Fostering Insecure Livelihoods

Dowry and female seclusion are aspects of a system of property regulation that restrict women's ability to directly own and control property. In this context, it is hardly surprising that agrarian reform has reproduced female disadvantage in property rights and accentuated female seclusion linked to social mobility. The author examines substantial gender disparity in property rights over land, rising levels of dowry and the constraints women face in taking up paid work, etc, which pose serious questions for the livelihood security of poor women in Kerala and West Bengal.