Logics of Empowerment by Aradhana Sharma

Logics of Empowerment by Aradhana Sharma

A critical look at the globally dominant development strategy of “empowerment” Celebratory news features about India’s thriving middle class tell only part of the story of the country’s recent economic rise, frequently glossing over the 300 million Indians who live on the margins and struggle to survive under economic liberalization. How do those cast out of their country’s successes perceive and respond to their position and mobilize against disempowerment? In Logics of Empowerment, Aradhana Sharma takes up these questions, focusing on the work of an innovative women’s program called Mahila Samakhya that is part governmental and part nongovernmental and strives to empower those rural Indian women who have been pushed aside. She details the awkward ideological articulations and paradoxical outcomes of this unique activist-cum-government organizational structure and usage of empowerment. Bringing much-needed specificity to the study of neoliberalism, Logics of Empowerment fosters a deeper understanding of development and politics in contemporary India.

Aradhana Sharma is assistant professor of anthropology and feminist studies at Wesleyan University. She is the coeditor of The Anthropology of the State: A Reader.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780816654536
ISBN 10	0816654530
Title	Logics of Empowerment
Author	Aradhana Sharma
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	University of Minnesota Press
Year published	2008-10-22
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.