Harvard-Brown Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics (In Person)
Date and Time
Location
"Left Behind or Left Ahead? Female Political Engagement in Migrant-Sending Communities in India"
Speaker:
Rithika Kumar, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rice University.
Commentator:
Gemma Dipoppa, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Brown University.
Contact:
Selmon Rafey
srafey@fas.harvard.edu
Cosponsored by the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University, the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
Chairs:
Ashutosh Varshney, Associate. Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, Department of Political Science; Director, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University.
Feyaad Allie, Faculty Associate. Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University.
Attendance Information:
Please register to attend this event.
Description:
This seminar will discuss how the temporary absence of men from the household due to migration affects female political engagement. While studies on gender and politics have established the centrality of the household, they have largely overlooked how temporary changes in household composition shape political engagement. Using original data from a survey experiment (n=642) in Bihar, India, Rithika Kumar will show that the absence of male members, particularly a woman’s husband, can lift implicit restrictions on female political engagement. Drawing on a primary survey (n=1900), and a nationally representative panel (n=24000), Kumar argues that male migration, a significant global phenomenon resulting in routine absence of men, is leading to the feminization of political engagement. Through an increase in exposure to the public sphere, women make meaningful claims on the state, participate in civic activities, and discuss politics. Unlike existing resource-based theories, Kumar finds that female political engagement can increase even in the absence of financial autonomy.