Chronological Period - 1940's |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book, significantly, focuses on the nationalist participation of ordinary middle-class women in India′s freedom movement, especially in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh). To construct the nationalist narrative of unheard voices, the author goes beyond conventional sources of history such as official and archival records. Instead, she employs a diverse range of materials-including oral narratives, poetry, cartoons, vernacular magazines, and private correspondence-in order to let these women speak for themselves. |
Contributor Bio(s): Thapar-Bjorkert, Suruchi: - Suruchi Thapar-Björkert is Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol, UK, and Visiting Research Fellow at Tema Ethnicitet, Linköping University, Sweden. She has previously held teaching and research positions at the Development Studies and Gender Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research interests lie in three specific areas: gendered discourses of colonialism and nationalism; gendered violence in India and the UK; and qualitative research methodologies. Suruchi has published widely in refereed journals including Feminist Review, Women's Studies International Forum, Journal of Gender Studies, Women's History Review, International Journal of Social Research Methodology and Oral History Journal. She has made several media presentations to Radio Feminist ATTAC, BBC Radio Bristol and BBC World. |