DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Female Wage-Labor and Renegotiation of Patriarchal Ideologies in Semi-Rural West Bengal, India

Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX

Investigators

Abstract

In areas of the world with strong patriarchal systems the low status of women has implications for general development as well as children's health. Female participation in wage work frequently raises women's status in the household, but this relationship is not simple or invariable. This project involves the dissertation research of a cultural anthropology student from Southern Methodist University. The project will study the impact of female participation in wage work in Calcutta, India, in a patriarchal community of poor families. The process of male-female negotiation about family decision-making will be studied through an analysis of data from a sample of households varying in women's engagement in the wage labor market. Life histories of married women will also be collected to enrich the understanding of how women interact with the community and their families. The student will test hypotheses relating female wage income and mobility to household decision-making power and resource control, kinship obligations and self-esteem. This research will contribute to an understanding of the impact of wage earnings on women's status. The new information to be collected will be important for planners, administrators and social workers in order to identify problems and formulate policies for the improvement of conditions faced by women in the developing world.