Homecoming: Ho Women, Work, and Land Rights in Jharkhand

Abstract

The forest, for the inhabitants of Mirra village in Jharkhand, is home, renewed and re-established through their labour every year. This process of renewal and restoration of the home is termed as 'home-coming', wherein the latter not only secures a home for the villagers in the forest, but also puts in place their relationship with the natural and spirit world. Drawing on women's experiences and work on land and forests in Mirra village, this paper elaborates homecoming in order to highlight the significant role of women in sustaining and perpetuating traditional practices and techniques. It also provides the substance for the claims of the Jharkhand movement of possessing an alternative to t he destructive relationship of modern, scientific management of the natural environment. Thus, the attempt here is not only to reformulate the conventional definition of the 'home', but also to question the reservations of many within the movement over granting land rights to women in the light of the evidence that practices around land and forests owe much of its tenacity to women's work and labour.