Gupta / Sharma This project funds the dissertation research of an anthropology student from Stanford University, studying an Indian national program of rural women's development through empowerment. Using a combination of documentary analysis and ethnographic methods such as participant observation, interviews as well as surveys, the student will evaluate the intended as well as the unintended effects of the government's conceptualization of "development", "empowerment" and "modernity" on the lives of poor, rural women. The site of the study is the state of Uttar Pradesh, where a Gender and Development program has been praised for its flexible approach, organization and exemplary goals because it seeks to empower women to develop themselves. The design of the study is a controlled comparison of two matched villages similar in as many respects as possible except that in one the program is operating and in the other it is not. The student will interview officials to understand their goals, practices and strategy and will survey women in both villages about background variables, relationships and desires for their lives. The concept of empowerment will be analyzed through six domains, political participation, legal decision making, household and community activity, control over economic resources, access to public resources, and collective organizing. This case study will provide a valuable advance in our understanding of the new approach to economic development which focuses on empowering women, as well as contribute to the training of a young social scientist and advance our understanding of this important region of the world.
