Landscape and Gender delves into the intricacies of contested and mediated ‘spaces’ through a gendered lens. Bringing together a range of subjects—archaeology, history, cultural geography, and urban studies—the chapters here examine the connections between landscape and gender within a spatio-temporal framework unique to India. The volume explores spaces that are regulated and subordinated by agencies, and which reinforce gender gaps in quotidian landscapes.

The theoretical discourse that underpins the volume aids in comprehending the subtleties of genderscapes. Further, it throws light on relationship dynamics in varying spatial contexts, including public–private and rural–urban, and makes us cognizant of the structures of disparities and discrimination that often emerge and evolve from the closest units, such as families and peer groups. This volume weaves together the diverse ‘landscapes’ of India through ontological and epistemological orientations to explore how gendered norms, roles, and structures have remained constant, in one way or another, across time.

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction by Sharmistha Chatterjee and Moumita Dey

Part I: Historical Landscapes and Gendered Ideologies

1. The Lost Space: Gender and Landscape in Premodern Bengal by Kaushik Gangopadhyay
2. The Realm of the Goddess: Re(visiting) the Sacredscapes of a Vaishnavite Temple Town by Sharmistha Chatterjee
3. Exploring the Culinary Landscape and Gender Roles inside the ‘Rasodums’: A Study of Dholavira Village, Gujarat by Ahana Ghosh and Sharada Channarayapatna
4. Power without Authority: Women in Khasi Indigenous Political Institutions from Precolonial to Postcolonial Times by Srijani Bhattacharjee

Part II: Contemporary Landscapes: Identifying Gender Roles and Agencies

5. Women’s Leisure and Everyday Life in Rural Landscapes: A Study of a Coastal Village in Odisha by Puja Sardar
6. Living at the Margins: The Female Prawn Catchers of the Sunderbans by Chandrani Dutta and Taneesha D. Mohan
7. Implication of Mothers’ Education on the Empowerment of Adolescent Girl Students in a Rural Setting, Bankura District, West Bengal by Ayanika Sarkar and Biswaranjan Mistri
8. Understanding Patterns of Violence in ‘Domestic Spaces’: A Study from the Urban Fringes of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal by Bidisha Barua
9. Gendered Landscapes and Elderly Women in India: A Sociocultural Study of Alzheimer’s as a Women’s Disease by Tithee Datta
10. Gender Disparities in Commuting Behaviour during Covid-19: Insights from Megacities of India by Aisharya Bhattacharjee and Subhadeep Mondal

Part III: Towards ‘New’ Genderscapes

11. Gendering the Transportscape: Understanding ‘Public Art’ and Community Engagements in Metro Stations by Subhadeep Mondal, Aisharya Bhattacharjee, and Monidip Mondal
12. Queer and the Contemporary Urban Landscape: Reflections on Challenges and Prospects by Moumita Dey

Bibliography

Notes on Editors and Contributors

Index