Synopses & Reviews
The author traces the history of Indian women from the nineteenth century under colonial rule, to the twentieth century after Independence. She begins with the reform movement, established by men to educate women, and demonstrates how education changed their lives, enabling them to take part in public life. Through the women's own accounts, the author has compiled an accessible and immediate record of their achievements over the past two centuries, which will be of interest to students of South Asia and to anyone concerned with women and their history.
Review
"This volume on women in modern India is extremely well researched and well thought out." Joan P. Mencher, Journal of Developing Areas"Forbes's volume is at once a celebration and an exhortation. It is a celebration both of feminist scholarship on India and of women's achievements there under the most contraining circumstances of colonial, nationlist, and postcolonial patriarchies. It is also an exhortation to discover and preserve more women's records, to write more women's histories, and `to include gender in [all our] conceptual frameworks'(9)." Sumathi Ramaswamy, The Historian"Forbes's Women in Modern India is an ambitious survey that narrates the many stories of women involved in the social reform, nationalist, and post-Independence women's rights movements." Brenda Cossman, SIGNS
Synopsis
Through their own accounts, the author traces the history of Indian women from the nineteenth century under colonial rule to the twentieth century after Independence.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-281) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction; l. Reform in the nineteenth century: efforts to modernize womenâs roles; 2. Education for women; 3. The emergence of womenâs organizations; 4. The movement for womenâs rights; 5. Women in the nationalist movement; 6. Womenâs work in colonial India; 7. A time of transition; 8. Women in independent India; Bibliographic essay.