India’s Working Women and Career Discourses India’s Working Women and Career Discourses Society, Socialization, and Agency Suchitra Shenoy-Packer LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com 16CarlisleStreet,LondonW1D3BT,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2014byLexingtonBooks Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Shenoy-Packer,Suchitra. India'sworkingwomenandcareerdiscourses:society,socialization,andagency/SuchitraShenoy- Packer. pagescm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-7391-8477-6(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-7391-8478-3(electronic)1.Women-- Employment--India.2.Workandfamily--Inida.3.Sexdiscriminationinemployment--India.4. Women--India--Socialconditions.I.Title. HD6189.S542014 331.40954--dc23 2014016279 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thisbookisdedicatedtomyresearchcollaborators—myparticipants,for theirinspiringwork,stories,andlifelessons. Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction 1 2 TheMaterialityofSocialDiscourses 39 3 FamilySocializationandCareerDiscourses 67 4 ConstrainedAgencyandCommunion 111 5 MeaningsofWorkandCareer 139 6 Conclusion 163 AppendixA:ResearchMethodology 179 AppendixB:PositionalityandFieldResearchExperiences 185 AppendixC:InterviewGuide 201 AppendixD:ProfilesofParticipants 203 References 207 Index 219 AbouttheAuthor 221 vii