Author: Srimati BasuPublisher: Kali/Women UnlimitedYear: 2005Language: EnglishPages: 318ISBN/UPC (if available): 8188965227 DescriptionPerhaps nothing in modern India epitomizes the gulf between the ideal and the real than the practice of dowry. Stridhan or dakshina were gifts traditionally given at the time of marriage; gifts to ensure the well-being of the bride in her new home. In actual practice, however, dowry has caused brides to be tortured and killed.The essays in this book examine the sociological, legal, cultural and economic implications of dowry. The connection between dowry or bridewealth norms and the status of women, inheritance and its impact on women’s empowerment are discussed from the multiple perspectives adopted by different feminist scholars. Feminist interventions have dealt with slippery definitions, concepts in legal formulations and theoretical questions regarding the volition and agency of women in a patriarchal structure.The essays examine the activist position vis-à-vis dowry and inheritance: should dowry be boycotted in toto, or only its excesses? Is dowry a form of inheritance? Legal intervention is often seen as the most concrete means to address issues of equity, but the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1984 leaves room for manoeuvre: dowry as a condition of marriage is punishable, but voluntary gifts are excluded from the ambit of the law. More recently, legislative intervention has sought to grant equal inheritance rights to women. Will these developments make for greater gender equity?ContentsSERIES NOTERajeswari Sunder RajanACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe Politics of Giving: Dowry and Inheritance as Feminist IssuesSRIMATI BASUDOWRY AND BRIDEPRICESome Reflections on DowryM N SRINIVASDowry in North India: Its Consequences for WomenURSULA SHARMAGirasia Brideprice and the Politics of Marriage PaymentsMAYA UNNITHAN-KUMAREconomics of Brideprice and DowryINDIRA RAJARAMANSociology of Brideprice and DowrySHALINI RANDERIA & LEELA VISARIALegal Reform in Dowry LawsD N SANDANSHIV & JOLLY MATHEWINHERITANCE AND WOMEN’S MARGINALITYA Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia BINA AGARWALBringing Land Rights Centre-StageINDU AGNIHOTRIGender and Land Rights: A Response BINA AGARWALWidows and Property Rights: A Study of Two Villages in BiharSEEMA MISRA & ENAKSHI GANGULY THUKRALHaklenewali: Indian Women’s Negotiations of Discourses of InheritanceSRIMATI BASUConjugality, Law and State: Inheritance Rights as Pivot of Control in Northern IndiaPREM CHOWDHRYWomen, Land and Law: Dispute Resolutions at the Village LevelJAYOTI GUPTAProgressive Land Legislations and Subordination of Women?K SARADAMONIAnts in the PantsMARY ROYDOWRY-RELATED VIOLENCE AND ITS PREVENTIONThe Tangled Tale of Twisting a Safety Net into a NooseVEENA TALWAR OLDENBURGThe Political Economy of DowryRANJANA SHEELBeginning with Our Own Lives: A Call for dowry BoycottMADHU KISHWAR & FIVE OTHERSRethinking Dowry BoycottMADHU KISHWARReaffirming the Anti-Dowry StruggleRAJNI PALRIWALAOn Kidneys and DowryC S LAKSHMIDowry and Inheritance RightsMADHU KISHWARBIBLIOGRAPHYCONTRIBUTORS
