WOMEN IN DHARMASASTRAS: A Phenomenological and Critical Analysis

The book presents the critiques of women’s position in the social philosophy of “Dharmasastras” coming from both the East and West. It challenges the authoritative status of the Western philosophical interpretation, and an imperfect understanding of the Orient.

The book does not aim at eulogizing the “Dharmasastras, ” but at making a candid analysis of women’s position in “Dharmasastras.” It does not acquiesce in all that the socio-philosophical texts say about women, nor reject it impatiently in toto. An attempt has also been made to historicize and to put them in the context of the times.

The book will be of interest both to general readers as well as scholars of Social Sciences, Humanities and Gender Studies.

Chandrakala Padia is Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Previously she was the Director of the Centre for Women Studies and Development, BHU and also Chairperson, UGC Standing Committee on Women Studies. She has also been Visiting Professor at the Universities of Toronto, McMaster, Chicago, Stockholm, Poland and others. She is the author of the much acclaimed book “Liberty and Social Transformation: A Study in Bertrand Russell’s Political Thought” and editor of “Feminism, Tradition and Modernity.” She has extensively published in national and international journals.