Modernization and Empowerment of Women- A Theoretical Perspective

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1 Modernization and Empowerment of Women- A Theoretical Perspective Abstract: Modernization and Empowerment of women is about transformation, and it has brought a series of major changes in the social structure of contemporary Indian society. One of the strongest influences is the awakening of women s consciousness, which has led women to regulate their day-to-day lives in the social, political and economic terms - a power which enables them to move from the periphery to the centre. The changing status of women received much attention around the world from last few decades. The role of women began to change from the submissive, dependent and the child bearing traditional women to the modern empowered women, demanding for equal rights, sovereignty and independence assuming the equally heavy career responsibilities. Keywords: Modernization, Empowerment, Development, Marginalizing women, Gender Inequality, Discrimination, Kinship, Family Introduction: The development of a nation cannot only be measured through the technological and materialistic advances, but through the quality of life (Q.O.L) the people live. The growth of a nation is visualised in its capacity to elevate its people especially the weakest lot of its society. Since the 1990 s women have been identified as key agents of sustainable development and women s equality and empowerment are seen as central to a more holistic approach towards establishing new patterns and processes of development that are sustainable. (Kassam, 2004). During much of the last quarter of the 20th century and the first decade of 21st century, development has been viewed as the panacea for all the economic ills in less developed countries. It was believed that creation of a modern infrastructure could provide a favorable environment for the economies to grow by providing a better quality of life in general. But virtually in all developing countries development has had a lopsided impact on all 1

2 sections of society, especially the women. Therefore, the development which has widened the gap between men and women, has not helped improve women s lives, rather has had an adverse effect upon them. The terms on which people gain access to resources are as important as the resources themselves when the issue of empowerment is being considered. Access may be conditional on highly clientilist forms of dependency relationships or extremely exploitative conditions of work or it may be achieved in ways which offer dignity and a sense of self-worth. Empowerment entails a change in the terms on which resources are acquired as much as an increase in access to resources. (Kabeer, 1999). Development is a multi-faceted concept which has been variously defined as a planned change in a desirable direction, or an all round improvement in the lives of people. Earlier economic growth was considered the main objective of development but recently the emphasis has shifted to non-economic objectives, like providing basic needs and new opportunities to millions. The experience with modern development process has shown that instead of benefiting one and all and reducing the gap between rich and poor, it has generally made the rich richer and poor poorer, besides marginalizing women in the economy. Development aims at an improvement in the quality of life which involves progress in the quality of life which in turn involves progress in the economic sphere and also addiction to the non-economic fields, such as individual freedom and culture (Lal, 1989). Peoples basic values and goals are shifting from giving top priority to economic growth and consumption to the place increasing on the quality of life. There are questions that arise as to what determines social and economic development in a society; what the existing social and economic conditions of a society are; and what prevalent notions and beliefs are held by its people. Do the peoples socio-cultural values in any way determine the process and progress of development in a country? Do the beliefs held by people of India enhance, or pose a hindrance, to its growth and development? There is an important difference of opinion intellectually between those who think that social and cultural conditions shape economic development, which ultimately determines society and culture. The debate takes place in economic history. It is entirely understandable if the psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists and cultural anthropologists proclaim the dominance of cultural and social aspects over the economy. The conceptual framework: The society has to change its mindset. While the legislative and other measures may trigger the process, a persuasive approach through mass communication techniques together with involvement of social and family groups will have to be worked out through collective efforts of all concerned. It calls for strengthening the ongoing process of social engineering by creating a 2

3 flourishing social climate through awareness and due motivation. There is widespread acceptance today that development needs to be evaluated not just in terms of economic growth but also in terms of the advancement of human capabilities, and that enhancing human well-being is not just a means but also an end in itself. (Agarwal, 2005). Women are the companion of men, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to participate in minutest details of the activities of man, and she has the same right of freedom and liberty as man has. Men and women are equal in status, but are not identical. They are a pair-less pair being complimentary to one another, so that without one, the existence of the other cannot be conceived and therefore, it is a universal fact that anything that will impair the status of either of them will involve the equal ruin of both. Woman is the foundation stone of the family in particular and society in general, so the deviated position of women is to be maintained properly for the continuance of the human race and its healthy development. J. L. Nehru rightly observes, To awaken the people, it is the woman who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the whole family moves, the village moves and the nation moves. Ramakrishna has once said, she creates, preserves and destroys the world with a mere wink of her wondrous eyes, she holds the universe in her womb. Women empowerment is a new phrase in the vocabulary of gender literature. The phrase is used in two broad senses i.e. general and specific. In a general sense, it refers to empowering women to be self-dependent by providing them access to all those freedoms and opportunities, which they were denied in the past only because of their being a women. In a specific sense, women empowerment refers to enhancing their position in the power structure of the society. The word women empowerment essentially means that the women have the power or capacity to regulate their day-to-day lives in the social, political and economic terms a power which enables them to move from the periphery to the centre. Women Empowerment is about transformation, it is about radical social transformation, and it is about the ordinary people, common people rather than politicians, experts and other socially or culturally advanced persons. Above all it is about power, although the concept of power contained in it is generally left unspecified. Actually, the idea of empowerment of women is drawn from the context of human rights. Human rights in this sense are broader. It includes basic needs, economic security, capacity building and skill formation and dignifies social existence, contextually, empowerment in Indian context stands for transformation of people belonging to weaker segments, and it means that the hidden meaning of empowerment is not political empowerment but social and cultural empowerment also. In other words, empowerment relates to the social transformation among women. The idea of empowerment is thus political, economic, social and cultural. It would be erroneous to think that empowerment consists only of political power, through Panchayat Raj; the women will also acquire economic and socio- 3

4 cultural power. There are a large number of situations where in decisions have to be made at the family, caste, village and regional levels. The empowerment given to women would affect all these levels of life. Amartya Sen aptly relates the variety of gender inequality issues to a dichotomy present in human life between well-being and agency, which he defines as the pursuit of goals or desires that a person values and chooses to advance (Sen, 2002). Sen highlights the value of agency by stating that from the crude barbarity of physical violence to the complex instrumentality of health neglect, the deprivation of women is ultimately linked not only to the lower status of women, but also to the fact that women often lack the power to influence the behaviour of other members of society. (Grown, 1987) The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the state to adopt measures to shift discrimination in favour of women. Within the framework of democratic polity, our laws, developmental policies, plans and programmes have aimed at women s advancement in different spheres. Modernization is the term used for the transition from the traditional society of the past to modern society as it is found today in the West. Modernization or development t heory presents the idea that by introducing modern methods in technology, agricultural production for trade, and industrialization dependent on a mobile labour force, the underdeveloped countries will experience a strengthening in their economies (Bonvillain, 2007) Modernization and development are broad terms that encompass a whole spectrum of different phenomena. Attempting to define the terms clearly and examine all the complex implications and interactions between their different parts is beyond the scope of this paper. We have seen that modernization has actually hindered the development of third world countries. It is true, that third world countries do not have the modern conveniences and attitudes that accompany developed first world countries. But in order for them to become developed, they have to leave too much of what they are traditionally behind them in the process. They have societies that have worked for them for centuries, and if developed first world countries try to modernize them, they will only bring greater pro blems to the global community. Third world countries will lose their natural resources through unfair trade with first world countries, and problems facing women in these countries will only be intensified. Cooperative production that is fair is the only way that will ease the struggles of third world nations. Through cooperative production between men and women, and through fair compensation for both men and women, their lives will also exist in a better balance as they are recognized as equal contributors to their respective societies. 4

5 India has the distinction of evolving one of the longest continuing civilisation in the world, which has constantly adapted itself to the changing political and socio-economic contents and specific watershed events in her history. Her family system and women has proved to be a remarkable stable unit of society which has shown great flexibility and adaptability in the phase of rapid social changes. (Kashyap, 2004). Social modernization brought about a series of major changes in the social structure. One of its strongest influences was the awakening of a woman's consciousness. With rapid economic development and the advent of the women's movement, the changing status of women received much attention around the world. The role of women began to change from the submissive, dependent and the childbearing traditional woman to the modern woman demanding for equal rights, sovereignty and independence assuming the equally heavy career responsibilities. The impact of modernization affected the role of women. Thus Modernization symbolizes the advancement. Advancement simply means the betterment and to move forward in a positive sense. Hence, modernization follows to move forward and to get better in terms of many aspects of life. There are many aspects of life where modernization takes place such as living standards, working styles, behavioural pattern (values, morals and principles) technology, education, inter and intra relationships, cultural patterns and so on. Modernization makes a society more confident, independent, versatile and moreover selfsufficient. It makes the society realize its uniqueness that can be made better and advanced than before. Modernization inspires the society to come out of the shell of backwardness and to construct healthy relationships with different societies and countries that may help the society to achieve a better condition and an advanced global position. Modernization in case of Indian society has played a vital role in bringing up its status especially of the Indian women in the globally recognized societies. Conclusion: The 21st century is witnessing a rapid developmental change in the social sector of India. It has not only affected the agriculture sector of the country, but also put women in a position where they have a major role to play in the development of our country. Women considered less privileged in many ways hold very strong views. So it seems necessary that the women empowerment and modernization should take place in the light of their status, importance, education and health awareness. Gender inequality in India is an acknowledged and well documented fact, but its causes and its future are still a mystery. Meanwhile, we have to focus 5

6 on documenting the inequalities in society for the surviving women who have less access to nutrition, education, health services and employment than men. Despite the obvious prejudices and restrictions that Indian women face, the methods and ways by which to improve their situation are not clear. While it is possible that modernization and empowerment of women will reduce the gender disparity and will show us ways of equity between the genders. Bibliography Agarwal, P. P. (2005). Marital Voilence, Human Development and Women's Property Status in India. World Development, 33(5), Bonvillain, N. (2007). Women and men : cultural constructs of gender (4th ed.). N.J, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Grown, G. S. (1987). Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions: Third World Women s Perspectives. New York: Monthly Review Press. Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment. Development and Change, 30(5), Kashyap, L. (2004, December). The Impact of Modernization on Indian Families: The Counselling Challenge. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling Challenge, 26(4), Kassam, F. H. (2004). Women s empowerment in rural India. ISTR conference, Toronto Canada July, Toronto. Lal, A. N. (1989). ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING. Noida: Vikas Publishing House. Sen, J. D. (2002). India: Development and Participation. Oxford University Press. 6