Abstract
The contemporary women's movement in India (1975–present) has played an important role in bringing gender issues to the forefront of development planning and defining feminist politics. This paper examines how this movement has addressed the issue of women's education. The first section highlights contributions of the social reformist movement in the 19th century and the nationalist movement in promoting women's education. The role of the contemporary women's movement in changing school curricula is examined in the second section, followed by discussion on how women's studies has contributed to redefining knowledge. The fourth section discusses women's empowerment and education from the perspective of the women's movement. The article concludes by highlighting challenges facing the women's movement in promoting women's education for equality and empowerment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnihotri, I. and Mazumdar, V. 1995. Changing Terms of Political Discourse: Women' Movement in India. 1970s-1990s. Economic and Political Weekly 30(29): 1869–1878.
Banerjee, N. K. 1995. “Grassroot Empowerment (1975-1990): A Discussion Paper”, Occasional Paper No. 22. New Delhi: Centre for Women' Development Studies.
Batliwala, S. 1993. Empowerment of Women in South Asia: Concepts and Practices. Delhi: Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education.
Bhasin, K. 1984. The Why and How of Literacy for Women: Some Thoughts in the Indian Context. Convergence 27(4): 37–43.
Bhasin, K. and Agarwal, B., eds. 1984. Women and Media: Analysis, Alternatives and Action. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Calmen, L. 1992. Toward Empowerment: Women and Movement Politics in India. Boulder: Westview Press.
Chakravarty, R. 1980. Communist in the Indian Women' Movement. New Delhi: People' Publishing House.
Desai, N. 1977. Women in Modern India. Second Edition. Bombay: Vora and Company.
Dighe, Anita, Ila Patel, Sadhna Saxena, Probha Krishnan, Azra Razzack and Ilina Sen. 1996. Deconstructing Literacy Primers. New Delhi: National Institute of Adult Education (mimeographed).
Everett, J. M. 1979. Women and Social Change in India. New York: St. Martin' Press.
Gandhi, N. and Shah, N. 1991. The Issues at Stake: Theory and Practice in the Contemporary Women' Movement in India. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Gladstone, M. 1994. Feminist Research Methodology from Women' Movement Experiences. Bulletin of Madras Development Seminar Series 24(11): 470–479.
Government of India. 1964. Committee on Differentiation of Curricula for Boys and Girls. New Delhi: Ministry of Education and Social Welfare.
Government of India. 1974. Towards Equality. Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India. New Delhi: Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare.
Government of India. 1986. National Policy on Education - 1986. New Delhi: Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Government of India. 1988a. Shramshakti. A Report of the National Commission on Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector. New Delhi.
Government of India. 1988b. Mahila Samakhya (Education for Women' Equality). New Delhi: Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Hassan, S. 1992. Muslim Women' Struggle for Education, Social and Political Equality: A Historical Perspective. Man and Development 14(2): 27–33.
Karlekar, M. 1986. Kadambini and the Bhadralok: Early Debates over Women' Education in Bengal. Economic and Political Weekly 21(17): WS9–WS24.
Kishwar, M. 1985a. Gandhi on Women. Economic and Political Weekly 20(40): 1691–1702.
Kishwar, M. 1985b. Gandhi on Women. Economic and Political Weekly 20(41): 1753–1758.
Kishwar, M. 1986. Arya Samaj and Women' Education: Kanya Mahavidyalaya Jalandhar. Economic and Political Weekly 21(17): WS25–WS32.
Krishna Raj, M. 1988. Women' Studies: Case for a New Paradigm. Economic and Political Weekly 23(18): 892–894.
Liddle, J. and Joshi, R. 1985. Gender and Imperialism in British India. Economic and Political Weekly 20(43): WS72–WS78.
Mazumdar, V. 1976. Social Reform Movement in India from Ranade to Nehru. Indian Women: From Purdah to Modernity. Delhi: Vikas Publishers House.
Mazumdar, V. 1987. Education, Development and Women' Liberation: Contemporary Debates in India. In: R. Ghosh and M. Zachariah, eds., Education and the Process of Change. New Delhi: Sage.
Mazumdar, V. 1989. Research and Women' Development: Seeds of Change, A Case Study of the ICSSR Programmes of Women' Studies. Prashasnika 18(1-4): 21–44.
Mazumdar, V. and Sharma, K. 1979. Women Studies: New Perceptions and the Challenges. Economic and Political Weekly 14(3): 113–120.
Pandhe, S. 1988. Women' Studies and Women' Movement. Economic and Political Weekly 23(40): 2049–2050.
Patel, I. and Dighe, A. 1997. Gender Issues in Literacy Education. Working paper 108. Anand: Institute of Rural Management.
Patel, S. 1988. Construction and Reconstruction of Women in Gandhi. Economic and Political Weekly 23(8): 377–387.
Poonacha, V. 1994. Gendered Stp: Review of Two Decades of Women' Movement and Women' Studies. Economic and Political Weekly 29(13): 725–728.
Ramdas, L. 1990. Women and Literacy: A Quest for Justice. Convergence 23(1): 27–40.
Shah, K. 1984. Historical Antecedents. In: Women' Liberation and Voluntary Action. Delhi: Ajanta Publications.
Shah, N., Lokhandwala, S. and Pathak, I. 1987. An Assessment of the School Text-Books Published by Gujarat State School Text-Book Board under NPE. Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad Women' Action Group (mimeographed).
Sharma, K. 1991-1992. Grassroots Organisations and Women' Empowerment: Some Issues in the Contemporary Debate. Samya Shakti: A Journal of Women' Studies 6: 26–44.
Sharma, K. 1992. Contemporary Women' Movement in India: Its Dialectics and Dilemmas. Indian Journal of Social Sciences 5(1): 1–31.
Usha Devi, M. D. 1992. Research Perspective for Understanding Women' Education. Economic and Political Weekly 27(24-25) 1279–1282.
Vyas, A. and Singh, S. (compiled). 1993. Women' Studies in India: Information Sources, Services and Programmes. New Delhi: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Patel, I. The Contemporary Women's Movement and Women's Education in India. International Review of Education 44, 155–175 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003125808644
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003125808644