Research Report Series

Research Report No. 5

Regulated Independence

Female Students Living in Hostels

in Central Gujarat, India

Fieke Jägers

January 2013

National Institute of Advanced Studies

Bangalore, India

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research University of Amsterdam

REGULATED INDEPENDENCE FEMALE STUDENTS LIVING IN HOSTELS

IN CENTRAL GUJARAT, INDIA

ProGlo Research Report No. 5

Fieke Jägers

January 2013

This research report is a slightly revised version of the author’s Bachelor thesis in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, submitted to the College of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam, in October 2012.

Copyright: NIAS and AISSR

No part of the paper can be published, reprinted or reproduced in any form without permission.

Published by:

National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, and

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)

Bibliographic information:

Jägers, Fieke. 2013. Regulated Independence: Female Students Living in Hostels in Central Gujarat, India. Provincial Globalisation Research Report No. 5. Bangalore: National Institute of Advanced Studies and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

ABSTRACT

Young female students in Vidyanagar, India, are subjected to new living conditions. They moved away

from their family homes for study purposes and are now living independently. The level of social control

decreases in the absence of close family members, which offers these youngsters the possibility to act

independently. Their hometown-based parents still manage, however, to impose restraining regulations

on their daughters. They do so through various channels, which include their social network in

Vidyanagar and the use of modern communication technology. At the same time, these young women are

subjected to the social control of their new community: the Vidyanagar community. Deviant behaviour

can have severe, long-term consequences for the reputation of both students and their families. However,

in this temporary phase of independence, the young women secretively act upon their personal interest, in

the realisation that they will have to conform to the dictates of yet another set of family members after

graduation, their future in-laws.

1

PREFACE

This bachelor thesis is based on research conducted in Vidyanagar, India. In January and February 2012, I

resided in Vidyanagar with two bachelor-level co-students and one master-level student.

This research is linked to a larger research programme - ‘Provincial Globalisation: The Impact of Reverse

Transnational Flows in India’s Regional Towns’, which is coordinated by Professor Carol Upadhya of the

National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore and Professor Mario Rutten of the Amsterdam

Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Mario Rutten, who has guided,

supported and encouraged me during the process of my research. I would not have had this opportunity

that has enriched my education, without him.

Furthermore, I want to thank the Provincial Globalisation Research Team and the people from the Sardar

Patel University for giving me the opportunity to conduct this research. Particular gratitude goes out to

the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Harish Padh of the Sardar Patel University, Mr. Tushar Majmudar, and

Prof. Amrapali Merchant for her guidance during my fieldwork period. This experience has taught me

many useful lessons from which I will highly benefit in my future studies and thereafter.

Fieke Jägers,

Amsterdam, October 2012

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INTRODUCTION

Here we are free as birds, we can be lively and outgoing and spend our time with

friends…. At home we have a different role. There we have the responsibility to take

care of others and obey our parents, there we always need to adjust (Vamil1

This thesis explores the possibilities of young Indian women to increase their independence from

restrictive social control by moving within India. In the following literature review I will further outline the

, 22 years).

The young woman in the quote stated above, Vamil, reflects on her living conditions in the university

town Vidyanagar, Gujarat. I had met Vamil a few days earlier when she agreed to do an interview with

me. She invited me to come to her room in the girls-hostel after curfew. The sun had just set, the doors

of the hostel were locked and the atmosphere inside was very lively. The young women walked in and out

of each other’s rooms and yelled across the courtyard to get the attention of their friends on different

floors.

Vamil is one of the youngsters who have moved away from their hometown to study at the Sardar Patel

University in Vidyanagar. For some of the young women discussed in this thesis, Vidyanagar is

geographically located over a thousand kilometres away from their hometown. It is their first experience

of living independently, apart from their family. This thesis explores the opportunities, consequences and

complexities of this new living environment, as experienced by these female students.

Existing literature on the movement of individuals tends to focus on the international migration of people

from developing countries to developed countries. In this debate, scholars examine the motivations of

people to move abroad in search for better economic opportunities, modern lifestyles or in order to

escape the restrictive social environment in their home region. After their movement, migrants stay

connected with their home communities and are therefore seen as the nodes through which remittances

and ideas flow across nation-borders (Levitt, Glick Schiller 2004: 1009). As migrants become part of both

societies at the same time, scholars argue that migration can have a transformative influence on both

regions.

In these studies many facets of international migration are discussed. However, with the existing emphasis

on migratory flows between different nation-states, the movement within nation-states is sometimes

overlooked. The debate seems to indicate that economic progress and social improvement is only

possible if people physically cross the border of their home country. This view, however, entails the risk

of portraying these migrants’ home country as a homogeneous unity with little opportunities for progress.

1 To ensure the anonymity of the respondents, the names of my informants have been changed in this thesis.

3

dominant debate on the influence of international migration on the country of origin, which I will

illustrate by introducing a few studies of both youngsters who migrated abroad and those who stayed in

their home country. To understand the implications that moving out of the family home has on the lives

of young Indian women, I will also closely look at the position of women within Indian society and family

structures. Following the literature review, more information is presented about the informants, the

young female students, and the research setting – Vallabh Vidyanagar. Then, the research methodology is

described, discussing the methods and strategies I used and the methodological problems I encountered

during my fieldwork period. In the three following sections an analysis is given of the empirical data I

obtained during the research in Vidyanagar.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

To understand the complexities of international migration, scholars in recent years have focused on

‘…the ongoing and continuing ways in which current-day immigrants construct and reconstruct their

simultaneous embeddedness in more than one society’ (Glick Schiller et al. 1995: 48). They argue that

migrants are situated in a transnational social field in which they link the home society with the receiving

country. In this point of view, migrants have become the ‘nodes through which information, resources,

and identities flow’ across nation-borders, by the intensive connectedness they uphold with their

hometown community’ (Levitt, Glick Schiller 2004: 1009). Money, goods and ideas are exchanged

between the country of origin and the receiving country, which can lead to a rearrangement of local

hierarchy, gender relations and consumer habits in the home society (Vertovec 2004: 985). 2

The research of Schielke and the larger migration debate in general, merely focuses on economic reasons

for men to migrate. Less attention has been paid to the role of women in migration flows and their social

motives behind international movement. One of the studies offering insights into the motives of women

Transformative influence of migration on the social structure of the homeland society is a topic discussed

thoroughly by William Kandel and Douglas S. Massey (2002). They argue that if ‘…migratory behaviour

extends throughout a community, it increasingly enters the calculus of conscious choice and eventually

becomes normative’, resulting in a ‘culture of migration’ (Kandel and Massey 2002: 982). The terminology

‘culture of migration’ was used by Jeffrey Cohen (2004) to encompass the embeddedness of migration

influences in the local social environment. In his research in southern Mexico, Cohen saw that the

extensive migration of local individuals turned migration into an everyday experience of the rural

Oaxacans that stayed behind in the home region (2004: 147).

Multiple aspects of this phenomenon are represented in Samuli Schielke’s (2008) research on male

youngsters in rural Egypt. Schielke argues that the large emigration flow of relatives and family members

continuously influences the members in the home community. New expectations about ‘what life should

be like’ arise in the minds of Egyptian youngsters as they are confronted with the success stories of

wealthier migrants living a more modern lifestyle abroad. In comparison to the lives of the migrants, these

youngsters start to perceive their own lives in rural Egypt as boring and lacking in opportunities to

progress (Schielke 2008: 254-258). These frustrations about their own position make the youngsters

passive in the pursuit of goals and the investment in their lives in Egypt. The youngsters feel that the rural

surroundings can no longer offer the means to fulfil their expectations and desires. Schielke encountered

that, in the absence of possibilities to progress in the home region, almost everybody had aspirations to

migrate.

2 For further readings on this subject also see: Bose 2008; Glick Schiller et al. 1995; Glick Schiller et al. 1992; Kearney 1995; Lessinger 1992; Velayutham and Wise 2005.

5

to move abroad is that of Rutten and Verstappen (2012) examining ‘…the contradictory migration

experiences of Indian youngsters who recently moved to Britain on a student or temporary work visa’

(Rutten and Verstappen 2012: 1). On the one hand, these scholars argue that the youngsters moved

abroad so they could improve their position in India by ‘…earning money [in London] and gaining work

(and study) experience...’ (Rutten and Verstappen 2012: 12). On the other hand it became apparent from

their research that youngsters, and especially young women, moved abroad to escape from constraining

family ties. In their hometown, social restrictions and obligations to family members weigh heavily on

these youngsters. The independent lifestyle in London offers them opportunities to express themselves

more freely. The cases introduced by these scholars illustrate how the absence of relatives offer the

youngsters more freedom, for instance in ways of being affectionate with each other by holding hands

and by sitting on each other’s lap, and so on. These expressions of intimacy would not have been

considered appropriate behaviour in their hometown. In another case, a young woman, Indira, moves to

London in order to be together with her boyfriend Dipesh. If she had stayed in India her parents would

have arranged her marriage with someone else. Indira and Dipesh belong to different castes and therefore

could not be involved in a love relationship in India, let alone get married. When the two youngsters were

situated in London, however, close family members mediated, trying to get the parents from both sides to

meet each other and finally to agree to the marriage. Rutten and Verstappen state that ‘this case illustrates

how migration is used as a strategy of avoidance [and]… shows how migration can prove fortuitous for

those involved’ (2012: 13- 14).

Another scholar addressing the social motivations of female migration is Toshie Habu (2000) in her study

on female Japanese students studying in Britain. Habu argues that the young women living in Japan are

influenced by globalisation, as it has dispersed liberal values across the borders of nation states. This

process has created an imbalance between young women’s liberal aspirations and ‘…their restricted social

and economic autonomy in Japan’ (Habu 2000: 45). These women chose to study abroad in Britain, as

they are unable to fulfil their aspirations in the restrictive social environment of Japan. In her study, Habu

explores the wide range of motives of these young women to migrate, including ‘the pursuit of greater

freedom and self-development, dissatisfaction with domestic education options, escaping from social

pressures, and achieving cosmopolitan status’ (Habu 2000: 52). Habu states that economic motivations to

study in Britain barely arose during the interviews. Foremost, the young women expressed ‘…their

academic and career ambitions…’ to be the incentives for migration (Habu 2000: 55). However, the

women also discussed their more private and ‘underlying’ motives for their migration, concerning the

repressive regulations in Japan that have constrained them in their personal aspirations.

The debates and studies above seem to indicate that improvement of the financial and social position of

individuals can only be achieved through international migration. Following William Kandel, Douglas S.

Massey and Jeffrey H. Cohen, these empirical studies indicate that migratory behaviour can become

normative for those living in the home country as a result of the emigration of others. A major argument

6

of these scholars is that individuals in the home region have come to see migration as the only

opportunity to change their current economic and social position. The vast majority of people, however,

do not leave their home country. In the case on India, only 0.9% of the total Indian population had

emigrated in 2010 (The World Bank 2011: 138). Within the academic debate on migration a sharp division

has often been made between those who move abroad and are enabled to progress economically and

socially in a modern environment, and those who stay behind in a more traditional environment where

progress is less possible (Habu 2000; Schielke 2008).

The debate on the position of Indian women and the possibilities to change their social position is often

discussed within the framework of international migration. The vast amount of academic literature that is

written on Indian women living within India mainly focuses on their inferior status and subordinate

position within the patriarchal Indian society and family structure. According to Thapan (2001) and

Bharat (2003) the dependency of Indian women within Indian society is formed by the traditional and

patriarchal character of Indian society. Relationships within the Indian joint family3

Scholars focusing on the position of women within Indian society also discuss the importance attached to

the character of Indian women. It is expected that they internalise the lessons learned at a younger age

and behave in a modest, proper and chaste manner throughout the course of their lives (Maslak and

are set along the lines

of traditional patriarchal values and practices, which determine the specific codes of behaviour for the

roles that the different members take part in. Differences in age and gender are dominant factors in

defining the position of a member within the family. Age seniority will bring authority and respect from

younger members (Bharat 2003: 159). Senior women, for example, have authority over the younger

women in the household: they can regulate and monitor their behaviour and activities, and it is expected

of junior women to be submissive towards these senior women (Menon 2002: 298).

On the topic of gender differences within Indian society, Bharat argues that Indian women are

‘…subjected to a relationship of dependency throughout their lives’, as the Indian society is structured

following the ‘…norms of patriarchy whereby women are placed in an inferior position to men’ (2003:

159). The roles of women are conditioned by strict codes of conduct that are internalised through

socialisation from childhood. According to Mary Ann Maslak and Gayatri Singhal, young Indian girls

learn to ‘… accept their subservient role, to learn modesty and self-denial, and to develop proficiency in

household tasks and childcare through intensive participation in the natal home where they are

considered ‘guests’ until they marry and leave’ (2008: 485). Following traditional norms women are

expected to confine themselves to the realm of the household. Spending a lot of time in public life

without a member of the family is considered to be immodest behaviour in the more traditional

communities. Social contact, especially with individuals of the other sex, and the possibility to move in

public is curtailed by social control and constraining regulations of parents and parents in-law.

3 The ideal family formation in India is that of the joint family. This formation consists of multiple generations, often grandparents, parents and children, living under the same roof. The men in the joint family are blood relatives.

7

Singhal 2008; Menon 2002). It is the responsibility of an Indian woman to retain a good character, also

when not under the watchful eye of family members (Menon 2002: 297). A woman with improper

character traits can bring shame to the whole family.

The international migration debate and the motives of women to migrate abroad are in line with the

picture given of the Indian patriarchal society. International migration offers a possibility for women to

escape the restrictive family ties. As restrictive social control is mostly imposed on women by family

members within the household, it is interesting to see whether moving out of the household but within

the Indian nation state could also bring change to the social position of young women. What are the

conditions for young Indian women living independently from close relatives within India? This thesis

discusses the possibilities for young Indian women to gain independence and escape a restrictive

environment by moving within their own country. I will focus on a particular group of young female

students living independently in hostels in the university city Vallabh Vidyanagar in India. The research

question that will be answered in the following chapters is:

• How does the living arrangement of female students in Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat (India) give them more

independence from family ties?

Before outlining my empirical arguments, I will provide more information about my research group, the

research field and the methodology used.

8

YOUNG FEMALE STUDENTS IN VALLABH VIDYANAGAR

I conducted my research in the small university town called Vallabh Vidyanagar,4 in Central Gujarat,

India. The Gujarat state is situated in the North-West of India and is ‘…one of the prosperous states in

India’ (Rutten and Patel 2007: 168). The area around Vidyanagar is characterised by its agricultural

environment. Vidyanagar is located between the larger cities Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Vidyanagar is a

middle-sized town (the population of the Anand metropolitan area, to which Vidyanagar belongs, had

286.921 people in 2011).5

The campus of the Sardar Patel University (SPU) is situated at the centre of Vidyanagar. The university

was established in 1955 by Shree Bhailalbhai Patel, better known as Bhaikaka, and was named after the

independence leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel.

It does not have the high-rising skyscrapers and the modernity of India’s

metropolises. The town is, however, bustling with little shops. And around the larger intersections you

can find modern eateries like Subway, fancy coffee bars and multi-storeyed supermarkets.

6 Next to the university buildings are twelve

girls and eight boys hostels7, situated both on and around the campus. A middle aged woman who keeps

an eye on the girls living in the hostel, is often present as a warden in the girl-hostels. The warden has

contact with the parents and keeps them informed on the actions of their daughter. Students whose

hometown is located far from Vidyanagar can take residence in one of these hostels, or in one of the

many home-stays.8

4 I shall use the abbreviated name when referring to the city of Vallabh Vidyanagar: Vidyanagar.

There are differences in price and quality between the hostels. In the more luxurious

ones students own private rooms, while in the less luxurious accommodations they share their rooms,

with up to four fellow students staying in one. During the day, the youngsters spend their free time in the

many chai-stalls, lunchrooms, panipuri-stands and at crowded centres such as Nanabazaar, Motabazaar

and the University circle.

The group discussed in this thesis consists of seventeen young women between the age of seventeen and

twenty-eight. At the time of my research, they all resided in Vidyanagar. Fifteen of them moved away

from their hometown to study at SPU. They resided in one of the many girls-hostels where they shared

rooms with their fellow female students. Of this group, three of the youngest women moved to

Vidyanagar at the beginning of the academic year. Five girls have lived in the educational township for

about two years and seven others moved to Vidyanagar three to six years ago. Two girls lived in their

family home in Vidyanagar.

5 Source: http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/335-anand.html 06/06/2012. 6 Source: http://www.spuvvn.edu/about/ 06/07/2012. 7 Source: http://www.vvnlive.com/acmod.php 06/07/2012. 8 Families host students in their home in exchange for rent.

9

The families of the fifteen young women who moved to Vidyanagar live dispersed across India: in Kerala

in the far south, in Northern Rajasthan or near the east coast in Orissa.9

Fifteen of the women’s families are Hindu, while the other two girls are Muslim and Christian. All of the

Hindu families, except for one, belong to high castes: Brahmins, Rajputs or Patels. The girls’ families are

considered to be part of the middle class in their hometowns. They have the financial resources to pay for

the university tuition of their daughters, the rent of the hostel (between Rs. 7000 and Rs. 15000 a year)

and a monthly allowance of around Rs. 2000. Due to this financial support, none of the women have to

work alongside their studies to cover daily expenses.

Only four of the young women

come from a town in the Gujarat state. Only one of the girls, Shridevi, has moved to Vidyanagar from a

metropolis, Delhi. The others come from smaller cities and towns. All fifteen young women have

(distant) relatives or family friends living in or around Vidyanagar. Sixteen of the girls study at the SPU.

Three of them are enrolled in a bachelor programme and thirteen are studying for their master degree.

The remaining one informant, who does not study at the SPU, attends the twelfth standard of a high

school.

10

9 More detailed information about my informants is provided in table 1 in the appendix. 10 There are, however, differences in wealth within the strata of the middle class. For instance, Neva’s family, from Kerala, is part of the lower middle class. They do not have a lot of money, as Neva stated, and therefore sometimes have to struggle to pay all their monthly expenses.

10

METHODOLOGY

During my fieldwork period in January and February 2012, I shared an apartment with my co-students

near the SPU campus. The location of our apartment was convenient for the research as many SPU

students spend their time during the day on and around the campus, which made it easy to come into

contact with new informants. The first contact with my informants was made in small coffee bars, girl-

hostels, in the park in front of the main university buildings where students ate their lunch, or through

other informants.

In order to understand my informants’ interpretation of their social environment and their position in it, I

wanted to get involved in the different facets of their daily lives. After coming into contact with the

informants, I collected my first data through semi-structured interviews. Following that, I asked the

young women to ‘show me around town’. During the seven weeks in which I conducted my fieldwork, I

carried out several semi-structured interviews with fourteen young women. Ten of these young women, I

met on more than five occasions, while taking part in their daily activities. The time I spent with them

ranged from a few hours per meeting to a full day.

The structure of my interviews was focused on several broader themes that I wanted to cover in my

interviews. Its semi-structural character gave it a structural base as well as some room for flexibility. I

introduced the topics I considered important in respect to my research question while also giving my

informants the flexibility to convey their point of view, how they frame and understand these themes and

so on by discussing the topics that are relevant to them.

The observations during my participations gave me a contextual understanding of my informants’

behaviour and statements. Lofland and Lofland (1995) state on the subject of qualitative research that ‘…

face-to-face interaction is the fullest condition of participation in the mind of another human being,

and… you must participate in the mind of another human being (in sociological terms, “take in the role

of the other”) to acquire social knowledge’ (Lofland and Lofland in Bryman 2008: 385). My main research

settings were the girls-hostel that I visited on an almost daily-basis and a variety of coffee-bars, ice-cream-

shops and lunch-rooms. The regularity of visiting these areas benefited my research as I could build up

my rapport with these women by conversing and ‘hanging out’ with them for several hours. Furthermore,

it offered me access to the activities that my informants undertook during the day. These trips, as a visit

to the cinema or going to a temple in a different town, have proved to be essential for my research as it

gave me an understanding of women’s position in public life. It also gave me an insight into their hidden

and secretive behaviour, which the women were reluctant to discuss during our interviews.

During my fieldwork I continuously reflected on my research data. I presented my results to a few of the

young women as I wanted to ensure the valid correspondence between my ‘findings and the perspectives

11

and experiences of [the] respondents’ (Bryman 2008: 377). I provided the most assertive and articulate

informants with sections of my data, as I thought they would be up-front and critical with me about my

findings.

The decision to follow a qualitative research design also brought some difficulties. First, during my

participation in the daily activities of my informants I often found it difficult to insert my research topics

into informal conversations, especially in group-formations. When the atmosphere was joyful and carefree

it felt inappropriate to steer the conversation towards one of my research topics. I decided not to try to

obtain a lot of information in a short time span, as it could damage my rapport with the girls. This

decision turned out to have a positive influence on my research, as the girls opened up to me as my

research continued. This enabled me to address sensitive topics more easily and be more upfront with

them.

Second, when spending more time with the young women, I noticed how their stories and action often

conflicted with their statements in previous interviews. These contradictory statements puzzled me: I did

not understand why they had portrayed themselves ‘falsely’. By accompanying the girls in their daily lives,

I came to understand how these seemingly opposite stories show the duality of their social position as a

young woman in a middle town in India. I did not dismiss their stories because they were inconsistent,

but rather tried to find out how I could understand these contradictions, while looking at it from my

informants’ point of view.

Third, I had to be aware of my own biased interpretation of the main concepts that my informants

brought up. For example, the statements of my informants about their parents’ open-mindedness in

giving them ‘a lot of freedom’ seemed, in my eyes, to conflict with the strict regulation their parents put

on them. I came to realise that I perceived their statements and actions as inconsistent with each other

because I defined the concepts my informants used according to my understanding of these concepts. As

a western woman the freedom my parents give me entails the possibility to make my own independent

choices in life without being monitored by my parents and to live according to the rules I set for myself

instead of the rules and regulation of my parents. The young women I interviewed during my research

compared the freedom they get from their parents with the independence their mothers and

grandmothers received in previous generations. Even though strict rules and regulations continue to be

present, the young women argued that their parents are more open-minded in comparison with past

generations. Therefore, the meaning of concepts like ‘freedom and open-mindedness’ and their

significance to my informants is completely dependent on the social context in which these women are

positioned. Their understanding of these concepts were not in accordance with my own definition.

12

LIVING INDEPENDENTLY

Student life is good. I don’t want to go back home. Here I can meet with friends every

day. We tell each other everything, we talk about boys.… We just don’t want our lives to

change (Binal, 22 years).

When Binal made this comment, we were sitting in a crowded little coffee bar that she and her best friend

Himani visit every day after class. Four years ago, Binal moved out of her family home in Surat, a city in

the south of the Gujarat state, to study at the Sardar Patel University. She has lived in one of the many

girls-hostels ever since. Binal made the above statement during a conversation on Vidyanagar student life,

and the life after graduation. Binal reflected on the changes that her move to Vidyanagar have brought on

her personal life.

Binal’s quote about her situation in Vidyanagar illustrates the lives of the other young female students

who moved out of their family home and are now living in a hostel in Vidyanagar. It became clear from

the interviews that these young women felt free to move between public and private spheres. The

observations showed that they didn’t hesitate to spend their free time in public: viewing the new

blockbuster Hollywood or Bollywood movies at the cinema, inviting me to go to little restaurants for

lunch, visiting a temple town an hour-drive away from Vidyanagar, or just drinking some chai in a local

chai-stall. These activities in public were rarely done alone. The young women were accompanied by their

female peers and moved around Vidyanagar in groups. Even though my informants also spent a lot of

time inside their hostels, most of the young women felt self-assured to leave the hostel whenever they

wanted to during the day.

In Vidyanagar, the absence of superiors enables women to take control over their own movement. My

informants stated that their parents had power over their mobility and fully regulated their movement in

public life when they were living in their family homes. While, in their hometowns, they were expected to

follow the dictates of parents, grandparents and other close family members and to confine themselves to

the realm of the family home; their new living conditions in Vidyanagar offered them independence from

this physical social control.

The young women’s power over their social mobility in the absence of close family members also enables

them to interact more freely with male peers. For most of my informants it was unimaginable to meet

male friends in public when they were living at home: their parents would have never allowed it. In

Vidyanagar, the segregation between the two sexes is less rigid. In the study-environment of their

university, friendships are formed between boys and girls. Regularly they enjoy each other’s company,

‘hanging out’ in their free time. During the time I spent with the girls outside of the hostel I observed

how close these friendships are. When visiting a singing contest held in the Town Hall to support my

13

informant Sundari, I met eight of her male friends who were there to cheer her on. And Binal and Himani

were almost daily accompanied by two male friends in the small coffee bar. Binal loved teasing them and

even playfully flirted with the guy she had a minor crush on. She openheartedly talked about their

friendship and the strong bond she felt with him, explaining how they confide in each other, even about

the most personal aspects of their lives (like the death of his mother).

This close interaction and friendships between young women and men sometimes led to love-

relationships.11

11 Within the love-relationships the youngsters spend time together and are affectionate physically by holding hands, cuddling and kissing. Sexual intercourse is exceptional among this group of young women.

Even though young women’s engagement in love-relationships is considered to be

improper by the community members valuing more traditional Indian norms, eight of my informants had

a boyfriend at the time of my research. It became apparent that these men took an important position in

the lives of these young women. The women were in touch with their boyfriends on a daily basis, through

telephone calls and text messages or, for those whose boyfriends lived in Vidyanagar, by spending their

free time together. As my relationship with the women got more familiar, their love-relationships also

became an important topic in our conversations.

The fact that it had become possible for young Indian women to engage in love-relationships strongly

reflects the increased autonomy these women have obtained after moving to Vidyanagar. Living in their

natal homes, restricting regulations and social control prevent young women from interacting with their

male peers. For instance, when Sundari visited my apartment in Vidyanagar, she talked about her life in

her family home in Abu, Rajasthan. She said she had to follow the strict regulations her parents imposed

on her, which limited her mobility severely. She could not independently undertake outdoor activities.

Her days existed of attending classes during the day, doing homework afterwards, followed by watching

television, cooking with her mother, eating and going to bed at ten o’clock. On the rare occasions that she

was permitted to meet her friends in public, a family member would accompany her. Now, in Vidyanagar,

Sundari spends a lot of time in public; she goes to the cinema, visits little chai-stalls and restaurants with

her friends and sees her boyfriend on a daily basis. She does not inform her parents of these activities in

Vidyanagar, as they would condemn her love-relationship and public lifestyle. Her father has warned her

not to ‘fool around’, emphasising that the reason for moving her to Vidyanagar was solely to study.

Sundari said that, if her father finds out about her behaviour, he would move her back home. Like

Sundari, the other young women stated that their parents would highly disapprove of their friendships

with boys, let alone their engagement in a love-relationship. All young women, therefore, kept their

relationships hidden from their family. Moreover, they state that by keeping it secretive, their love-

relationship will be harmless to anyone. Continuing their love-relationships after graduation will be

impossible, as the young women will accept the marriage their parents arrange for them. Because of the

temporariness of the love-relationships, the youngsters see no reasons to inform their parents.

14

In the family home, total compliance and subordination to superiors is expected, which gives little room

for self-choice. The living conditions in Vidyanagar make it possible to behave more independently from

parents’ strict regulations. However, the gained independence is not perceived by all young women as

merely positive, as some of them expressed that they missed their home environment. The contrast

between the conditions back home and those experienced in Vidyanagar were met with mixed feelings on

my informants’ side, as illustrated in the following quotes:

I miss my mother. At home we would do everything together. I would share everything

with her. Now I have to take care of myself. Here I have all the freedom to go outside,

but I do not use it, because I lived all my life in a restricted environment (Madihah, 21

years).

Life in Vidyanagar is more free. Whatever I want to do, I do (Haima, 22 years).

When we first got here we wanted to go home every month. Now we don’t want to

leave. We just want to stay here (Himani, 21 years).

The quotes above reflect the mixed feelings the young women have about their move to Vidyanagar.

Madihah is one of the girls who moved to Vidyanagar a few months ago. She still feels uncomfortable

with her newly acquired independence, as showed in her statements and behaviour. Madihah prefers to

spend her free time within the hostel compound, chatting with the other girls, doing homework, surfing

the Internet etc. Suggestions from my side to meet each other at other places for coffee, lunch or ice-

cream were often discarded. Other youngsters, who moved to Vidyanagar in the last year, are less

reluctant to move around in public. It has, however, become apparent from their statements that they too

had to get used to the new independent living conditions. For instance, Sundari spends a lot of time

outside of the hostel, but also stated that she misses the close contact with her parents, especially with her

mother. In the family home, the young women were not just subjected to social control and strict rules,

they could also rely on the full guidance and support of their parents. Haima and Himani, who moved to

Vidyanagar five and six years ago, also needed some time to adapt to their new living arrangements. They

explained, however, that they learned, as time passed, to become more independent. They now highly

value the autonomy they have obtained by not having to conform to the dictates of others.

Adapting to the new living arrangements takes time. At home the young women were not taught to be

independent. Parents expected their daughters to behave according to rules prescribed to women by

traditional Indian norms and values. At home, the girls had to speak softly, behave in a modest manner,

follow the rules and had to be subservient. Parents would limit their physical mobility and try to control

the girls’ demeanour. Their movement to Vidyanagar relieved these young women from the watchful eyes

of their close family members. In the absence of this constant social control they have become less

15

constrained in their actions and behaviour. At the same time family members still try to monitor the

young women’s behaviour from the hometown. I will focus on the different ways in which parents try to

exercise such social control over their daughters in the following section.

16

PERVASIVE SOCIAL CONTROL

The young women explained how their parents still regard it as their parental role to supervise and guide

them, even when they were living thousands of miles apart. Without their physical presence, parents need

to make use of other channels to monitor their daughters’ behaviour. Modern technology, relatives and

family friends partially bridge the distance between Vidyanagar and the home town, making it possible for

parents to stay informed on their daughters’ activities. The living arrangements of female students in

Vidyanagar, however, also enable the parents to carry out forms of social control.

Hostels for girls in Vidyanagar are designed according to the socially dominant norm that young

unmarried Indian women need supervision. The hostels have regulations to monitor the young women

living in their residence. To ensure that the residents follow the hostel rules, every hostel has a warden in

service. This ‘mother figure’ watches over the girls and keeps the parents informed about their daughter’s

behaviour. The hostels have strict curfews between 7 pm and 9 pm, when the sun sets. Every evening an

attendance list is checked off by the warden in order to confirm that the girls are inside. Parents are

notified immediately when their daughter is not within the perimeters of the hostel after curfew.

Besides arranging living accommodations where the girls are subjected to certain regulations, parents use

multiple other channels to exercise control over their daughters. The following case will illustrate how

parents monitor the behaviour of their daughters from thousands of kilometres away.

Before moving to Vidyanagar, Neva (23 years) lived in Kerala, a state in the far south of

India. Neva has a very serene and composed character, is a strict Christian, and dedicates

herself to proper behaviour, in accordance with her faith. She enjoys her student life, the

walks through town, the contact she maintains with other young women and her study at

the SPU. Although her parents live almost 2000 kilometres away from Vidyanagar in her

hometown Thiruvalla, they consider it vital to monitor their daughter as strict as

possible. Neva talked about the ways in which they try to regulate her physical mobility.

Her father expects her to ask permission to leave the hostel. He wants to be informed of

her activities, her company and the time it will take her to return to the hostel. When she

gets back to her room, Neva is expected to call or text her father. If she neglects to do

so, her father gets very angry (Fieldnotes 18/01/2012).

This case illustrates how parents try to maintain connected with their daughters, pursuing a continuation

of their parental influence without being physically present. During the research, the interviews and

observations gave me a better understanding of the ways in which family members monitor and exercise

control over the young women’s behaviour in Vidyanagar.

17

New modern media and communication technology facilitate a strong connection between the young

women in Vidyanagar and their families at home. Telephone contact is one of the channels used as a tool

to exercise social control over the women (Ghosh 2011: 162). All the informants of the research have a

mobile phone and most parents call their daughter daily. During the evening hours, when all the

youngsters were inside, many of them were on the telephone with their parents. Also during the day, I

observed that parents contacted their daughters regularly to be informed about their activity and

company. Social control through telephone contact offers the young women an opportunity to lie or

withhold the truth from their parents, which they sometimes do. But my informants are also aware that

parents contact the hostel warden and their social network in Vidyanagar to check on their daughter’s

behaviour.

It should be kept in mind that the motives of parents to call their daughters are not solely to impose rules

on them. It is also a way to show affection and an interest in their lives. On one hand, the young women

highly value the closeness with their parents. They even pitied me, being unable to talk to my parents

every day from India. On the other hand, they also perceived their parents’ calls as an attempt to limit

their autonomy. Neva expressed her conflicting feelings when reflecting on her parents’ repressive

regulations, which dictate that Neva should maintain frequent telephone contact, so that her parents can

regulate her behaviour and physical mobility: ‘My parents are strict in these ways because they love me

very much… But they should love me less so I would get some more freedom’.

The family’s social network functions as another channel through which parents can monitor the

behaviour of their daughter. Many of the youngsters have relatives or family friends living in the Anand

district. Some of the women had lived in Anand when they were younger and had now returned to study

in their former hometown. The social linkage with the Anand region played an important role in parents’

decision to let their daughter move to Vidyanagar, as it assured them that someone would keep an eye on

their child. As Neva said: ‘My father would never let me go to a place where no relatives live’. Through

their social network in Vidyanagar, parents can check the behaviour of their daughter regularly. However,

information obtained through an intermediary has the risk of being altered, biased or false. Rumours may

trigger inferences that are not in line with actual events, which may cause negative judgements. As a

result, social control through a social network can have far reaching consequences, as in the case of

Madihah.

When Madihah, a Muslima, had just moved to Vidyanagar, an acquaintance of her family

warned her parents that she was spending time with a Hindu boy. Even though it was a

false allegation, Madihah’s father reacted with extreme anger. He confronted her with the

allegations and stated: “If this is true, I will kill you first, and then I will kill myself”.

Frightened by her father’s threat, Madihah was too scared to go out of the hostel for

sixteen days. She sought the support of her mother, who took on the role of mediator in

18

the conflict. The tensions decreased after Madihah had collected evidence to refute the

allegations (Fieldnotes 13/02/2012).

Even though the second-hand information that parents obtain through their social network can be

distorted and not in line with the truth, the consequences can be very serious for the young women living

far away from their close family members, like in the case of Madihah. Therefore, the young women bear

in mind that rumours are formed and spread quickly, and actions can be interpreted wrongly. They adapt

their behaviour so that people do not come to wrong or undesirable conclusions. Meeting boyfriends in

public is always arranged in a setting with a larger group of friends, as spending time alone with a boy can

spark unwanted insinuations within the local community.

The youngsters and their parents are aware that Vidyanagar is not a metropolis where one can live in full

anonymity. There are only a few small ‘centres’ in town where most of the restaurants and chai/coffee

stalls are situated and where the youngsters often come together with friends. Besides the family’s social

network, the Vidyanagar community as a whole also exercises social control over the young women. The

informants stated that especially the elder generations want to make sure that traditional Indian norms

and values are preserved. Public behaviour that is considered to be out of line with these traditional

standards is condemned and can have serious consequences. The above case of Madihah shows how

quickly rumours can make its way from the Vidyanagar community to the hometown. Parents are aware

that their children are being observed in Vidyanagar. Binal stated that the relationships between families

sometimes have a competitive character, which spurs the gossip within the society:

A girl has to be perfect in the eyes of everyone she and her family know. Other people

love to say: ‘my girl is better than yours. Your girl has a bad mentality’ (Binal, 22 years).

On one hand it is convenient to the parents, being regularly informed about their children’s behaviour

thousands of miles away. On the other hand, the behaviour and demeanour of their children is also

judged, and the reputation of the youngsters reflects back on their parents’ reputation.

Shridevi (28 years and my oldest respondent, who has lived in Delhi before moving to Vidyanagar) takes a

critical position on the Indian society and the position of women. She gave me an insight into the

representative position daughters take in within the family structure. Shridevi stated that daughters are the

bearers of the norms, values and status of the whole family. If daughters reject the dominant codes of

behaviour, it is blamed on poor parenting and, as a result, the family will be looked down upon by their

whole social network. The requirements of being a proper daughter are rigid: young girls can easily

damage their image. The girls’ reputation, status and that of their families are formed by the judgment of

the social community in Vidyanagar and their home communities.

19

It is understandable that parents strictly try to regulate the behaviour of their daughters, as the community

perceives these young women to embody the family’s norms and values. If their reputation is damaged

by, for instance, involvement in premarital love-relationships, wearing inappropriate clothes, hanging out

in public after dark etc., it can have serious consequences for their family as well. Keeping the reputation

of the family high is important within the search of potential marriage partners. After graduation, the

families of my informants will arrange a marriage for their daughters. Doing so, parents of both parties

will examine the family background of eligible partners thoroughly, and seek a partner for their child

meeting the most important requirements. If the reputation of a family is damaged by misbehaviour of

their daughter, it will bring difficulties when trying to find their children suitable marriage partners.

Therefore, the social control of parents on their daughters is not merely to keep their own reputation high

within the community, but also to protect their daughters. Parents aim to control all actions of their

daughters in order to prevent misbehaviour that will damage their children’s future prospects.

20

REWORKING THE CONSTRAINTS

It became clear, during my interviews, that the young women are aware of the position they take in within

the family structure and the representative role they have within society. Their statements convey the

dominant view that they were raised to follow the rules and advice of their parents. A view based upon

the idea that their parents will know what is good for them, that they will keep them from harming their

own and the family’s reputation. The informants have said that characteristics highly valued in young

Indian women are the ability to adapt and to be submissive. A good daughter has to be respectful towards

her parents (and future in-laws) and therefore does not go against their wishes.

My informants have made statements in order to emphasise that they do follow the rules, norms and

values of their parents while living their lives in Vidyanagar. It has become clear during this research,

however, that these young women also wish to act upon their personal desires. Desires that sometimes

prove to be complete opposites of the wishes of their parents. Despite the parents’ continuous attempts

of social control, their physical absence creates the space for the young women to make individual

choices. In the first section of this thesis, I discussed the daily activities of the informants in Vidyanagar

and their obtained independence. The second section has made clear how these young women have to

deal with the persisting social control carried out by their close family members and the Vidyanagar

community as a whole. I will now discuss how these women use certain tactics and knowledge to pursue

their personal interests, while avoiding any serious consequences of their actions within the Vidyanagar

community where they are monitored.

The local Vidyanagar community condemns certain forms of women’s public behaviour. While men can

move around and act rather freely, women have to consider the dominant social norms and be aware with

whom they associate and how they behave (Menon 2002: 297). However, the regulations associated with

these gender roles do not merely suppress the actions of young women. By subordinating themselves to

the social rules of public behaviour, some space to manoeuvre is created by reworking the constraints.

Due to the condemnation of pre-marital love relationships it becomes inappropriate for young women to

‘hang out’ in public alone with a male friend. If the girls would ignore this social norm, their actions

would spur rumours that could lead to serious consequences, going as far as their return to the family

home. During the time I spend with my informants, I noticed how the young females surrounded

themselves with a group of female friends when spending time with male friends. When the meeting takes

place in a group context within the study environment of Vidyanagar, meetings between young men and

women are accepted by the community. As these meetings are considered to be appropriate behaviour,

falling within the social norms, they create a possibility for my informants to get involved with and

continue their love-relationships.

21

Kshema, Sundari and I met up with their boyfriends at the University circle. This

intersection is one of the centres of Vidyanagar and is located on the campus site of the

SPU. The area was bustling with students. The girls maintained an appropriate distance

from the two boys and greeted them with a simple ‘Hi’. In the way they acted people

could not tell from a distance that they were having a relationship. But from up-close I

noticed how Sundari gazed lovingly into the eyes of her boyfriend that day, sometimes

giving him a wink or secretly an air-kiss (Fieldnotes 24/01/2012).

Young women are not supposed to show affection towards men in public. The four informants from the

example given above have stated that people, even fellow students, are watching each other and can

criticise each other’s behaviour. Therefore, delicate matters like love-relationships are only discussed

within a selective group of friends. When the subject arose in a public setting during the conversations I

had with Binal and Himani, they lowered their voices. On another occasion, while spending the afternoon

in the room of Vibhuti, she entrusted me with her secret: she had been involved in a love-relationship for

a few months. The sensitivity of the issue became clear when she urged me not to discuss it with others,

because it was a private matter she had not yet shared with the girls surrounding her.12

12 That the young women felt safe to elaborately talk about their boyfriends in private conversations with me, makes sense when taking the temporality of my stay in India into account, together with my outsider position in Indian society and the rapport I had built with my informants. The youngsters knew I would leave India after two months of research and take their stories with me back home. Furthermore, I assured them I would use pseudonyms in my scripts to ensure their anonymity and not share information with other informants. As an outsider from a different country, I was not part of Indian society and did not have as many social contacts. There was little chance that I would get in touch with an acquaintance or relative from the girls’ families and there would be no reason for me to inform them of the women’s activities in Vidyanagar.

The young women use certain tactics to keep their love-relationship away from the scrutiny of the public

and to avoid false allegations about their friendship with boys.

Couples are not showing their affection outside on the streets. They even do not go out

together but always in a group. It otherwise will bring problems to the family. Even if

boys and girls are just good friends, people will talk badly about them if they will be in

public with just the two of them. Therefore, if girls take a ride on the back of a boy’s

bike, she will wear a scarf around her face so people will not recognise her (Hasumati, 24

years).

During my visits to restaurants or modern coffee-bars, I often observed the situation as given above. A

young couple would come in and the woman would have her head wrapped in scarves. Most of the times

the young woman would be reluctant to take the scarves off until she was in a secluded area, out of sight

from the road.

22

The students in Vidyanagar share certain specific knowledge that enables them to engage in love-

relationships without being sanctioned for transgressing the dominant norms. In order to do so, they

have to circumvent the social control of the family’s social network and local community. Couples cannot

be affectionate in public, for the reasons outlined above, and neither within the private sphere of the

hostel, as hostels in Vidyanagar are gender specific and not accessible to people from the opposite gender.

Therefore, the knowledge of young people about secluded public spaces in Vidyanagar proves to be

essential. When meeting each other at these secluded public spaces, the youngsters are at little risk to run

into someone familiar. One of these spaces is a cinema located a few miles out of Vidyanagar in an

agricultural area. Sundari stated that the cinema offers couples some degree of privacy ‘It is very dark, so

it is more private, no one can see us’.

In the afternoon I went to the cinema with Kshema, Sundari and their boyfriends.

Although we met each other at the University circle, we took separate transport to go to

the cinema located outside of Vidyanagar. In front of the large cinema was an outside

sitting area, secluded from the road. On the small benches and on the grass around, ten

couples sat closely to each other, cuddling and a few of them kissing. Within the movie

theatre, the couples sat down scattered throughout the cinema. During the movie the

couples were very affectionate, cuddling and kissing each other.

After the movie we went to a little chai stall back in Vidyanagar. The stall was situated in

a dark little alley as it had no lighting and the sun was setting. The girls sat down at the

rearmost table in the alley. The girls and their boyfriends felt more free here than in

other public spaces and sat closely together. Kshema lit a cigarette after 15 minutes of

fiddling with it. She wanted her boyfriend to light it but he didn’t. Then finally she dared

to do it, but she obviously felt not very comfortable, holding it out of sight and passing it

to her boyfriend a few times (Fieldnotes 24/01/2012).

Besides this cinema and chai stall, my informants have knowledge of other secluded public spaces where

they have little chance running into fellow classmates, family acquaintances or people from the

community who will condemn their behaviour.

For the young women, new modern media, like Facebook, and modern technology, like the Internet and

mobile phones, provide other ways in which they can communicate with peers, away from the watchful

eye of the public and social control. Mobile phones and the Internet give my informants the opportunity

to connect on a personal and more private level with others. For instance, three young women stated that

they could talk to their boyfriends in private during nightly phone calls from inside the hostel.

Throughout the day, the young women send text messages to their friends and boyfriends.

Communicating through these lines offers the youngsters the possibility to contact each other in private.

23

Based on the cases above it becomes clear that young women have to carefully manage their love-

relationships and other actions that are considered to be deviant to the social norms, in order to keep

themselves away from the judgement of the public and the interventions of their parents. It struck me

how the physical absence of close relatives makes the young women feel less repressed by their family’s

strict rules. This feeling of independence, however, varies within the group of informants according to the

length of their stay in Vidyanagar. In Vidyanagar there are no fathers, mothers or brothers to make

decisions for them. The younger informants who just moved to Vidyanagar felt uncomfortable having

such independence, as she has been raised not to make individual decisions. But the informants who have

been living in Vidyanagar for a few years stated that the longer they lived independently from their family,

the more they enjoyed their autonomy and making their own choices in daily life. Even though they knew

that their parents would not approve of them spending a lot of time in public in the company of male

peers, the women pursued their personal interests.

It has become apparent, when considering the statements and actions of my informants, that their

independent way of living in Vidyanagar strongly opposes their parents’ rules of conduct. How can we

make sense of the contradictory position in which these young women find themselves? After discussing

their own transgressions of the dominant social norms, and by keeping their future post-graduation

perspectives in mind, I was able to gain a better understanding of this inconsistency. Their position as

students, their independent living arrangements and the space they have created for their own self

determination all take place within a temporary phase in their lives. Most of my informants stated that

their parents expect them to accept a marriage proposal upon graduation. After the marriage ceremonies,

the young women will move into the homes of their in-laws and they will be given the responsibility of

the new household. They are expected to integrate into the in-laws’ family structure, habits, norms and

values. Moreover, as daughters-in-law, the girls will be subjected to the rules and regulations of their

husband and his parents. After years of living a more autonomous lifestyle in Vidyanagar, the youngsters

need to adapt to the dependent role of daughter in-law after marriage, as these statements of the young

women will illustrate:

Here we can do what we want to do. But after marriage we need to impress our in-laws.

Adjustment is very important, it is the soul of life, but it is very difficult (Vamil 22,

years).

My parents want me to be a good daughter in-law. They don’t want to hear any

complaints from me, I need to adjust, speak softly and show no anger with my in-laws...

because your in-laws can throw you out if they want to (Hasumati, 24 years).

When Binal, 22 years, and I get back to her hostel after our trip to the temple, we sit on

the large balcony and talk for a while. It is already dark outside and we are the only ones

24

on the terrace. We talk about her future wedding plans. Binal explains to me how she

will meet with the eligible boy and his parents when her mother has found a suitable

marriage partner for her. The boy and his family will come to her parents’ house. She

will meet them for around 1.5 hours before she will have to make the decision if she

wants to marry him. ‘It is horrible to make the decision so fast. You can say no, but it

becomes harder to find a good partner when you get older. Girls get married when they

are between 21 and 23 years old’. Her ever-present cheeky smile has disappeared from

her face. ‘It’s hard. I don’t want to get married, because I love my life as it is right now. I

will try to do another master degree so I can live this life for a year longer’ (Fieldnotes

04/02/2012).

Like the young women above, other informants have expressed their concerns about the changes that

marriage will have on their lives. After marriage, they will have to put aside their personal goals, for

instance their desire to pursue a career, and they will have to conform to the wishes of their in-laws. My

informants fear that it will be difficult to adjust to this role of subservient daughter in-law, after having

spent years living independently from constraining family ties. They also firmly state, however, that they

will not go against their parents’ plans of arranging a marriage, thereby putting their concerns about the

future aside.

These young women legitimise their own deviant behaviour by arguing that they will follow the most

significant decisions that their parents take for them. Moreover, they try to uphold a proper image of

themselves, and their family, by following the dominant social norms in public. They consider the

transgressions they make of the social norms, and thereby of their parents’ rules, to be harmless to anyone

if they would remain secretive. The young women do not see their behaviour as rebellious acts against the

existing regulations, but as a temporary expression of self-interests. The temporariness of their position in

Vidyanagar plays a large role in the justification of the behaviour. The youngsters express that they were

subjected to a relationship of dependency in the past, while living with their family, and that they will have

to do so again in the future, when living under the roof of their in-laws. Therefore, they want to enjoy the

minor autonomy which they have obtained by moving to Vidyanagar, for the few years that they are

studying.

25

CONCLUSION

The social environment, to which Indian women move or migrate, is of great influence on their potential

opportunities in gaining (more) autonomy. I have criticised the view of scholars who argue that Indian

women living within India are always subjected to relationships of dependence throughout their lives

(Maslak and Singhal 2008; Menon 2002). This argument is made within an international migration debate,

in which scholars focus on the different motives to migrate and the influence that international migration

can have on the lives of migrants. The new local social context brings migrants into touch with different

dominant norms and values and different ideas about gender roles. According to these scholars, women

migrate abroad in search of more autonomy and in order to obtain more opportunities for self-

development (Habu 2000; Gardner and Osella 2003). However, by stating that migration to western

countries gives migrants autonomy and remaining in the home country will lead to lifelong relationships

of dependence for women, we are at risk to lose sight of the more complex local context of both

societies. Scholars, like Gardner and Osella (2003: xviii), have argued that women also face social and

physical restrictions in the receiving country after migration. And in this thesis I have argued against the

notion that women living within their home country, where they experience restrictions and regulations,

are necessarily powerless to obtain some forms of autonomy.

I have examined how the living arrangements in Vidyanagar have given the young women in my research

more independence from family ties. The more independent living arrangements away from the watchful

eye of close relatives, enables my informants to undertake activities outside of the hostel, engage

themselves in love-relationships, manage the love-relationship within the Vidyanagar community and

maintain close contact with peers. However, close family members, the family network and the

community as a whole continue to exert social control over these young women, by making use of a

variety of channels. Even though they are no longer living under the roof of their parents, the standards

to which good daughters are expected to comply (by the community as a whole) remain intact. The

serious consequences that follow, when transgressing the social norms, can be seen as the driving force

behind the strict social control.

By moving to Vidyanagar, however, the power relations between these young women and their close

relatives changed. The internalised subordination of women, embedded in the young women’s mind and

behaviour from early years on, is influenced by this newly obtained independence within the local

environment of Vidyanagar, far away from their close relatives. This influence becomes apparent through

the actions and statements of my informants, who refute the naturalness of the subordinated status of

women. These women started to enjoy, during their time in Vidyanagar, their new confidence and

independence, gained by taking care of themselves and by making individual choices. In the past, while

living in their family homes, the relationship with their superior family members was characterised by

26

dependency. These youngsters will have to subordinate themselves again, to the control of their future in-

laws. During the time of their stay in Vidyanagar, however, these young women have become able, by

living independently, to acquire the power to manage some elements of their own lives by reworking the

social control of their superiors. By doing so, their actions can go against the will of close family members

who try to preserve the existing power relations.

27

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APPENDIX

Table 1.

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Declaration: I have read and understood the University of Amsterdam plagiarism policy [published on

http://www.student.uva.nl/fraude-plagiaat/voorkomen.cfm]. I declare that this assignment is entirely my

own work, all sources have been properly acknowledged, and that I have not previously submitted this

work, or any version of it, for assessment in any other paper.

ABOUT THE PROVINCIAL GLOBALISATIONPROGRAMME

The Provincial Globalisation research programme (‘ProGlo’) explores transnationalconnections between Overseas Indians and their home regions, especially the effects of‘reverse flows’ of resources, including remittances, philanthropy, investments, andknowledge.

The programme consists of five independent but interlinked research projects (threePhD and two postdoctoral) located in three states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,and Gujarat. The research documents a broad range of resource transfers by migrants,including economic resources (such as household remittances, investments in land),social remittances (including flows of ideas, support for NGOs), and cultural flows(such as religious donations), and their influence at the regional level.

The PhD projects are intensive studies of three selected regions – Anand District inGujarat, Guntur District in Andhra Pradesh, and Dakshina Kannada District in Karnataka– focusing on the effects of resource transfers by migrants in the key provincial townsand their rural hinterlands. The two post-doctoral projects provide macro- and meso-level mappings of transnational linkages and flows at the regional, state, and nationallevels. By tracing these transnational networks and the modalities and destinations ofresource transfers comparatively across three regions, the research programme providesinsights into the economic, social, political, and cultural consequences of OverseasIndians’ engagements with India.

‘ProGlo’ is a five-year collaborative research programme of the Amsterdam Institute for SocialScience Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the National

Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, India, funded by the WOTRO Science forGlobal Development programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO),

the Netherlands, initiated in 2010.

www.provglo.org

Programme directors:

Prof. Mario Rutten (AISSR)Prof. Carol Upadhya (NIAS)