Interrogating Women’s Leadership and Empowerment

Omita Goyal is presently Chief Editor of the IIC Quarterly, the Journal of the India International Centre. She started her career in the voluntary sector with the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi. Shortly thereafter she moved into academic publishing where she has spent over 27 years. She worked at SAGE Publications India Pvt Limited for 20 years, leaving as General Manager. Omita took time off to work as a freelance editor for SAGE and other institutions such as The World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, Voluntary Health Association of India, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, WHO, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague and TERI. In 2005, she was invited by Taylor and Francis to start a social science programme under their social science and humanities imprint, Routledge, as Publishing Director.

• Foreword - Karan SinghPreface - Omita GoyalIntroduction - Malavika KarlekarUnderstanding Leadership: Lessons from the Women’s Movement - Devaki JainRevisiting the Theme of Women’s ‘Empowerment’: How Leadership Matters - Padmini SwaminathanWomen Leaders in Every Mohalla, Every Village - Renana JhabvalaRockets with Fire in Their Tails? Women Leaders in Kerala’s Panchayats - J DevikaLabouring Intellectuals: The Conceptual World of Dalit Women - Gopal GuruCzarinas or Girl Fridays? Women in the Corporate Sector - Pushpa SundarLeadership for Women’s Equality and Empowerment in Higher Education - Karuna ChananaAnatomy of a Change: Early Women Doctors - Malavika KarlekarFrom Dynasty to Legitimacy: Women Leaders in Indian Politics - Sudha PaiOther Histories: Gender and Politics in the Fiction of Mahasweta Devi - Radha ChakravartyIn Her Own Write: Writing from a Dalit Feminist - Uma ChakravartiCatalysing Craft: Women Who Shaped the Way - Ritu SethiLeadership in the Arts: Rukmini Devi Arundale - Ashish Mohan KhokarRecasting Bodies and the Transformation of the Self: Women Performers in the Bombay Film Industry (1925–1947) - Sarah Rahman NiaziAscribing Feminist Intent: The Invention of the Indian Woman Artist - Deeptha AcharThe Alpha Songbirds: Independent and Vibrant - Kumud Diwan JhaEmpowering Women through Education: The Story of Indraprastha School - Aparna BasuGender and Governance: From Concern to Indicators - Satish B. AgnihotriThe Movement for Change: Implementation of Sexual Assault Laws - Kirti SinghCaregivers, Caretakers: Dealing with Impunity and Immunity at the Margins - Sanjoy Hazarika

The book goes well beyond the conventional understanding of enhancing women’s strength and self-confidence as brought into focus in many lives and their varied stories…. A good read for scholars, academicians, feminists and researchers who have interest in women identity issues and the changes that have taken place over time.