Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Marginalized Women and Development in South India

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Kimberly Walters (University of Chicago), under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Cole, will research how individuals who engage in socially stigmatized work leverage international debates about exploitative labor practices. This proposal examines a group of marginalized women in Hyderabad, India as they attempt to not only secure international development funds but to also negotiate a new role for themselves in the ongoing project of Indian nationalism. Walters' research will explore the development industry's influences on culture change and ways in which recipients of "development" turn such initiatives to their own purposes. Her ethnography will problematize the binary between "empowerment" and "victimization" that has polarized various NGOs and other organizations that work with marginalized women, and question the widespread claim that women remain in these social stigmatized occupations only out of economic coercion, and demonstrate ways in which international rehabilitation efforts are entrenching conservative gender roles in India.Walters will collect data through (1) ethnographic observations among community-based organizations (CBOs) and at public events in which these workers collectively represent themselves; (2) interviews with both NGO personnel who seek to "empower" women within this work and those who alternatively seek to "rehabilitate" them; with leaders who interface between the development industry and workers; with workers who are the targets of development strategies; and with politicians, police, and judges who control the allotment of social services that Indian citizens require; and (3) written and visual materials through which multinational organizations, NGOs and unions represent themselves to various publics.The findings of Walters' research will be relevant to public health officials and to the Indian legal system, which is presently considering various legislation related to labor reform of labor practices.