Colluding patriarchies: The colonial reform of sexual relations in India

Feminist Studies

Volumn 26, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 587-600

  Tambe, Ashwini ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0040792568     PISSN: 00463663     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3178641     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. For examples of conventional histories of social reform, see Swaminath Natarajan, A Century of Social Reform in India (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1959); and Charles Heimsath, Indian Nationalism and Hindu Social Reform (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964).
2. For examples of conventional histories of social reform, see Swaminath Natarajan, A Century of Social Reform in India (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1959); and Charles Heimsath, Indian Nationalism and Hindu Social Reform (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964).
3. The central aim of the Subaltern Studies collective has been to counter bourgeois nationalist and colonial history by recovering the consciousness of nonelite social groups. This set of authors, whose stalwarts include Ranajit Guha, Shahid Amin, Gyanendra Pandey, and David Arnold, has made a striking contribution to recounting Indian colonial history "from below." See Subaltern Studies: Writing on South Asian History and Society, vols. 1-10 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986-1999).
4. The label "Cambridge school" is applied to a set of historians who focus primarily on eighteenth-century Indian states, stress continuities between the precolonial and colonial states, and adopt an analytical, generalization-seeking approach to Indian history.
5. See Ranajit Guha, "Chandra's Death," in Subaltern Studies 5: Writings on South Asian History and Society, ed. Ranajit Guha (Delhi: Oxford University Press,1987), 135-65.
6. The limits of the colonial state's ability to intervene in intimate relations are discussed in Radhika Singha, A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998), 123-24.
7. See Partha Chatterjee, "The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question," in Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, ed. Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989), 232-53. Chatterjee sees a solidification in the late nineteenth century of the boundary between an inner, spiritual, domestic sphere under the control of Indian men and an outer, material, public sphere where the colonial state prevailed. Singha also finds that the colonial state sought to preserve the distinctness of the boundaries between household, state, and market, in A Despotism of Law, 158.
8. See Partha Chatterjee, "The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question," in Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, ed. Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989), 232-53. Chatterjee sees a solidification in the late nineteenth century of the boundary between an inner, spiritual, domestic sphere under the control of Indian men and an outer, material, public sphere where the colonial state prevailed. Singha also finds that the colonial state sought to preserve the distinctness of the boundaries between household, state, and market, in A Despotism of Law, 158.
9. On the effective implementation of female infanticide laws in various provinces, see Lalita Panigrahi, British Social Policy and Female Infanticide in India (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972).
10. Sinha's contention that colonial social policies were deliberately designed to be limited in scope is supported by Uma Chakravarti's analysis of the age of consent controversy in Rewriting History, as well as by Lata Mani's understanding of colonial policy on sati in ßContentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India,ß in Recasting Women, 88-126; and by Lucy Carroll's work on widow remarriage in ßLaw, Custom, and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,ß in Women in Colonial India: Essays on Survival, Work, and the State, ed. Jayasankar Krishnamurthy (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989), 1-26.
11. Sinha's contention that colonial social policies were deliberately designed to be limited in scope is supported by Uma Chakravarti's analysis of the age of consent controversy in Rewriting History, as well as by Lata Mani's understanding of colonial policy on sati in ßContentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India,ß in Recasting Women, 88-126; and by Lucy Carroll's work on widow remarriage in ßLaw, Custom, and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,ß in Women in Colonial India: Essays on Survival, Work, and the State, ed. Jayasankar Krishnamurthy (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989), 1-26.
12. Sinha's contention that colonial social policies were deliberately designed to be limited in scope is supported by Uma Chakravarti's analysis of the age of consent controversy in Rewriting History, as well as by Lata Mani's understanding of colonial policy on sati in ßContentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India,ß in Recasting Women, 88-126; and by Lucy Carroll's work on widow remarriage in ßLaw, Custom, and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,ß in Women in Colonial India: Essays on Survival, Work, and the State, ed. Jayasankar Krishnamurthy (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989), 1-26.
13. In the Rukhmabai case, Dadaji, to whom Rukhmabai was betrothed as a child, sued her for restitution of conjugal rights when she refused to live in his house. The first judge dismissed his suit, holding that both consent and consummation were absent in this marriage. Dadaji appealed, upon which the court ruled in his favor, declaring that Rukhmabai had to live with him or face imprisonment. Rukhmabai refused to live with him and sought support for her position from reformists and feminists. Ultimately the case was resolved when her husband accepted Rs. 2,000 to relinquish his rights over her. For details, see Rewriting History, 138-75; and Meera Kosambi, "Gender Reform and Competing State Controls over Women: The Rukhmabai Case (1884-1888)," in Social Reform, Sexuality, and the State, 239-90.
14. In the Rukhmabai case, Dadaji, to whom Rukhmabai was betrothed as a child, sued her for restitution of conjugal rights when she refused to live in his house. The first judge dismissed his suit, holding that both consent and consummation were absent in this marriage. Dadaji appealed, upon which the court ruled in his favor, declaring that Rukhmabai had to live with him or face imprisonment. Rukhmabai refused to live with him and sought support for her position from reformists and feminists. Ultimately the case was resolved when her husband accepted Rs. 2,000 to relinquish his rights over her. For details, see Rewriting History, 138-75; and Meera Kosambi, "Gender Reform and Competing State Controls over Women: The Rukhmabai Case (1884-1888)," in Social Reform, Sexuality, and the State, 239-90.
15. On the Age of Consent Bill, see also Padma Anagol-McGinn, "The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Women's Perspectives and Participation in the Child-Marriage Controversy in India," South Asia Research 12 (November 1992): 100-18; Sudhir Chandra Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law, and Women's Rights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); Dagmar Engels, "The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal," South Asia Research 3 (November 1983): 107-31; Charles Heimsath, "The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891," Journal of Asian Studies 21 (August 1962): 491-504; and Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and the Death of a Child-Wife," Economic and Political Weekly 28 (September 1993): 1869-79.
16. On the Age of Consent Bill, see also Padma Anagol-McGinn, "The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Women's Perspectives and Participation in the Child-Marriage Controversy in India," South Asia Research 12 (November 1992): 100-18; Sudhir Chandra Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law, and Women's Rights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); Dagmar Engels, "The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal," South Asia Research 3 (November 1983): 107-31; Charles Heimsath, "The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891," Journal of Asian Studies 21 (August 1962): 491-504; and Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and the Death of a Child-Wife," Economic and Political Weekly 28 (September 1993): 1869-79.
17. On the Age of Consent Bill, see also Padma Anagol-McGinn, "The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Women's Perspectives and Participation in the Child-Marriage Controversy in India," South Asia Research 12 (November 1992): 100-18; Sudhir Chandra Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law, and Women's Rights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); Dagmar Engels, "The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal," South Asia Research 3 (November 1983): 107-31; Charles Heimsath, "The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891," Journal of Asian Studies 21 (August 1962): 491-504; and Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and the Death of a Child-Wife," Economic and Political Weekly 28 (September 1993): 1869-79.
18. On the Age of Consent Bill, see also Padma Anagol-McGinn, "The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Women's Perspectives and Participation in the Child-Marriage Controversy in India," South Asia Research 12 (November 1992): 100-18; Sudhir Chandra Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law, and Women's Rights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); Dagmar Engels, "The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal," South Asia Research 3 (November 1983): 107-31; Charles Heimsath, "The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891," Journal of Asian Studies 21 (August 1962): 491-504; and Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and the Death of a Child-Wife," Economic and Political Weekly 28 (September 1993): 1869-79.
19. On the Age of Consent Bill, see also Padma Anagol-McGinn, "The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Women's Perspectives and Participation in the Child-Marriage Controversy in India," South Asia Research 12 (November 1992): 100-18; Sudhir Chandra Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law, and Women's Rights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); Dagmar Engels, "The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal," South Asia Research 3 (November 1983): 107-31; Charles Heimsath, "The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891," Journal of Asian Studies 21 (August 1962): 491-504; and Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and the Death of a Child-Wife," Economic and Political Weekly 28 (September 1993): 1869-79.
20. See Kosambi's "Gender Reform and Competing State Controls over Women" for a discussion of the implications of property awards made by courts.
21. For details on the enforcement of the Infant Marriage Regulation in Mysore, see Janaki Nair, "Prohibited Marriage: State Protection and the Child Wife," in Social Reform, Sexuality and the State, 157-86.
22. For a review of writing on the difference between precolonial and colonial law, see Upendra Baxi's Towards a Sociology of Indian Law (New Delhi: Satrahan Publications, 1986), 5-17.
23. Flavia Agnes, Law and Gender Inequality: The Politics of Women's Rights in India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999).
24. Devadasi refers to a woman dedicated to serve a deity in a temple. She usually underwent a symbolic "marriage" ceremony to the deity when dedicated and was subsequently forbidden to marry.
25. Prem Chowdhry, "Contesting Claims and Counter-Claims: Questions of the Inheritance and Sexuality of Widows in a Colonial State," in Social Reform, Sexuality, and the State, 65-82.
26. Malavika Karlekar, "Reflections on Kulin Polygamy: Nistarini Debi's Sekeley Katha," in ibid., 135-55.
27. Veena Poonacha, "Redefining Gender Relationships: The Imprint of the Colonial State on the Coorg/Kodava Norms of Marriage and Sexuality," in ibid., 39-64.
28. Sharmila Rege, "The Hegemonic Appropriation of Sexuality: The Case of the Lavani Performers of Maharashtra," in ibid., 23-38.
29. I owe the phrase "narrative of decline" to Mary E. John and Janaki Nair's introduction in A Question of Silence: The Sexual Economies of Modern India (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1998), 12.
30. Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, vol. 1 (New York: Random House, 1978), 6.
31. An example of the approach stressing psychodynamic referents of sexuality is Sudhir Kakkar, Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).
32. On the promise of feminist approaches to legal historiography, see Michael Anderson and Sumit Guha, introduction to Changing Concepts of Rights and Justice in South Asia, ed. Michael Anderson and Sumit Guha (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998), 2.