DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Female Wage-Labor and Renegotiation of Patriarchal Ideologies in Semi-Rural West Bengal, India

在世界上家长制很强的地区，妇女地位低对一般发展和儿童健康都有影响。妇女参与工资工作往往会提高妇女在家庭中的地位，但这种关系并不简单或一成不变。本项目涉及南方卫理公会大学一名文化人类学专业学生的学位论文研究。该项目将研究女性在印度加尔各答的贫困家庭父权社区中参与工资工作的影响。将通过分析不同家庭中妇女参与带薪劳动力市场的数据来研究男女关于家庭决策的谈判过程。此外，还将收集已婚妇女的生活史，以加深对妇女如何与社区及其家庭互动的了解。这名学生将测试将女性工资收入和流动性与家庭决策权和资源控制、亲属关系义务和自尊联系起来的假设。这项研究将有助于理解工资收入对妇女地位的影响。将收集的新信息将对规划者、行政人员和社会工作者十分重要，以便查明问题并制定政策，改善发展中世界妇女所面临的状况。

In areas of the world with strong patriarchal systems the low status of women has implications for general development as well as children's health. Female participation in wage work frequently raises women's status in the household, but this relationship is not simple or invariable. This project involves the dissertation research of a cultural anthropology student from Southern Methodist University. The project will study the impact of female participation in wage work in Calcutta, India, in a patriarchal community of poor families. The process of male-female negotiation about family decision-making will be studied through an analysis of data from a sample of households varying in women's engagement in the wage labor market. Life histories of married women will also be collected to enrich the understanding of how women interact with the community and their families. The student will test hypotheses relating female wage income and mobility to household decision-making power and resource control, kinship obligations and self-esteem. This research will contribute to an understanding of the impact of wage earnings on women's status. The new information to be collected will be important for planners, administrators and social workers in order to identify problems and formulate policies for the improvement of conditions faced by women in the developing world.