Speaker: Ashwini Deshpande, Visiting Fellow, III (joint with Anisha Sharma, Ashoka University)
Chair: Naila Kabeer, Faculty Associate, III; Professor of Gender and Development, Department of International Development
Abstract: Mainstream analyses of low and declining labour force participation of women in India focus on the constraints imposed by conservative social norms that prevent women from accessing paid work opportunities. Accordingly, most interventions and policy suggestions focus on changing norms through individual behavioural changes. How valid is this understanding? Historically, have gendered norms related to women's employment changed in response to material conditions, or is a prior change in norms a precondition for increasing participation of women in paid work? The talk draws upon examples from international historical experience, and analyses Indian national level data over the last three decades to document which social norms have been changing and to what extent. I present evidence on the specific constraints on women's participation in paid work, arising from low demand for female labour, which needs to be understood within the wider context of insufficient productive employment opportunities. The evidence will highlight the importance of intersectionality in the analysis of the interplay between norms and opportunities.