Anne Clayton and Dr. Donna Lee Bowen, Political Science

All over the world women tend to suffer disproportionately in terms of poverty and the lack of access to education in comparison to men.1 Extensive development efforts have been put forth throughout the world to eradicate these problems. Some of them have been successful, while many have not. Identifying the factors that lead to successful development is crucial, so that those methods which are effective may be replicated in other areas. In recent years, women=s role in development has increasingly become recognized as vital to successful development.2 Focusing resources on women for development often yields greater levels of success due to the integral role women play as members of society, particularly as the traditional caretakers of the family. As part of a program sponsored by the Office of International Field Studies and Internships, I spent Winter Semester 2000 in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu studying the relationship between women and village government systems (panchayats), and the effect this relationship has on development in that area.

While I learned much from this experience, I did undergo several setbacks in my work which are worthy of note. First, the time I spent researching this topic was limited to approximately two months in the village. This period of time is entirely too short to accomplish any substantive research for the purpose of reaching new depths and understanding. The language differences also served as a significant barrier, both in terms of translation as well as basic concepts regarding word connotations. While some interviews were conducted in English, others were done in Tamil with the use of a translator. I perceived from the beginning that, many times, the translator explained (and perhaps altered) the responses of the informants according to his/her personal view. Moreover, as this was my first real experience conducting interviews, I faced many challenges in this regard. Appropriate word choice, I found, was critical to opening relevant dialogue and having a successful interchange of ideas. It took some time and much practice to formulate questions that conveyed the meaning I intended. Even as I left the village, there were several issues left untouched as I had not yet discovered how to effectively address these concepts in interviews. Overall, I believe that a more extensive period of time must be spent conducting the field research to overcome, or at least more effectively address, these barriers, as well as to gain a basic working knowledge of the local language.

The focus of my research was on the relationship between local governments, who hold the responsibility for development, and women, who play such an important part in the development process, to determine how utilizing women=s contributing roles in society promotes successful development. Women=s roles were analyzed by two methods. I first observed women=s direct involvement in government and second, I observed women=s non-governmental involvement through formal or informal avenues. How women participate in and are affected by local government development measures is critical for understanding whether these measures will be effective and sustainable.

In addition to local village women and government leaders, I focused on development facilitators of Shanti Ashram, a local non-governmental organization that integrates a system of development by working both with women and the local panchayats, to provide information and sources of primary research. I conducted open and unstructured interviews with the above mentioned groups and engaged in participant observation. Through these measures, I was able to determine perceptions and attitudes towards development in this area and which factors are imperative for sustained development.

I found that there is indeed an important relationship between women and village government in successful development situations. Recently, there has been increased participation by women in the village government due to the passage of the 1992 Constitutional Amendment regarding panchayat government, in which women were awarded a thirty-three percent seat reservation at all levels of panchayat government. Women are making an important contribution to their villages and societies in this regard. I gathered through my interviews that there is a seemingly general consensus that women should be working as government leaders as they are “not corrupt,” particularly in comparison with men. Many people also expressed the view that women know what is best for the village because they know what is best for the families.

However, women’s active participation in the government is limited for a few reasons. First, it is difficult for many women to find the time or desire to add to their already existing workload by taking on additional village government responsibilities. Moreover, many women who do participate are susceptible to making decisions based on pressure from their husbands, and therefore, may not accurately represent the woman’s own opinions or desires.

In the informal sector, women in some villages are organized into women=s groups that are able to effectively petition the local government for those things they desire. In these villages, there exists a greater number of successful and accepted development projects. However, the effective mobilization of women into groups has been generally correlated to the presence of an outside facilitator, such as Shanti Ashram. In those villages with which Shanti Ashram has worked, the women expressed to me a much greater sense of political efficacy than in those villages or areas where such facilitating did not take place.

Overall, I found that there is indeed an important relationship between local governments and women’s participation for effective development. In rural India where women’s participation in government is still in its beginning stages, outside facilitators such as non-governmental organizations may play a strategic role in educating women about their rights and responsibilities as members of the community. Women in these communities must continue to be educated and encouraged to participate in this capacity so that these positive relationships may develop and flourish.

References

• John Anderson and Molly Moore, AThe Burden of Womanhood,@ Developing World 95/96, Robert J. Griffiths, ed. (Guilford, CONN: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc), 222-5.
• Rekha Mehra, AWomen, Empowerment, and Economic Development,@ Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (November 1997), 134.