ABSTRACT
The introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies in India: Crossings presents an overview of the intent, scope and broad thematic rubric of the book in the light of the current configuration of the field. It traces, briefly, the evolution of the women’s movement and women’s studies in India to chart some of their significant crossings and overlaps – such as those of women and gender, activism and theory, feminist and queer movements, femininity and masculinity, ability and disability, Indian and Western perspectives, past and present times. The organizational structure of the book is outlined in some detail; this comprises the complex nexus of movements, ideas, identities, constructs and theories that constitute the collage of women’s and gender studies in India today. A brief overview of the five sections along with the individual chapters that constitute them is provided to give the reader a general sense of the book’s contents. As described in this introductory chapter, the five sections of the book focus on an assessment of the evolution of the women’s movement and women’s studies in India, feminist and queer theoretical perspectives on concepts and identities, feminist and queer interdisciplinary crossings in the social sciences, literature, folklore, psychoanalysis and new media studies, feminist pedagogy and its emerging challenges, and cross-border dialogues that foreground both current impasses and potential solidarities. The introduction also highlights the need to create room for certain issues (e.g., disability, transgender studies, masculinity) that continue to solicit greater attention. Finally, it emphasizes the book’s focus on foregrounding emerging challenges and future trajectories for women’s and gender studies in India while bringing into view its complex, uneasy terrain within an international context.
