Announcements

Conference Overview

The XISS-C3Sakshamaa-IAWS Conference on Economic Empowerment of Women in East India and the Role of Women’s Collectives is an opportunity to share and learn from experiences of various women’s collectives, actively working in the low-income states of Eastern India and reflect on available data and evidence that highlight gains and areas for policy prioritization. The Conference would also be a space to facilitate a dialogue about ways of strengthening these collectives beyond the domain of livelihoods and address social norms, reflecting on approaches and frameworks for their strengthening and sustainability.

Recent research establishes that along with the caste-class-gender lines, COVID-19 pandemic has also deepened regional divides and states of eastern India have experienced the greatest brunt of the COVID crisisiv. The states of the region could learn from each other’s experience and also collaborate for addressing the specificchallenges of the region. In sum, the XISS-C3-Sakshamaa-IAWS Conference is envisioned as an opportunity to discuss, analyse, understand and contextualize what works for enhancing opportunities for women in eastern India, in state specific contexts and wider. Participants and speakers in the conference will be drawn from among academia, policy and development sector.

Conference Objectives

The conference is scheduled on March 17-18, 2023 and is being organised at the Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi, India with the following objectives:

1. Enabling a platform for sharing evidence and programmatic experiences of women’s collectives working to facilitate and capacitate women in low-income states of Eastern India.
2. Initiating dialogue among academic institutions, development partners and state governments on the role of women’s collectives in women’s economic empowerment in the region.
3. Envisioning ways for strengthening women’s collectives in the region to address social norms and deepening the agenda of gender equity.

Sessions’ Themes and Call for Papers

The Editorial Committee of XISS-Sakshmaa-IAWS Conference invites prospective authors to share their papers for the conference on following session topics:

1. Women’s Access to Livelihood and Market: Role of Women’s Collectives, Microcredit and the Government

2. Agency, Empowerment and Women’s Collectives
3. Digital and Financial Inclusion for Capacitation of Women and Their Collectives

4. Unpaid Care, Domestic Work and Time Poverty for Women: Prospects of Women’s Collectives in Unburdening Women
5. Prospects for Feminist Networks, Women’s Organizations and Women’s Collectives in Twenty-first Century India
6. Women’s Collectives in Urban Women’s Economic Capacitation

Selected papers presented in the conference would be included in an edited volume titled “Economic Empowerment of Women in East India and the Role of Women’s Collectives”. The volume would be published by Routledge and IAWS.

Deadlines for Abstract and Paper Submission

Prospective authors are expected to submit their abstracts by January 10, 2023. Selected authors would be intimated by January 30, 2023, and they will be expected to share their final papers by February 20, 2023.

Please email your abstracts/papers at: [email protected] Please feel free to mail your queries or concerns regarding the conference on above-mentioned email.

You may also contact the Conference Convenors:

• Dr Anamika Priyadarshini (C3-Sakshamaa): [email protected] 
• Dr Anant Kumar (XISS): [email protected]
• Prof Asha Hans (IAWS): [email protected]