This book explores and analyzes gender mainstreaming in South Asia. Gender mainstreaming as a concept is about removing disparities between men and women – about equal access to resources, inclusion and participation in the public sphere, representation in government, and empowerment, all with the aim of achieving equal opportunities for men and women in family life, society, administration, politics, and the economy. The challenges of gender mainstreaming in South Asia are huge, especially in the contexts of patriarchal, religious, and caste-based social norms and values. Men’s dominance in politics, administration, and economic activities is distinctly visible. Women have been subservient to the policy preferences of their male counterparts. However, in recent years, more women are participating in politics at the local and national levels, in administration, and in formal economic activities. Have gender equality and equity been ensured in South Asia? This book focuses on how gender-related issues are incorporated into policy formulation and governance, how they have fared, what challenges they have encountered when these policies were put into practice, and their implications and fate in the context of five South Asian countries. The authors have used varied frameworks to analyze gender mainstreaming at the micro and macro levels. Written from public administration and political science perspectives, the book provides an overview of the possibilities and constraints of gender mainstreaming in a region, which is not only diverse in ethnicity and religion, but also in economic progress, political culture, and the state of governance.

This book explores the relationship between the state, development policy, and gender (in)equality in India. It discusses the formation of state policy on gender and development in India in the post-1990 period through three key organising concepts of institutions, discourse, and agency. The book pays particular attention to whether the international policy language of gender mainstreaming has been adopted by the Indian state, and if so, to what extent and with what results. The author examines how these issues play out at multiple levels of governance – at both the national and the subnational (state) level in federal India. This comparative aspect is particularly important in the context of increasing autonomy in development policymaking in India in the 1990s, divergent development policy approaches and outcomes among states, and the emerging importance of subnational state development policies and programmes for women in this period. The author argues that the state is not a monolith but a heterogeneous, internally differentiated collection of institutions, which offers complex and varying opportunities and consequences for feminists engaging the state. Demonstrating that the Indian empirical case is illuminating for studies of the gendered politics of development, and international debates on gender mainstreaming, the book highlights the politics of negotiating gender equality strategies in the contemporary context of neo-liberal development and brings together complex issues of modernity, postcolonialism, identity politics, federalism, and equality within the broader context of the world’s largest democracy. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in the politics of gender equality, state feminism, and gender mainstreaming; federalism and multi-level governance; and development studies and gender in South Asia.

This edited volume examines policies aimed at increasing the representation of women in governing institutions in six South Asian countries. Divided into three parts, it addresses the implications of uniformity and diversity for the substantive representation of women in parliament, civil service and local government. The contributing authors explore the scope and limits of ‘positive discriminatory policies’ within distinct country contexts, and the implications of the lack of such policies in other countries. Their findings shed new light on the extent to which the higher presence of women in different governing institutions matters, particularly in respect of promoting women’s issues; and also on the way men and women in different governing institutions look upon each other’s roles and adopt strategies for mutual adjustment. This innovative collection will appeal to students and scholars of gender studies, public policy and administration, international relations, law and political science.

This book offers a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to understand the trends and issues of development, governance, and dynamics of gender in the South Asian region. It familiarizes the reader with the quantitative as well as qualitative aspects of governance and development. Contributing authors pay close attention to the socio-political and economic developments in South Asia in their respective chapters. The book is divided into four parts. The first part analyzes the social and economic development of South Asia in the context of human development, state apparatus, and migration. The second part focuses on issues of good governance and human rights. Issues related to minorities and corporate governance are also discussed specifically. The third part deals with the role of media and literature in the development narratives of South Asia. The last part highlights the inter-linkages between gender narratives and development. It is a must-read for those interested in understanding the socio-economic fabrics, political dynamics, and trajectory of development in South Asia.

This book analyzes the practice of local-level participatory planning and budgeting and its impact on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) in Bangladesh. The book offers a conceptual framework that brings into focus the contribution of successful participatory budgeting practice to ensure GRB – the examination of whether men and women fall under existing income and expenditure patterns differently. It suggests that the ideas of participatory budgeting and GRB should be evolving together to provide a concrete idea to address gender needs. The book provides a theoretical explanation that contributes to the consolidation of the practice of GRB at the local government level through participatory budgeting. Conceptualizing the process of participatory budgeting and GRB in the context of Bangladesh, the book will be of interest to researchers in the field of Development Studies, Political Science, Public Administration, and Gender, as well as Asian Studies, in particular, South Asian Studies.

A brutal gang-rape of a young woman in India in 2012 caused a global outcry against rising brutal violence against women. In response to the young woman's death and the protests that followed, the contributors analyze the position of women in South Asia, the issue of violence, women's political activism and gender inequalities.

"This book examines the structures of governance as they impact women in five conflict zones in South Asia: Swat in Pakistan, the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, the Northern Province in Sri Lanka, and Kashmir and Manipur in India. Despite their different historical and political contexts, the five studies included here throw up some common patterns. War and conflict have weakened and eroded existing formal structures and institutions of governance. New formations, whether made up of militant groups, or more ‘secular’ state institutions like armies, do not see women as rights-bearing actors. Further, the authors argue, the impact of war, conflict, settlerism and militancy can make state structures more distant and sometimes incomprehensible to citizens, leaving women’s specific gender concerns unaddressed. Taken together, the essays show that women’s relationship with governance institutions is complex, and combines dependence on such institutions with the challenge of dealing with new forms of patriarchy that take root as structures transform and change. The gendering of governance policy and practice therefore, is of crucial importance."--