Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

xii Women’s Livelihood Rights
Gender’ (Goa, 3–6 May 2005), this provided an opportunity to look at
the theme of livelihood and gender equity from the perspective of women’s
rights as citizens. A significant number of the abstracts selected for the
sub-theme and published in the Conference Book of Abstracts were contributed
by jivika members. The brief presentations at the conference and
the enriching, wide-ranging discussions brought important issues and new
ideas to the fore. It was felt that some of the presentations could be written
up as papers and published in a single volume. Others who were not
associated with the IAWS Conference were invited to join us in this
effort. On the sidelines of jivika, a fairly lengthy process of writing and
revising papers followed, as contributors read and responded to one
another’s work.
Women’s Livelihood Rights stands on its own, but may also be viewed
as a companion volume to Livelihood and Gender. As in the earlier volume,
the contributors to this book have brought a critical, gendered perspective
to bear on a set of overlapping issues. Most of the chapters deal with
detailed empirical case studies; even the few that provide a broader overview
have drawn upon the authors’ earlier field experiences in locations
spread across different states of India. The threads that run through the
chapters reflect the interrelatedness of the complex themes that we are
addressing. The chapters are grouped into six parts, highlighting a set of
overlapping themes: (1) Recognition and resource rights; (2) Work and
employment strategies; (3) The challenges of democratic governance;
(4) Restructuring institutional systems; (5) Women’s collective agency,
development and citizenship; and (6) Dignity in struggle: Lessons from
the past.
This ‘project’ (like Livelihood and Gender) has been entirely voluntary
and unfunded. Working in this way has enormous advantages because we
are independent of donor requirements and schedules, and the process
is wholly shaped by the participants. The disadvantage is that there are
few opportunities for face-to-face discussion, and some gaps are not easy
to fill because of our dependence on voluntary contributions from people
who lead very busy lives. Nevertheless, I believe that both the process of
preparing this volume and the outcome fulfils a significant need in the
area of livelihood and gender studies.
I am most grateful to everyone who has participated in this process,
generously sharing work and insights, reviewing and revising chapters