Accidental transitions: A feminist perspective on the postcolonial welfare state

Prabha Kotiswaran

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl.2632

Authors

Prabha Kotiswaran King's College London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2632

Keywords:

India, women, care, social reproduction, welfare state, unconditional cash transfer

Abstract

Since 2020, political parties across the ideological spectrum in India have embraced unconditional cash transfers for women. Thirteen states dispense cash transfers to 118 million women. My paper assesses this novel development through a feminist lens to ask whether these cash transfers instrumentalise women as voters to secure the welfare of the household at a time of high inflation while reinforcing the gendered division of labour? Alternatively, do they herald the accidental transition to an expansive postcolonial welfare state wherein the unpaid work of millions of Indian women finally finds recognition while also financially empowering them to disrupt the gendered division of labour and improve their labour force participation. The paper will revisit this predicament against the backdrop of feminist efforts to realise the vision of SDG 5.4 and improve the female labour force participation rate including through investments in the purple/care economy.

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Author Biography

Prabha Kotiswaran, King's College London

Professor of Law & Social Justice

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