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Empowered or Entangled: Agency and Choice in Women’s Employment in India

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  • Neetha N.

Abstract

In India, formation of NGO-aided self-help groups (SHGs) for production was seen as an important step to lift women out of economic marginalisation and, thus, for women’s empowerment. With changes in economic policies, challenges of wage employment for women were also assumed to have been addressed. In this context, this article, drawing from the history of empowerment discourse and its obsession with the economic aspect, examines women’s employment and its multiple dimensions The analysis provides insights into the gender-based inequalities in the labour market which are evident in the concentration of women workers in precariat, feminised jobs either under the control of the family or without any recognition or legal protection. The prevalence of regressive gendered ideologies in employment and in the division of housework raises critical questions about the understanding of the two critical pillars of empowerment, namely, choice and agency.

Suggested Citation

  • Neetha N., 2020. "Empowered or Entangled: Agency and Choice in Women’s Employment in India," South Asian Survey, , vol. 27(2), pages 98-116, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soasur:v:27:y:2020:i:2:p:98-116
    DOI: 10.1177/0971523120947282
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Rania Antonopoulos & Indira Hirway, 2010. "Unpaid Work and the Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Rania Antonopoulos & Indira Hirway (ed.), Unpaid Work and the Economy, chapter 1, pages 1-21, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Indira Hirway, 2010. "Understanding Poverty: Insights Emerging from Time Use of the Poor," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Rania Antonopoulos & Indira Hirway (ed.), Unpaid Work and the Economy, chapter 2, pages 22-57, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2013. "Entrepreneurship or Survival? Caste and Gender of Small Business in India," Working papers 228, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
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