Faith-based development organizations have become a central part of the lives of the women of rural Rajasthan, and have come to represent an important aspect of both individual and collective identities. And yet, religious teachings continue to be used to exclude women from public decision making forums and render them vulnerable to increasing levels of domestic violence. In a unique multi-disciplinary approach, combining a range of subjects, particularly gender studies, Bradley provides a unique study of the contradictory and complex role of development organisations and faith organizations in the lives of women in rural Rajasthan. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers involved in various fields, including those of Development Studies, Religion, Gender Studies and Social Anthropology.

Author Biography

Tamsin Bradley is Principal Lecturer in Anthropology and Director of the International Centre for Community Development, Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University. She has published widely on gender, religion and international development, including Challenging the NGOs: Women, Religion and Western Dialogues in India (I.B.Tauris, 2006); and (edited with Emma Tomalin) Dowry: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice (2009).