SHAKTI: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Women’s Empowerment in India

The year 2001 was declared as the Year of Empowerment of Women by the Government of India and was also marked by the compilation of the National Policy of the Empowerment of Women (NPEW). This anthology, which is an outcome of a national seminar, seeks to find out ways in which such well-intended policies may be fruitfully employed. It achieves this by focussing on the present problems, available alternatives, possible solutions and the nascent beginnings of empowerment that are already evident.

Very often, issues of empowerment lose steam because they invariably disempower the other. This volume definitely avoids this pitfall. Moreover, academic discourses on issues related to women’s empowerment are often grounded in the specifics of disciplines; so much so, the obvious overlapping is either ignored or subsumed. This compendium attempts a holistic approach that spans across disciplines. The resulting spectrum is so vast that it includes the differing viewpoints of fine arts, literature, management, law, canon studies and social sciences in its range. From the interstices of these convergences, the collection seeks to forge lasting links of empowerment, which would be inherent in every individual and glow as an everlasting “Shakti.”