Annotations
General
CHEN, Martha (1996) A matter of Survival: Women's Right to Employment in India
and Bangladesh, in: NUSSBAUM, Martha and GLOVER, Jonathan (eds). Women,
Culture and Development: a Study of Human Capabilities, Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 37-57.
Martha Chen's contribution to this important volume is a very special one, as it forms a
Case Study located as a preliminary to a range of systemic and theoretical discussions
on the issue of gender and human capabilities. The wise reader will take the opportunity
to digest the realities described and analysed in this case study and set them against the
wider discourse.
In the author's own words: 'This paper explores the predicament of poor women in poor
economies, like Saleha Begum (Bangladesh) and Metha Bai (India), who must break
with tradition and act independently because they lack the security the tradition is
supposed to offer. "In communities where women are secluded, perhaps the most
conspicuous and yet necessary way for women to break with tradition is to leave their
courtyards or homesteads in search of work". Despite the fact that the constitutions of
Bangladesh and India guarantee women equal employment opportunities with men, for
many of them the system of seclusion denies them such opportunities.
Martha Chen describes how the 1974 famine in Bangladesh prompted some women to
defy tradition and join the work force. The focus is on the increasing phenomenon of
female-headed households and their interaction with the wider community and
international aid activities. The Indian case is further complicated by immense variety
as between castes, where aspiration to (social) status forms an additional constraint on
gainful employment outside the home. The author analyses these situations in respect of
four issues: the survival imperative; female mortality rates; women's status; human
justice. She concludes that: "The demand that women be allowed to abandon seclusion
and seek gainful employment outside the home should not be seen as an outside
challenge to local culture and tradition but as a local response to changes in local
culture and tradition".
Consequently, all women should have a right to gainful and just employment,
especially in marginalised and developing economies. This is an essential human good
and should be seen positively by insiders and outsiders alike.
Individual countries