Taking Care into Account
Leveraging India's MGNREGA for Women's Empowerment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4850643 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deepta Chopra (0000-0003-0305-5632, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1687-1716 |
| Publication date | 2019-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Development and Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/dech.12535 |
| OpenAlex | W2964355878 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 24 |
The potential of India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for women's empowerment is immense. Studies examining gender-related issues in MGNREGA have attested to the high levels of participation of women on worksites, and their positive experiences of working in MGNREGA. This article argues, however, that an exclusive focus on increased participation of women does not serve an agenda of promoting 'women's empowerment'. By ignoring the dynamics and processes of unpaid care work, both the making and the implementation of the Act fall short of the goal of women's empowerment. The author argues that this invisibilizing of care arises from the gendered nature of the interactions of formal and informal institutions that have shaped MGNREGA. The article examines the gendered debates during the formulation of the Act and analyses the gendered nature of its implementation. It concludes that a true focus on women's empowerment requires that women's lived experiences are taken into account, especially those relating to their unpaid care responsibilities. MGNREGA's potential for women's empowerment can only be achieved through adequate implementation and monitoring of its gender provisions, which in turn depend on changing the formal and informal institutions that underpin policy processes
Care work · Economic growth · Economics · Empowerment · Focus group · Political science · Sociology · Women's empowerment · Work (physics) · Agricultural risk and resilience · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Social and Economic Development in India
Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of MGNREGA Research Progress as a Social Security Measure
Supporting municipalities in implementing participatory development initiatives
Breastfeeding and infant care as ‘sexed’ care work
Gender budgeting in the post-pandemic period
Mainstreaming climate adaptation into social protection
Female matters
Care is not a burden’
Introduction
The power of employment
Impact of MGNREGA on women living in drought-prone rural West Bengal, India
Gender, social protection systems and street‐level bureaucrats
MGNREGS Performance (2006–21)
The Social Contract and India's Right to Education
Social Relations, Gender and Empowerment in Economic Development
Has India's Employment Guarantee Program Achieved Intended Targets
Gender and Informal Institutions
Political Economy of Contemporary India
Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics
Depletion
Fixing women or fixing the world? ‘Smart economics’, efficiency approaches, and gender equality in development
Towards transformative social protection
Gender equality and women's empowerment
Demand Shortfalls or Supply-side Constraints
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, India
Introduction
Mothers at the Service of the New Poverty Agenda
Population Policies Reconsidered
Informal Institutions, Institutional Change, and Gender Equality
Engendering local democracy
The Hegemony Cracked
Resources, Agency, Achievements
Policy Making in India
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,14 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 15 |