A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge South Asian Studies, Series Number 58) - Softcover

Agarwal, Bina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521429269 ISBN 13: 9780521429269

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1995

Synopsis

In this comprehensive analysis of gender and property throughout South Asia, Bina Agarwal argues that the most important economic factor affecting women is the gender gap in command over property. In rural South Asia, few women own land and even fewer control it. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including field research, the author addresses the reason for this imbalance, and asks how the barriers to ownership can be overcome. The book offers original insights into the current theoretical and policy debates on land reform and women's status.

About this title

Book Description:

Few women own land and even fewer control it in rural South Asia. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including field research, this text addresses the reason for this imbalance, and inquires as to how the barriers to ownership can be overcome.

Review:

"This is a book of great importance and much originality, dealing with the problem of gender inequality in economic and social contexts. Dr. Agarwal has focused on the crucial role of inequality in property rights, particulary in land ownership. Her thorough exploration of this perspective substantially enriches our understanding of causal factors behind the deprivation of women in South Asia--and possibly elsewhere as well." Amartya Sen, Harvard University

"A Field of One's Own is a monumental study examining the gender gap in land rights in South Asia....It makes a valuable contribution to the fields of economics, sociology, and anthropology." Contemporary Sociology

"Agarwal underlines the need for an interdisciplinary approach to questions such as genderinequality and land rights....And thus, Agarwal stresses on the need for mobilising and organising rural women if equal land rights have to be achieved....One may not agree with the political project of Agarwal, but the detailed accounts of actually existing gender relations in the different parts of South Asia and the analytical rigour with which she presents her arguments are simply compelling. By using history, ethnography and maps, she has constructed a story that is both interesting and thought provoking. Even those with no political conviction will find the book a fruitful reading." Surinder S. Jodhka, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics

"Bina Agarwal makes an important contribution to the critical assessment of the `condition of South Asia' fifty years after independence. ...this well-informed review of cultural practices as well as of property and inheritance laws provides us with a firmer bases for thinking through strategies to improve the condition of women in South Asia." Barrie M. Morrison, Pacific Affairs

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0521429269
• ISBN 13: 9780521429269
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 596