Sociology and Social Anthropology in India

7

WOMEN'S STUDIES

Abha Chauhan

Introduction

Women's studies in India emerged in the mid-1970s in response to multiple pressures at the local, national, and international levels. These could be seen in the second wave of feminism that engulfed the West in the late 1960s questioning gender inequality and discrimination in society, when mainstream disciplines were criticized for marginalizing women's representation and their concerns. This was also the time when the United Nations declared the Women's Decade (1975-85) during which several conventions for the elimination of discrimination against women were passed in the international forums, and a series of regional and international conferences were convened under its auspices to bring people ...