Rather than seeing social movements through western eyes, this innovative study of the Indian women's movement develops its perspective from the experiences of rural, lower caste, deeply disadvantaged women. This important book tells a mesmerizing story of the conditions and processes by which low-caste women in India have claimed political and social power from the village level right up through parliament. This politically effective mobilization drew on the resources of the state for empowerment rather than for mere aid or even micro-credit, and seized opportunities created by the overall democracy movement. The women organizers' positive view of social power reverberated in the programs they constructed to offer village women the opportunity to articulate their own needs in their own way. Local participation, while sometimes leading to dramatic instances of resistance, more generally built a sense of entitlement to better conditions that empowered women to stand up and make change at the grassroots. As these women knew, poverty is not just economic, but also a loss of hope and of expectations for respect, yet as this book shows, a challenge to long-embedded oppressions of gender and caste together can be successfully mounted.

Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin, Madison

A powerful assessment of how women's agency can bridge macro politics and micro organizing. This exiting book gives voice to the poor, marginalized dalit women in India. It's empowering!

Yakin Erturk, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

A brilliant analysis of relationship of the Indian women's movement and the state. It raises thought-provoking questions for feminist politics in a society deeply riven with caste, class and religious divisions.

Veena Poonacha, SNDT Women's University