Women and labour in late colonial India the Bengal jute industry - Sen, Samita (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 248-263) and index
Preliminaries; Introduction; 1 Migration, recruitment and labour control; 2 'Will the land not be tilled?': women's work in the rural economy; 3 'Away from homes': women's work in the mills; 4 Motherhood, mothercraft and the Maternity Benefit Act; 5 In temporary marriages: wives, widows and prostitutes; 6 Working-class politics and women's militancy; Select bibliography; Index
In a history of labouring women in Calcutta, the author demonstrates how social constructions of gender shaped their lives and how the long-term trends in the Indian economy devalued their labour. The study makes a significant contribution to the social and economic history of colonial India