Education, women, and societal dynamics in modern Kashmir
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3036219 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sameena Bashir (University of Kashmir), Irfan Bashir (0000-0003-0000-1065, University of Kashmir, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1-12 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Identities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1350-4630 • E-ISSN: 1363-0296 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13504630.2025.2513287 |
| OpenAlex | W4410934503 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
Education in Jammu and Kashmir during the post-1947 period has served as a contested tool of both empowerment and control, which is shaped by the interplay of gender, nationalism, and conflict. The existing scholarship emphasises the role of education in advancing the agency of women, and this study examines its dual role in Kashmir, where State policies frequently co-opt educational reforms to consolidate political legitimacy. This endeavour argues that State-led education initiatives of the government in Jammu and Kashmir, though framed as progressive, entrenched socioeconomic inequalities along class, caste, and rural-urban lines while tying women's progress to Indian nationalist agendas. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach, including archival analysis of policy documents, oral histories, college magazines, and ethnographic fieldwork. This research analyses reveals how education facilitated limited socioeconomic mobility for urban elite women yet reinforced patriarchal norms and excluded marginalised communities. Several findings have been highlighted for understanding the paradoxes, like some symbolic shifts, such as the adoption of saris (over the Kashmiri pheran) and the rise of nuclear families, signalled modernity but also reflected assimilationist State pressures. Additionally, State curricula prioritised political conformity. This study demonstrates how emancipatory possibilities remain constrained by political coercion and intersectional marginalisation and highlights the necessity of decoupling educational agendas from nationalist projects to foster genuine empowerment
Pedagogy · Social dynamics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |