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  • © 2016

Land, Labour and Livelihoods

Indian Women's Perspectives

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Covers empirically diverse case studies
  • Focuses not only on productive activities that generate income, but also on non-market elements
  • Examines gendered social relations intersectionally

Part of the book series: Gender, Development and Social Change (GDSC)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
  2. Marginalised and Stigmatised Labour

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109
    2. Sex Work as Livelihood: Women, Men and Transgender Sex Workers in Karnataka

      • Shubha Chacko, Subadra Panchanadeswaran, Gowri Vijayakumar
      Pages 133-153

About this book

This book brings together a unique collection of theoretical and empirical analyses of women’s access to land, labour and livelihoods in contemporary India. The authors recognize that gender relations must be viewed intersectionally, along with other social relationships such as caste, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and age, in order to inform an integrated analysis of women’s persistent disadvantage in India. The chapters examine a diverse range of rural and urban livelihoods within sectors such as tea plantations, nursing, hair salons, sex work and waste collection. Documenting the shifts in these sectors in the context of economic liberalization, the authors offer insights on the challenges of development interventions as women negotiate shifts in their livelihood options. Written to engage, the contributions to this book will be of interest both to the general reader and to academics and practitioners in development and gender/women’s studies.

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Bina Fernandez

  • Advanced Centre for Womenʼs Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

    Meena Gopal

  • New Delhi, India

    Orlanda Ruthven

About the authors

Bina Fernandez is Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Drawing on her professional experience in the development sector, her research focuses on gender and social policy. Major research awards include an Australian Research Council Fellowship (2015-2017), a British Academy Small Grant in 2010, the UNDP Human Development Fellowship in 2005, and a Chevening Award in 2001-3.

Meena Gopal is Professor at the Advanced Centre for Women's Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is also a member of the autonomous feminist collective, Forum Against Oppression of Women in Bombay and a queer feminist activist. Her research focuses on social movements, gender and labour, and public health.

Seeking to combine development practice with research and writing, Orlanda Ruthven works on youth employment and labour standards in India. Over the years she has worked with ILO, Impactt, ODI, IDPM and DFID.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access