differentiation:
White's book makes important contributions to the gender and development discourse.
Her field work in Kumirpur and detailed case studies of thirty households gives her a
unique perspective on the subject of gender relations in rural Bangladesh. The
stereotype of a monolithic female identity is undermined, and the fact that relations
between members of the same class or gender group are often characterised by conflict
is highlighted. The most critical insight that this book provides is that future gender-
oriented research cannot look at the question of female status in isolation from that of
males. Her observations relating to "the flexibility of identity" show that women have
the room to manoeuvre around cultural prescriptions relating to gender norms. A
comparative approach that integrates the relative position of men and women in the
social order will help us to identify not only the differences between gender norms, but
between norms and practice, and within gender identities. Such an approach reveals that
women are not always the passive victims they are often depicted as. The issue of
gender identity and its impact on socio-economic relations cannot be understood
through convenient generalisations. It is a noteworthy addition to the literature on
gender and development.
India
AGGARWAL, J.C. (1987) Indian Women: Education and Status, Arya Book Depot,
New Delhi.
Aggarwal relies on political documents to trace the history of women's education in
India. This historical survey focuses on central government efforts in the post-
dependence period to tackle the issues relating to women's education. Thus, it describes
the findings and recommendations of centrally appointed committees on women's status
and education, including the National Committee on Women's Education (1959); the
Committee on Differentiation of Curricula for Girls and Boys (1961); the Committee to
look into the Causes for lack of Public Support particularly in rural areas for Girls'
Education and to enlist Public Cooperation (1963); Committee on the Status of Women
in India (1971); and the National Committee on Co-education (1974). Lastly it
examines the chapter of the National Policy on Education and Programme of Action
(1986) devoted to education for women's equality. The National Policy on Education
envisages that education will be used as a strategy for achieving a basic change in the
status of women. The national education system will, therefore, play a positive
interventionist role in the empowerment of women; contribute towards the development
of new values through redesigned curricula and textbooks; promote women's studies as
a part of various courses; and widen the access of women in programmes of vocational,
technical and professional education.