Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India's Professional Elite
Zoomicon-zoom-in
Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India's Professional Elite

Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India's Professional Elite

By
Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen (Author)  

Hardback

Available / dispatched within 1 - 4 weeks

Quantity

Also available on eBook for £15.89. Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo

Exploring the unintentional production of seemingly feminist outcomes In India, elite law firms offer a surprising oasis for women within a hostile, predominantly male industry. Less than 10 percent of the country's lawyers are female, but women in the most prestigious firms are significantly represented both at entry and partnership. Elite workspaces are notorious for being unfriendly to new actors, so what allows for aberration in certain workspaces? Drawing from observations and interviews with more than 130 elite professionals, Accidental Feminism examines how a range of underlying mechanisms-gendered socialization and essentialism, family structures and dynamics, and firm and regulatory histories-afford certain professionals egalitarian outcomes that are not available to their local and global peers. Juxtaposing findings on the legal profession with those on elite consulting firms, Swethaa Ballakrishnen reveals that parity arises not from a commitment to create feminist organizations, but from structural factors that incidentally come together to do gender differently. Simultaneously, their research offers notes of caution: while conditional convergence may create equality in ways that more targeted endeavors fail to achieve, "accidental" developments are hard to replicate, and are, in this case, buttressed by embedded inequalities. Ballakrishnen examines whether gender parity produced without institutional sanction should still be considered feminist. In offering new ways to think about equality movements and outcomes, Accidental Feminism forces readers to critically consider the work of intention in progress narratives. 3 b/w illus. 8 tables.
Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen is assistant professor of law, sociology, Asian American studies, and criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine. They are also affiliated faculty at Harvard Law School's Center on the Legal Profession. Twitter @ssballakrishnen
  • Contributor: Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen
  • Imprint: Princeton University Press
  • ISBN13: 9780691213606
  • Number of Pages: 192
  • Packaged Dimensions: 156x235mm
  • Format: Hardback
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Release Date: 2021-02-02
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Biography: Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen is assistant professor of law, sociology, Asian American studies, and criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine. They are also affiliated faculty at Harvard Law School's Center on the Legal Profession. Twitter @ssballakrishnen

Delivery Options

Home Delivery

Store Delivery

Free Returns

We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us. However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy.