Madhu Kishwar
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Madhu Purnima Kishwar
( formerly known as Madhu Kishwar):
Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), based in Delhi.
Director of the Indic Studies Project based at CSDS and Convener of a series of International Conferences on “Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization”.
Founder editor of Manushi - a Journal about Women and Society published since 1979. The Journal is run by a non-profit Trust. Manushi has traveled far and wide, both within India and abroad. It attempts to bridge the gap between academia and activism. It is widely read by social activists, academics, and a whole range of concerned citizens, including Non Resident Indians. The web edition is available at http://www.manushi-india.org
Founder President of Manushi Sangathan, registered under the Societies Registration Act, is a forum for research based activist interventions. It works for democratic reforms that will promote greater social justice and strengthen human rights, especially for women. The Sangathan endeavours to go beyond offering critiques and suggestions for reform to actually testing strategies that provide viable and worthwhile solutions to the various problems confronting India today -such as denial of inheritance rights to women, religion and ethnic conflicts, livelihood rights of the self employed poor.
Kishwar’s work with Manushi Sangathan includes:
• Carrying out investigations on violations of human rights of minority communities and right to livelihood of vulnerable communities and occupational groups;
• Advocacy for policy and legal reform to free the livelihoods of the self employed poor from harmful statist controls;
• Provide legal aid for women, including Public Interest Litigation on behalf of vulnerable individuals and groups;
• Making documentary films as part of advocacy campaigns on issues that require serious policy reform;
• Ground level research on the gap between the intent and actual impact of various laws enacted for women’s rights and propose workable laws and policy reform for strengthening women’s rights.
In the last ten years much of her work has centered on issues relating to Laws, Liberty and Livelihoods. She is presently involved in both investigative research as well as activist interventions for policy reform aimed at freeing the livelihoods of two of the largest groups of urban self employed poor—namely street vendors and cycle rickshaw pullers -- from needless and harmful bureaucratic controls that make them vulnerable to human rights abuses and extortionist mafias. This work also provides theoretical insights into the functioning of the Indian state and is aimed at evolving a pro-poor agenda of economic reforms in India. Apart from campaigning and lobbying to change the archaic laws governing these sectors that have resulted in resulting in changes in National Policy, Manushi has executed, for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, a pilot project to create model markets for street vendors in Delhi. (For details see http://www.manushi-india.org)
Books authored or edited
• Deepening Democracy: Challenges of Governance and Globalization in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2005.
• Rashtriyata ki Chakri Mein Dharm, (Hindi), Vani Prakashan, 2005.
• Off the Beaten Track: Rethinking Gender Justice for Indian Women, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999.
• Religion at the Service of Nationalism and Other Essays, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998.
• The Dilemma and Other Stories by Vijaydan Detha, (Ed) Manushi Prakashan, 1997.
• Himalaya Bachao Andolan ki Do Awazein, Manushi Prakashan, 1993
• Women Bhakta Poets, Lives and Poetry of Women Mystics in India from 6th to 17th Century (Co-edited with Ruth Vanita), Manushi Prakashan, New Delhi, 1989.
• Gandhi and Women, Manushi Prakashan, New Delhi, 1986. (Also published in Telugu).
• In Search of Answers: Indian Women’s Voices from Manushi. (Co-edited with Ruth Vanita), Zed Books, London, 1984. Second edition, Horizon Books, New Delhi, 1990. Third edition, Manohar, New Delhi, 1996. Also published in Japanese by Akashi Shoten, Tokyo, 1990.
Forthcoming Books
• Zealous Reformers, Deadly Laws: Critical Review of Laws to Strengthen Women’s Rights, Sage Publishers, (January 2008 )
• The Quintessential Oneness of Amar, Akbar Anthony: Bollywood’s Portrayal of Minority-Majority Relations in India” National Book Trust.
She has contributed many chapters to various books. A few examples are listed below:
• "The Daughters of Aryavarta: Women in the Arya Samaj movement, Punjab." Chapter in Women in Colonial India; Essays on Survival, Work and the State, edited by J. Krishnamurthy, Oxford University Press, 1989.
• "Indian Women: a Decade of New Ferment." Chapter co authored with Ruth Vanita in India Briefings, edited by Marshal M. Boutton and Philip Oldenburg, Westview Press, 1989.
• "Scattering the Seeds". Chapter in On Being a Teacher, edited by Amrik Singh, Konarak Publishers, New Delhi, 1990.
• "Some Aspects of Bondage: The Denial of Fundamental Rights to Women." Chapter in Expanding Government Lawlessness and Organised Struggles, edited by A.R. Desai, Popular Prakashan, 1991.
• "A Horror of Isms." Chapter in The Woman's Question, edited by Marry Evans, Sage Publications, London, 1994.
• "Learning to Take People Seriously" chapter in "Anthropological Journeys: Reflections on Field Work" edited by Meenakshi Thapan, published by Orient Longman Limited, New Delhi, 1998.
• "Majoritarianism vs. Minoritarianism" chapter in a collection of essays entitled Minority Identities and the Nation State, edited by D.L. Sheth and Gurpreet Mahajan, Oxford University Press, 1999.
• "Yes to Sita, No to Ram! The Continuing Popularity of Sita in India” In Questioning Ramayanas, a book of essays edited by Paula Richman, co-published by University of California Press, USA and Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000
• “The Idea of India - Bollywood Style" chapter in The India Mosaic: Searching for an Identity, edited by Bibek Debroy & D. Shyam Babu, Academic Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, New Delhi, 2004.
• “Enhancing Women’s Representation in Legislatures: An Alternative to the Government Bill for Women’s Reservation” chapter coauthored with Jayaprakash Narayan, Dhirubhai Sheth & Yogendra Yadav in "Electoral Reforms in India", edited by Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi 2005.
Other contributions:
• "Traditional Female Moral Exemplars in India", "Education About Asia”, Vol. 6, No. 3, Winter 2001.
• "Women and Politics: Beyond Quotas”, Economic and Political Weekly,Vol. 31, No. 43, October 26, 1996.
• "Breakdown of Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in Contemporary India". in a symposium on the “Limits of Tolerance” in Seminar, 435, November, 1995.
• "The Primacy of Cultural Issues in Manushi", Journal of Culture and Policy, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1994, Institute for Cultural Policy Studies, Australia.
• "Codified Hindu Law: Myth and Reality", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXIX, No. 33, August 13, 1994.
• "Violence on Gurupurab in Jammu". (with Smithu Kothari), Economic and Political Weekly, April 15, 1989.
• "Struggle of Indian Women". Philosophy and Social Action, 14(4), 1988.
• "Nature of Women’s Mobilization in Rural India". Economic and Political Weekly, (in two parts) December 24 and 31, 1988.
• "Toiling Without Rights: Ho Women of Singhbhum", Economic and Political Weekly, (in three parts) Vol. 22, Nos 3-4-5, January, 1987.
• "The Daughters of Aryavarta: Women in the Arya Samaj Movement in Punjab", Indian Economic and Social History Review, February 23, 1986.
• "Arya Samaj and Women’s Education: Case Study of the Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Jalandhar". Economic and Political Weekly, 31(17), 1986.
• "Gandhi and Women". Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XX, Nos. 40, & 41, 1985. (This has been translated and published in Telugu as a book.) reprinted in Race and Class, London, Summer, 1986.
In addition she has contributed over 160 articles to Manushi and written scores of articles for mainstream newspapers.
Kishwar has been active in following organizations:
• Member, Governing Council, Common Cause (2007 onwards).
• Board of Governors, Janaagraha, Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. Bangalore, 2005 onwards.
• Advisory Board, National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized and Informal Sector, Govt. of India (2005 onward).
• Executive Committee, Editor’s Guild of India (1991 onward).
• Board of Trustees, Indian Social Studies Trust (1997 to date).
• Member, Advisory Board, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society (1989 to 2003).
Documentary Films and Media Work
Kishwar also makes documentary films on a variety of themes in order to mobilize opinio:
1) The Manas Series for Doordarshan was shown on the national channel:
• Dowry: Compulsion vs. Need. The social and economic dynamics behind the spread of the culture of dowry despite stringent legislation.
• The Disinheritance of Women from Family Property.
• Liquor and State Policy: Why Anti-Liquor Movements Inevitably Turn Anti-State.
• Governmental Controls on Agriculture and the Increasing Rural-Urban Divide being promoted through our Farm Policy.
• License Permit Raj: a View from Below (Study of street vendors and rickshaw pullers in Delhi).
• The Pauperization of our Traditional Technologists and Artisans.
2) Researched, scripted and anchored a prime-time programme called News Watch on the Doodarshan Channel. This was an investigative weekly programme of media review, which provided critique of media reports on important issues, covering the content as well as the presentation of media reports.
3) Under the Agenda for India series commissioned by the national television channel Doordarshan she made thirteen episodes entitled “Kisse Kanoon Ke” reviewing the actual workings and impact of various laws enacted ostensibly to protect or strengthen women’s rights in India.
4) Conceptualized and anchored a series of youth programmes entitled Baazgasht for the Srinagar Kendra of Doordarshan in 2006.
5) Her latest documentary film entitled A Tale of Four Cities, to be released shortly, deals with the survival battles of street vendors against eviction drives in Patiala, Gwalior, Lukhnow and Hyderabad resulting in vendor suicides in the first three above mentioned cities.
6) Kishwar has also written and set to music a cassette of songs on women’s issues entitled Manushi Geet. Some of these were used in a street play entitled Roshni created as a group effort by Manushi’s performance team under the direction of Feisal Alkazi.
7) She was recently beaten up for enganing in planning activities. This made front page news in Indian media and can be proven by browsing the internet.
