Scio-political mobilization of single women: A study of Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan in Himachal Pradesh
- Panjab University: Research Journal Social Science
- 30(1,2,3), 2022: p.150-164
The social ostracism of 'Single Women' takes place in various forms such as constant stereotyping, taunting, harassment, restrictions, cultural codes, lack of family and government support. Himachal Pradesh, despite being a progressive state is no exception when it comes to treating single women. The article seeks to explain the exclusionary role of state and its agencies with regard to single women in India. It also draws our attention towards Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan(ENSS): a collective organisation of single women in Himachal Pradesh working for the socio-political and economic empowerment of single women. Interestingly, ENSS provided special emphasis on the emerging new categories of single women such as abandoned, culturally separated, women whose husbands are in jails, women with missing husbands, and disabled single women. Unlike state and other institutions, ENSS treats women as extremely heterogenous category having diverse socio-cultural and economic experiences. For this purpose, the present article is divided into two parts. The first section explains the role of the State, it's institutions and the society at large in the perception, categorization and exclusion of single women in India.The second section looks at Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS) as a site of new social movement.- Reproduced