Gendered Groundwater Market in Rural Gujarat, India

Abstract

Groundwater markets continue to dominate rural India in the fast few decades and have become a critical source of irrigation. However, most of the studies in groundwater market have been from economic perspectives and often lack the gender dynamics in their analysis from a caste perspective of power and hegemony. Through my research I make an attempt to fill this gap by studying the ways gender and caste interact with space and place, when it comes together in the groundwater market. Using political ecology framework to study the structure and practice of the gender division of power operating at the informal level in the study area in the groundwater market, I highlight how patriarchy ensures the dominance of an all-male culture in the groundwater market through the upper caste hegemony, which is also gendered, irrespective of women playing a key role in the agricultural work. The article is based on my longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2008-09 and 2012-14 in northeast Gujarat, India. The research methodology comprises of a mix of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools, key informants interviews, focus groups discussions, direct observation, thick description and household survey