Negotiating Local Cultural Space in a Global World: Joint Efforts at Meaning-Making and the Reconfiguration of Normative Womanhood in India

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of the clash between two seemingly oppositional ideologies of conservative religious nationalism, specifically, Hindutva, and globalization, on the lives of urban Hindu middle-class media women. Using feminist methodology, the study investigates how this specific group of Indian women interprets and negotiates constructed identities and the ever-evolving narratives of globalization and Hindutva. Data accumulated through open-ended interviews, from secondary resources and through author participation, is coded and interpreted using qualitative discourse analysis. Findings from the study indicate that while the Indian middle-class women have embraced professional opportunities offered by globalization, as sexed bodies they remain circumscribed by gendered institutions and violence. Therefore, women have learned to engage and strategize with existing power structures for physical safety and personal-professional progress. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on Indian nationalism, urban globalization, understandings of reworked-renewed patriarchy and women’s agency.