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

在世界上父权制很强的地区，妇女地位低下影响到总体发展和儿童健康。 妇女参加有薪工作往往提高妇女在家庭中的地位，但这种关系并不是简单的或一成不变的。本课题是一位南方卫理公会大学文化人类学学生的论文研究。 该项目将研究印度加尔各答贫穷家庭父权制社区中妇女参加有薪工作的影响。将通过分析妇女在工资劳动力市场中的参与程度各不相同的抽样家庭的数据，研究男女就家庭决策进行谈判的过程。 还将收集已婚女性的生活史，以丰富对女性如何与社区及其家庭互动的了解。学生将测试与女性工资收入和流动性有关的假设，家庭决策权和资源控制，亲属义务和自尊。这项研究将有助于了解工资收入对妇女地位的影响。 将要收集的新资料对规划人员、行政人员和社会工作者十分重要，以便查明问题和制订政策，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.