ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the theoretical framework of the study, together with an examination of selected concepts used to analyze the field data. The normative entitlements to women in patriarchal societies in general are the primary source for women’s social survival and economic security in the household and the community. In the context of South Asia, studies of gender relations, economic resource control in rural households, and persistent male dominance invoke several concepts: entitlement, sociocultural-based entitlement, enfranchisement, and empowerment. In patriarchal societies, customary practices such as marriage, female seclusion, intimidation, and violence obstruct women’s enfranchisement and their claim to legal shares in decisionmaking about entitlement. The public transcript conveys the notions of expected roles of institutions and roles, behaviors, and practices of individuals of a particular sociocultural and economic setting. The “theory of practice” with its three-tiered hierarchical notion of social structure—habitus, field, and capital—presents a resolution to the subjectivist and objectivist problem.
