
Challenging the NGOs : Women, Religion and Western Dialogues in India.
Title:
Challenging the NGOs : Women, Religion and Western Dialogues in India.
Author:
Bradley, Tamsin.
ISBN:
9780857711205
Personal Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (256 pages)
Series:
Tauris Academic Studies
Contents:
Cover -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Glossary -- Acknowlegements -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. The Development Discourse -- 2.Feminist Politics -- 3. Understanding the Image of Sita -- 4. Revisiting the Development Discourse -- 5. Questioning Participation -- 6. Violence in Rural Rajasthan -- Conclusion: The Meaning of Freedom -- Notes -- References -- Index.
Abstract:
The image of "Third World Woman" victimhood is one common to discourses in Western feminism, gender and development and also the activities of NGOs. Tamsin Bradley deconstructs this through her exploration of the relationships between NGOs and the people they target, using a unique multi-disciplinary perspective focused on the interfaces between anthropology, development and religion. She argues that dominant approaches in development practice see women as a singular and weak "other" which obscures the complexities of communities and the ability to respond to real needs. Bradley's extensive fieldwork, on grassroots NGOs in rural Indian Rajasthan and Western donor organisations, combines with a compelling critique of development theory and practice. She constructs a more inclusive methodology, to encourage development workers to listen to the needs of those they seek to help. 'This volume offers a ground-breaking interdisciplinary perspective on how development agendas are formulated and impact on local people. Specifically Bradley explores how the lives of rural women in Rajasthan are often distorted and homogenised into helpless images that then form the basis of projects. Bradley highlights how money is wasted funding interventions that fail to meet the needs of local women, not to mention patronise and disempower them.' - Jeffrey Haynes, Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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