ABSTRACT
This chapter purposes Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas of “symbolic violence” to show how gendered norms are reified among highly educated women and middle-class Assamese women. The author argues that postcolonial India is a complex and paradoxical mix of socio-cultural practices and modernity. This tension is especially apparent, and holds particular significance, with respect to women’s changing roles. The chapter focuses on the specific case of Assam, located in the Northeastern region of India and, within it, a sub-population of young, middle-class Assamese women. It considers the notions of Pierre Bourdieu’s symbolic violence and “misrecognition” to examine how unequal gender relations in Assamese society are reproduced and sustained. The study unravels the ways that gendered habitus negotiates between socio-cultural structures of Assamese society and the daily practices of women. Driving this research is a concern to probe the position of women, pursuing higher education, as daughters/daughters-in-law and wives within the family. The chapter contributes to an understanding of the pervasiveness of traditional ideas through doxa, even among a subset of women who are relatively more empowered. The context of classic patriarchy in scripting gender is once again underlined.
