This volume is based on the papers presented at a seminar held in Calcutta in February 1995. jointly sponsored by the Maison des Sciences de L'Homme, Paris, the Women's Studies Research Centre, University of Calcutta, and the School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University. The chosen theme, 'Women and Politics: France, India, and Russia', was a follow-up of an international seminar organised by the Maison des Sciences de L'Homme in Paris in 1992 on the state of feminism in these three countries. The purpose was to bring together feminists, both academicians and activists, in order to identify the problems inherent to each country, and create networks for future co operation.
If women were not marginalised in the study of history and society, there would have been no need of such seminars, As Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge put it, "Wherever one turns, at home, in social conflict, at play, women were there. They also played a part in the events that constructed and transformed society or tore it apart." It is not possible that their presence was not observed; it was strategically ignored. Interestingly, women were mentioned in an extraordinary degree in the realm of discourse. And representations of women in various forms and areas were many. And yet, the reality of women's lives was never captured. There is, therefore, a strong need to scrutinise the systems political, economic, legal, social, and religious that kept women subordinated to men. It is a perceived truth that whichever class or community women may belong to, they are disadvantaged vis-à-vis men of the group. It is time to ask why. This question is being asked in various forms in various quarters of the world, primarily among women and also among a few men. Our seminars were parts of this world-wide movement. The participants felt that it was not enough to explore the past or record the existing situation, it was necessary to assess the directions of change and find ways of intervention. It is with this aim that they decided to concentrate on the theme of politics.
implicit nuances and connotations. It encompasses the power of inclusion and exclusion, of words and silence, of action and inaction, of construction and deconstruction, of subjects and objects, of roles and prescriptions, of images and fantasies, and of dominance and subjugation. Keeping this in view, the participants decided to include the areas that have emerged from feminist theories and practices, and cover a number of important issues in three different regions of the world. Both theoretical frameworks and active involvement of women in specific struggles were focused upon. In so doing, the differences and the complexities in the views and positions within the three countries were clearly brought out. At the same time areas of common concern and situation were identified. The essays in this volume reflect the collective endeavour.
Professor Michelle Perrot sets the tone of the discussions. In her Inaugural Address she points out that although women in France had made advances in the crucial area of gainful employment, they lag far behind men in politics. In fact, in France in "the birthplace of human rights", women's position is "weakest" in the political arena. They make up only 18% of those elected to the municipal councils, and 5.8% of the representatives of the National Assembly. Why, she asks, does politics remain "the bastion of masculine power"?
Perrot's second essay follows up the query made in the first and enquires whether French feminists seriously explored the question of political power for women, that is, "the question of their full-fledged citizenship". It recalls the history of the French Revolution, and the exclusion of women from citizenship, and goes on to construct a brief history of the women's movement in France to 1944, when an Edict proclaimed the political equality of the two sexes. And yet, there exist difficulties for women in politics, and the sparseness of their presence within the corridors of power is a reality. Perrot explains the web of factors which account for this and clarifies the type of democracy realised in France.
Monica Juneja agrees with Perrot that the French Revolution pointedly excluded women from the new democratic politics. Through her enquiry into the iconography and the language of the French Revolution, she discerns that political discourses of revolution as well as counter-revolution constantly took recourse to a language composed of bodily metaphors.
Hindu (933)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1085)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (911)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (373)
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