The Plight of an Indian Woman: Role of Gender and Caste in Determining Land Owning Capacity in India
Year of Graduation
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Major
Economics
Directing Professor
Pablo Hernandez
Abstract
In India, gender gap in the ownership and control of property significantly contributes to the gender gap in all other aspects of a woman’s life including her physical and emotional well-being, economic autonomy, social status, and her empowerment. Studying property and land rights is a good stepping stone in understanding the paradigm of gender equality in India. In terms of land property in an agrarian country like India, it is particularly ironic given that agriculture is a woman’s occupation, however, land occupation is still tipped in the male population’s favor. Caste subjugates this disparity further. Despite progressive acts and rights that assure women from all socio-economic backgrounds unbiased access to rights that enable them to own and/or transfer land, practices at micro-level within and outside households tell a different tale. Culture and institutional power play immense roles in subjugating women into further inequality in India when it comes to access to land resources. Therefore, it is important to study the role of gender and caste in determining land owning capacity for Indian women in order to evaluate their role in shaping better land and property rights and policies not only for economic transformation but also for social change in a country like India.
Recommended Citation
Bhattarai, Grishma, "The Plight of an Indian Woman: Role of Gender and Caste in Determining Land Owning Capacity in India" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Theses, Hollins University. 86.
https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/ughonors/86