Samita Sen's history of labouring women in Calcutta in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries considers how social constructions of gender shaped their lives. Dr Sen demonstrates how - in contrast to the experience of their male counterparts - the long-term trends in the Indian economy devalued women's labour, establishing patterns of urban migration and changing gender equations within the family. She relates these trends to the spread of dowry, enforced widowhood and child marriage. The book provides insight into the lives of poor urban women who were often perceived as prostitutes or social pariahs. Even trade unions refused to address their problems and they remained on the margins of organized political protest. The study will make a signficant contribution to the understanding of the social and economic history of colonial India and to notions of gender construction.

The history of labouring women in late colonial Calcutta demonstrates how social constructions of gender shaped their lives.
Reviews
'... Indian economic history has normally used a narrowly western model of manufacture which describes the principal conflict as between capital and labour. Sen makes a real contribution in describing a further, and specifically Indian, level of complexity.' The Times Literary Supplement
'... this book is a valuable addition to the history of women in colonised societies. It should be of interest to scholars of different disciplines who are interested in the historical and contemporary nexus between work and stratification.' The Times Higher Education Supplement



Book Information
ISBN 9780521453639
Author Samita Sen
Format Hardback
Page Count 286
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 595g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 21mm