PRAJNYA RESOURCE CENTRE PUBLICATIONS

Occasional Papers/ Working Papers

• Peace, with Women?, Swarna Rajagopalan, January 2014
• Women in politics in South Asia: Background Paper, Jayalakshmi Gopalan, January 2012

Chennai Women Taking Action

Women Taking Action: A Survey of Chennai Women's Organisations, B.P. Srilekha, Reva Yunus and Sweta Narayanan; Editor: Archanaa Seker, Third Edition, 2017

Women Taking Action: A Survey of Chennai Women's Organisations, Reva Yunus and Sweta Narayanan, Second Edition, 2011

Documenting women’s work and working with others who share our values and objectives are important elements of our vision and mandate. This study, in its second edition , contributes to realising both of these.

Women Taking Action: A Survey of Chennai Women's Organisations, Sweta Narayanan, 2008

The growth of organisations dedicated to serving women in India is interesting on account of its relevance and growing importance in the current scenario of accelerated women’s empowerment. This paper reviews the nature and working of women’s organisations in Chennai, as a lens to the Indian women’s movement. Its structure will serve to highlight two major objectives of the paper – a brief overview of the course of the women’s movement in the country and a detailed description of the activities of 20 organisations, from advocacy groups to service providers, currently working towards women’s welfare in Chennai.

2008 Summer Internship Papers

Editors: Nandhini Shanmugham and Sweta Narayanan

Little Things: World War II and Women in the Madras Presidency, Nirmala Iswari, 2008

The experiences of women in the Madras Presidency during World War II are interesting to look at because traditional war narratives typically exclude women, also because very little literature exists on the subject. This essay draws on historical records of the War, literature on women and war, memoir/personal recollections, and an interview. While case studies illustrate how women became victims and active contributors in war situations, historical records and literature on women and war supply background information and facilitate analysis of case studies.

Madras Presidency Women in the Quit India Movement, C. Sindhu, 2008

This paper profiles the participation of women, including student activists, who followed Mahatma Gandhi’s lead by participating in the Quit India Movement. The Quit India Movement was followed by the INA (Indian National Army) activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the RIN (Royal Indian Navy) Mutiny which further weakened the foundation of the British Empire in India. Captain Lakshmi Sehgal of Madras was an associate and Commander of the INA’s Rani Jhansi regiment. During this period, women extended the discipline and sacrifice of their homes to the nation as a whole. Women in the early 1940s seem to have wanted to prove Gandhi right.

Women's Participation in the Dravidian Movement, 1935-45, Swati Seshadri, 2008

This paper aims to study the participation of women in the Dravidian movement. It begins with an overview of the genesis of the movement, while focusing on women’s activism in various campaigns. The paper profiles the handful of women whose work was documented briefly.