Beschreibung:
This pioneering and innovative study paces women in India at the height of colonial rule at the centre of analysis. Drawing upon rare English and Marathi archival materials, Padma Anagol makes a compelling case for the birth of Indian feminism before the coming of Gandhi by also illustrating how collective movements to improve the status of women in India were based upon a consciousness of the inequalities in gender relations.
Contents: Women's agency and resistance in colonial India: an introduction; Discriminating converts: Christian women's discourse and work; Beyond kitchen and kid: Hindu women's discourse and work; Women's assertion and resistance in colonial India; Women, crime and survival strategies in colonial India; Women as agents: Contesting discourses on marriage and marital rights; Indian feminism and its legacy: a concluding note; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.