Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox
The idea of the 'Bangladesh paradox' describes the unexpected social progress that Bangladesh has made in recent decades that has been both pro-poor and gender equitable. This began at a time when the country was characterised by extreme levels of poverty, poor quality governance, an oppressive patriarchy and rising Islamic orthodoxy.
This 'paradox' has evoked a great deal of interest within the international development community because Bangladesh had been dubbed an 'international basket case' at the time of its independence in 1971, seemingly trapped in a development impasse. Previous attempts to explain this paradox have generally taken a top-down approach, focusing on the role of leading institutional actors - donors, government, NGOs and the private sector. In Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox, Naila Kabeer starts with the rationale that policy actions taken at the top are unlikely to materialise into actual changes if they are not acted on by the mass of ordinary women and men. But what led these women and men to act? And why did they act in ways that modified some of the more oppressive aspects of patriarchy in the country? That is what this book sets out to investigate.
It describes the history of the Bengal delta, and the forces that gave rise to the kind of society that Bangladesh was at the time of its independence. It considers the policy and politics that characterised post-independence Bangladesh and how these contributed to the progress captured in the idea of the Bangladesh paradox.
But the key argument of the book is that much of this progress reflected the agency exercised by ordinary, often very poor, women in the course of their everyday lives. Their agency helped to translate institutional actions into concrete changes on the ground. To explore why and how this happened, the book draws on a rich body of ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative research on social change in Bangladesh - including studies by the author herself. The book is therefore about how norms and practices can change in progressive ways despite unpropitious circumstances as a result of the efforts of poor women in Bangladesh to renegotiate what had been described as one of the most non-negotiable patriarchies in the world.
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"Bangladesh was once seen as the text book case study of a country that was impoverished, over-populated and highly patriarchal, with very little hope of improvement in the foreseeable future. It has now become the textbook case study of a country that defied the odds, making progress on what matters most: the health, wellbeing and education of its people. There have been various attempts to explain what has been termed the Bangladesh paradox. They touch mainly on the significant contributions of various institutional actors - the state, Grameen Bank, NGOs, donors, the private sector and so on. Naila Kabeer, in this well-researched book, takes a different tack. Drawing on her own work and on ethnographic studies, life histories and personal narratives carried out by others, she argues that it was the aspirations and actions of ordinary people responding to the changing circumstances of their lives that was the driving force behind the Bangladesh paradox. Furthermore, she uses these narratives to tease out the important role that women played in bringing about these changes, how their experiences of discrimination in their own lives gave them the courage to seek to carve out a better life for their daughters."
- Professor Muhammad Yunus, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 2006
"A brilliant and powerful book that gives voice to ordinary Bangladeshi women, a welcome antidote to 'top-down' theories of development that shines a light on the crucial role that women play in how social change actually happens."
- Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane and Love Marriage
"In Renegotiating Patriarchy, Naila Kabeer offers optimism to the sometimes discouraging field of development studies. She draws on years of creative thought, systematic analysis and careful fieldwork in Bangladesh to show that positive social change can outpace economic growth, overcome bad government, and address cultural resistance. This happens when women have agency to change their lives, their families, their communities, and the everyday practices of their work and livelihoods. This is a book I will recommend to students for years to come and that colleagues should celebrate."
- Craig Calhoun, University Professor of Social Sciences, Arizona State University, Former President of the Social Science Research Council, US
"Bangladesh has puzzled many for a long time with its rapid strides in human development against heavy odds. Naila Kabeer hits the nail on the head with an account of the story that puts gender relations and women's agency at the centre of the stage."
- Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics
"Renegotiating Patriarchy is a major contribution to the literature on gender inequality. Kabeer shows how and why a deeply entrenched form of 'classic patriarchy' has been radically transformed through the interplay between women's agency and structural opportunities in recent Bangladeshi history. The book is cogently argued and lucidly written. It is also an inspiration to women and all others who need to see that large-scale structural transformation is possible."
- Sherry B. Ortner, Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
