Women, Microfinance and the State in Neo-liberal India

This book discusses women-oriented microfinance initiatives in India and their articulation vis-à-vis state developmentalism and contemporary neo-liberal capitalism. It examines how these initiatives encourage economically disadvantaged rural women to make claims upon state-provided microcredit and connect with multiple state institutions and agencies, thereby reshaping their gendered identities. The author shows how Self-Help Group (SHG)-based microfinance institutions mobilise agency and create channels of empowerment for women as well as make them responsible for alleviating poverty for themselves and their families. The book also brings out the importance of factoring in women?s dissenting voices when they negotiate developmental projects at the grassroots level.

Rich in empirical data, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, gender studies, economics, especially microeconomics, politics, public policy and governance.

Tables. Preface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Introduction: The paradox of SHG-banking: Microfinance and neo-liberal governmentalities 1. The ascendance of SHG-based microfinance: ‘Win-Win’ in India 2. Becoming micro-banks: Generating capital, building discipline 3. Evaluating the self: Distributing resources, containing risks 4. Managing micro-banks: How much autonomy? Whose responsibility? 5. The ‘imperfect translation’ of SHG-banking: Autonomised bankers, ‘vulnerable’ women 6. Female entrepreneurship and the SGSY: Subverting policy, surviving poverty 7. Learning about the state: A pedagogic reversal. Conclusion.Annexure: SHG-wise data by village. Bibliography. Index

K. Kalpana is Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India. Her research interests include gender, poverty, women’s labour and microcredit. She has extensive experience in organising rural women’s self-help groups and leading community health initiatives in Tamil Nadu. In 2013, she received the Young Faculty Recognition Award from IIT Madras for excellence in teaching and research. She is currently a National Executive Committee member of the Indian Association of Women’s Studies (IAWS).