‘Bordering’ life: denying the right to live before being born

ABSTRACT

This study pushes the boundaries of the border thinking discourse to examine grassroots perceptions of foeticide together with how women are valued in a society that is underpinned by preference for a male child. Using a bordering conceptual framework, the paper re-visits the female positionality within epistemic locations of culture and societal values in both colonial and the modern Indian context. Grounded in primary research in the state of Haryana that exhibits lowest female to male ratio at birth in the country, the analyses indicate rigid or at best sluggish movements in social norms as the key driver for India’s declining sex ratio. The border thinking discourse further enables to situate the different aspects of female positionality and gender perceptions in the society into the specific domains of the bordering conceptual framework. This offers a novel approach to engage with social norms that border life and opportunities for females in the society.

KEYWORDS:

• Bordering
• foeticide
• sex ratio
• gender norms
• colonial and post-colonial gender perspective
• India

Acknowledgements

I would like to most graciously thank, the editors of this issue, Dr Nazia Hussein and Dr Saba Hussain for their insightful input, support and patience. My two anonymous reviewers are also due acknowledged for their very helpful comments and suggestions. I own a debt of gratitude to Childreach International India team for facilitating the field research in Hissar, in the state of Haryana in India.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meera Tiwari

Dr Meera Tiwari is Reader (Associate Professor) in International Development Studies at the University of East London, where she is also programme leader for MSc NGO and Development Management. Her interconnected research interests are: Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals as a discourse for poverty reduction and policy pathways beyond 2015, exploring social and economic poverties within the Capability Approach in both Northern and Southern contexts and how can development work for the most vulnerable communities. She has conducted extensive primary research in rural India, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Her research in India includes User Perspective of Information and Communication Technologies in Rural India (Madhya Pradesh and Bihar); longitudinal study of women’s self-help group network in Bihar to examine the impact of Livelihoods Policy frameworks on poverty reduction and the role of women’s collectives in curbing alcoholism. She carried out a social impact evaluations in a number of countries including India for ‘Save the Girl Child Project’ run by the NGO Childreach International in India, in Lebanon on the impact of the education projects of faith based organisations for Syrian refugee children followed by evaluations Shelter Children projects in Brazil. Meera Tiwari’s UKIERI funded project (2012–14) explored good practice in social cohesion in East London and Mumbai with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. Her ongoing research is on examining the role of dignity in improving menstrual health outcomes in rural India. Meera Tiwari has published widely on these themes.