Aisa in Focus special issue

Good Work for Good Mothers: Commercial Surrogate Motherhood, Femininity and Morality KRITIN ENGH FØRDE The Globalising Effects of Solar Energy Access on Family and Gender Relations in Rural India Reluctant Returnees: Gender Perspectives on (Re)settlement Among Highly Skilled Indians Return Migrant

SPECIAL ISSUE 2016 Asia in Focus is a peer-reviewed journal published online twice a year by NIAS - Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. NIAS is a Nordic research and service institute focusing on Asias modern transformations. Asia in Focus was initiated by NIAS to provide Master students and Ph.D. s

Contents 02 Editors Introduction KENNETH BO NIELSEN, KARINA STANDAL, ANNE WALDROP AND HAROLD WILHITE 05 Good Work for Good Mothers: Commercial Surrogate Motherhood, Femininity and Morality KRISTIN ENGH FØRDE 14 The Globalising Effects of Solar Energy Access on Family and Gender Relations in Rural

Editors Introduction KENNETH BO NIELSEN, KARINA STANDAL, ANNE WALDROP AND HAROLD WILHITE This special issue on family and gender in a globalising India is based on a seminar on the same topic held in Oslo in early 2016 at the initiative of the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies. The seminar provide

3 a certain division of both power and responsibility within the family, where men control womens sexuality to secure and reproduce the male lineage. Marriages are convention- ally caste-endogamous and village-exogamous, because people that have grown up in the same village regard one another as rel

of a development project. She finds that the project, because it offered vocational training and was for women only, offered a space for building self-worth and community among the women, and thereby offered a sense of increased empowerment. However, as the project did not challenge traditional gend

GOOD WORK FOR GOOD MOTHERS: Commercial Surrogate Motherhood, Femininity and Morality KRISTIN ENGH FØRDE Keywords: Commercial surrogacy, India, reproduction, gender, family 5 Based on ethnographic fieldwork among women acting as commercial surrogates in Mumbai, India, this paper explores how the surr

T his paper discusses commercial surrogacy in India as a case for how the globalisation and commercialisation of reproduction con- tribute to new understandings and conceptualisa- tions of gender and family, in particular feminine morality and motherhood. Commercial surrogacy is defined as an arrang

dia, and that of how care workers and care work has been put into global circulation. Departing from an understanding of transna- tional commercial surrogacy in India as enabled at once by globalisation and local relations of class and gender, I discuss how the surrogates them- selves accounted for

able with) greatly helped in establishing a comfort- able setting for our meetings. Moreover, a majority of the interviews were conducted in the small slum colony home of a former surrogate (who also assist- ed extensively in the recruitment). This location, at once a neutral ground and a familiar e

tion functioned as a way of keeping the decision to enter surrogacy within an acceptable feminine morality in which there was room for need, but not for greed. In line with this, the women would often explic- itly tone down the individual agency of their deci- sion. In contrast to the assumptions of

but felt her transgression was justified in light of her desperation: I thought that even if I lie to my hus- band, it is ok. At least I will get money to provide for my kids and feed them. The breach of one set of feminine values, i.e. obedience in marriage, was necessary in or- der to comply with

who come as commissioning parents as well as surrogates. If this were wrong or shameful, then not many people would do it. By highlighting its medical nature, surrogacy was linked to a brand of modernity that was predomi- nantly perceived as positive and respectable. Along these lines, the moral aut

Surrogacy was in fact often portrayed as an act of self-sacrifice: the surrogate sacrificed her health and well-being, even her respectability. According to this understanding, which contrasts the neoliber- al, utilitarian notion of the surrogate as a utility-max- imising player in the market, the f

References 13 Cohen, L. (2008). Operability, bioavailability, and exception. In A. Ong & S. J. Collier (Eds.), Global assemblages: Technology, politics, and ethics as anthropological problems (pp. 79-90). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Cooper, M., & Waldby, C. (2014). Clinical labour: Tissue dono

THE GLOBALISING EFFECTS OF SOLAR ENERGY ACCESS ON FAMILY AND GEN- DER RELATIONS IN RURAL INDIA KARINA STANDAL This paper discusses the effects of energy access, in the form of newly implemented solar energy, on the dynamics of gender and family in rural Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. India has seen a

I security for women in rural India by allowing for bet- ter contact with their natal family (Tenhunen 2014). Despite the continuing expansion of globali- sation, there are counter discourses that invoke re- ligious and nationalist ideals to assert traditional Hindu ways of life, particularly in con

tralised energy systems that take a variety of forms, such as solar, hydro and bio. In reality this means that ever more villages experience electricity for the first time in contemporary India, an experience that differs considerably depending on the type of intervention, technology and contextual

of social position in the family in West Bengal: The principal married couple of a house whose sons were not yet married were felt to be at the warm reproductive center... they gave food, knowledge and services and made decisions for all the others around them, including retirees and the young chil-

the customs in her village she was in purdah, and would not leave the house alone and was always veiled in front male affines. The practices of purdah in her community was gradually lifted when women had borne two or more children and become affil- iated members of their households. Then a bahu woul

hospital which earned her 1400Rs with the National Rural Health Mission scheme. It was also common knowledge that young mothers in her village under- went sex-selection abortions upon request by their parents-in-law. These issues were not deemed as matters where a bahu was free to voice her opinion;

plans to join the Police Academy or take a Masters degree in natural science, when he settles with a wife in the nearby town. Nuclear households were not unique Daaruns village, but said to be depen- dent on whether parents wished their household to consist of one or more sons. As the oldest son and

Conclusion As exemplified in the cases of Leelah, Daarun and Anita, energy access globalises the family in many ways; for instance, it provides more efficient ways to provide income, do household chores, social- ise and communicate. However, as illustrated with Leelah, it is also evident that the pr

References Béteille, A. (1999). The Family and Reproduction of Inequality. P. Uberoi (ed.), Family kinship and marriage in India (pp.435-452). New Dehli: Oxford University Press. Brown, C.M and Agarwal, N.D. (2014). The Rape that Woke up India: Hindu Imagination and the Rape of Jyoti Singh Pandey. J

RELUCTANT RETURNEES: Gender Perspectives on (Re) settlement Among Highly Skilled Indian Return Migrants in Bangalore HELENE ILKJÆR Keywords: Gender relations, return migration, (re)settlement processes, Bangalore, India. 23 Taking its point of departure in the personal story of Nalini, this article

I never had it in my mind to come back I was desperate to stay in the US. I have absolutely not been happy about coming back to India. Nalini, a 35 year old microbiologist, had only just stepped foot within the front door of her flat in a gated community in the eastern part of Bangalore when she mad

el this means, for example, that the husband and wife share the household duties and that they live as a nuclear family in their own house rather than with the husbands parents. On a broader level it means, among other things, gender equality in de- cision-making and support of womens career ambi- t

intended to go back to work back to the rat race as they referred to it at the time of a likely future re-migration abroad. In line with the arguments of the above-men- tioned studies I found that cosmopolitan lifestyles and traditionalist attitudes to family and gender relations coexisted among r

going wrong with the marriage. But, said Nalini bluntly: I am not channelised for housework. She did not like to cook what she called Indian Indian food, i.e. traditional recipes, and in- stead preferred Western food because it is more health oriented. Besides, she insisted on being an agent of her

explained that she believed it sprang from Gopals increasing fears about the lifestyle Nalini and their two daughters enjoyed in the US although she knew that he was reluctant to openly admit this. She said: in day-long races and week-long adventure chal- lenges all across the country, and she succ

tion and change, cosmopolitan and conservative in- fluences. On the one hand, Indian patriarchal family and gender ideals continuingly influence returnees. On the other hand, by bringing back new ideas and practices returnees contribute to an ongoing pro- cess of change in family and gender relation

References Anantharaman, M. (2016). Elite and ethical: The defensive distinctions of mid- dle-class bicycling in Bangalore, India. Journal of Consumer Culture, 1-23. doi:10.1177/1469540516634412 DCosta, A. P. (2010). What is this New India? An Introduction. In A. P. DCosta (Ed.), A New India? Critic

31 doi:10.1007/s11133-009-9125-5 Radhakrishnan, S. (2011). Appropriately Indian. Gender and Culture in a New Transnation- al Class. Durham and London: Duke University Press. Upadhya, C. (2006). The Global Indian Software Labour Force: IT Professionals In Europe. Retrieved from Indian Institute of Sc

To Stand on Her Own Two Feet: Women Empowerment at the Grassroots in Delhi GUDRUN CECILIE E. HELLAND The essay explores what the ubiquitous concept of (women) empowerment looks like in a state-civil society partnership development programme in Delhi at the grassroots level. The Mission Convergence P

I Thus, the state must mediate between its neolib- eral aspirations and its responsibilities towards its vulnerable citizens by introducing new techniques of governance and development initiatives that are aimed at the urban poor. I argue that urban poor women in Delhi experience changes that pertai

group, urban poor women. The article is based on fieldwork conducted in 2012 for my Masters thesis Poor subjects or empowered citizens? Perspectives on rights and public service delivery among female urban poor in Delhi that I submitted to the Univer- sity of Oslo in 2013. During my fieldwork, I con

In the 1980s many NGOs in India increasingly focused on women empowerment. The first State- led initiative focusing on women empowerment was the Womens Development Programme implement- ed by the Government of Rajasthan in 1984, a tri- partite partnership between the government, NGOs and academic ins

ing an image of a paternalist welfare state. Concom- itantly, there have been notable shifts in economy and governance towards hybrid forms of neolib- eralism. Through development projects and good governance initiatives like the MCP, the state intro- duces new techniques for governing the urban poo

where several hundred Sikhs were brutally killed (Kesavan, 2014). The atmosphere is still perceived as tense, and communal riots, this time between Hindus and Muslims, erupted in the autumn of 2014 (Ghose and Hafeez, 2014). Several of the informants, both inhabitants and NGO-employees, emphasised th

space to exert it, had not. Many of the women inter- viewed reflected on how they would use their new opportunities to exert agency within their social boundaries, especially by working from home. The sewing course would enable them to support their husband, predominantly the main breadwinner. This

ble population in general, by explicitly focusing on women and being based on specific ideas of who the urban poor woman is, what she needs, does and wants, it may inadvertently serve to alienate large groups of the urban poor. By not taking into ac- count the myriad of ways one can be a woman, it i

development: Without trying to change the context in which she lives and including her as an active agent in development initiatives like the MCP, her ability to make life choices freely will remain con- stricted. Concluding remarks Being empowered, according to Kabeer, is about being able to make s

References 41 Banerjii, M. (2005). Provision of Basic Services in the Slums and Resettlement Colonies of Delhi. Paper presented at the conference Ensuring public accountability through community action. New Delhi, Institute of Social Studies Trust. Retrieved from http:// dspace.africaportal.org/jspu

Roy, S. (2015). The Indian Womens Movement: Within and Beyond NGOization. Journal of South Asian Development 10(1), 96117. doi: 10.1177/0973174114567368 Sharma, A. (2008). Logics of Empowerment. Development, Gender and Governance in Neoliberal India. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Unite

UPHILL TASKS WITHIN KUMAON HIMALAYAN COMMUNITIES: Multi-dimensional Gendered Inequalities in Everyday Life SIDDHARTH SAREEN AND CELIE MANUEL Keywords: Kumaon Himalayas, intersecting inequalities, inclusive development, rainfed agriculture, gender, vulnerability 43 This paper contributes an ethnograp

T he objective of this article is best explained within the historical context of gender and development in the Kumaon Himalayas. The Kumaon administrative division of Uttarakhand state in northern India is a mountainous region in the Himalayan foothills, characterised by rain-fed agriculture in the

We aim to address this ambiguity in the lit- erature and further an understanding of what de- termines inequality in regional development along lines of gender (Nightingale 2006). The guiding intent of this paper is to highlight the multiple di- mensions that relate to a gendered understanding of in

targeted towards integrated development. Our as- sociation with CHIRAG thus served as a basis for introduction to interviewees during data collection. We undertook fieldwork for two months across four separate areas with different agricultural sys- tems in Nainital and Bageshwar districts. During th

ily structures. While fathers want to keep families together across generations, sons want their own family in a more nuclear family setting. At the same time, trends associated with globalisation brought about an increase in consumerism or the desire for it. Our respondent noted: Agriculture is no

Female respondent, Bohrakot Village. Other respondents voiced frustration at wom- en being denied knowledge and the opportunity to work outside the village stating that since they are working at home, they dont get to know about de- velopment and support schemes and dont get the opportunity to benef

come home and create trouble and then theres no food and you to go bed hungry ... No woman can speak up against her husband. Female respon- dent, anonymised village. This woman had been chosen as sarpanch (head of village) as a result of an imposed quota for women and her being the most educated. In

strate that some empowered, proactive women can encourage and mobilise others to redress such en- trenched social inequity (Mikkola 2005). Yet this sort of exception is at quite a remove from the pow- erful roles ascribed to women in pre-globalisation community forestry (Agrawal 2005) and environ- m

which globalisation does or does not affect the lives of people and the implications thereof, especially for women, in Uttarakhands rain-fed agricultural com- munities (Afshar & Barrientos 1999; Mikkola 2005). We have demonstrated some specific forms these exclusions take in two mountainous district

References Afshar, H., & Barrientos, S. (1999). Introduction: Women, globalization and fragmen- tation. In Women, globalization and fragmentation in the developing world. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1-17. Agarwal, B. (2001). Participatory exclusions, community forestry, and gender: An analysis for S

53 Economic and Political Weekly 1360-1365. Pingali, P. L. (2012). Green Revolution: Impacts, limits, and the path ahead. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(31), 12302-12308. Reddy, D. N., & Mishra, S. (2009). Agrarian crisis in India. Agrarian crisis in India. New Delhi: OUP. Roch

THE DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW HAVE BECOME THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW: How New Forms of Capital Create Class Differences within North-Indian Households CECILIE NORDFELDT The article explores how larger socio-economic transformations affect authority structures in rural households in the Indian Himalayan state of Utta

D Sen 2000). While changes in womens situations can and have been studied as an effect of their own status, such as their education and employment (Gjøstein, 2014; Vandsemb, 2014) and new technol- ogies (Tenhunen, 2014; Winther, 2014) I believe that important insights into changes in womens situa- t

food and other market goods in local communities where a need for money as a standardised, univer- sal means of payment has risen. The green revolu- tion in 196070s India that involved scientists, engi- neers, funding and policy ideas from Mexico, USA, and India (Kingsbury, 2009) was a global projec

according to kinship status, but were affected by what I understand as their class rank. Thus, as I will show, Parvati, the mother-in-law, who has the high- est-ranking kinship status, would tiptoe around her eldest daughter-in-law, Sakuntala, who wielded sub- stantial authority as the wife of the m

respondence. Her father had been a bank clerk. Her brothers were well-educated and held coveted government jobs. Her family owned enough land to sustain themselves in her natal village. Sakuntalas bond with her husband was strong. Harpal was well-educated. Thanks to their com- bined connections, he

earning 2030000 rupees a month. Devpal married an attractive, high school-educated woman who quickly adjusted to the household. Mukesh, the youngest brother, held a college degree but was unable to find a job, and ended up dependant on his eldest brother to provide contrac- tual work for him. It was

household, where the other members did not have comparable access to all three forms of capital. It is noteworthy that the kinship element often reinforces the class element. The eldest brother is often afforded better education opportunities. He and his wife rank highest in kinship terms within the

References 61 Assayag, J., & C. J. Fuller (2005). Introduction. In J. Assayag & C. J. Fuller (Eds.), Globalizing India: Perspectives from below (pp.116). London: Anthem Press. Balachandran, G., & S. Subrahmanyam (2005). On the history of globalization and India: Concepts, Measures and Debates. In J.

the relationship between women and forests in the Garhwal Himalayas. Cand. Polit. thesis in Social Anthropology, University of Oslo. Polit, K. (2006). Keep My Share of Rice in the Cupboard: ethnographic reflections on practices of gender and agency among Dalit women in the Central Himalayas. PhD the

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