ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the issue at the interface of community and politics and explores possible explanations of the situation. The women’s ‘question’ in Bengal has been from mid 19th century located in the space of the community, but influenced by political determinants. Westernization was juxtaposed with tradition by locating women in the community. An expanding consumer culture, unemployment, breakdown of the traditional community and family values and the role of the media highlighting women’s body all have created a culture of anomy. Bengali women benefited from the social reform movements of the mid 19th century. A new dimension in women’s political participation was added in Bengal through the Naxalite movement in the late 60’s and early 70’s. West Bengal included the women’s reservation provision in the 1992 Amendment of Panchayat Act. Statistics indicate that women in West Bengal from 1977 to 1998-1999 enjoyed a fair degree of security.
