Reclaiming 'agency', reasserting resistance

Abstract

This article examines how concepts of women's 'agency' have been appropriated and transformed by neoliberal discourses. Within this framework, exercise of agency is sought in women's survival strategies rather than struggles for transformation, individually rather than collectively Post-modern preoccupations and recognition of 'difference' have been incorporated alongside liberal definitions of the 'rational individual exercising free will' to pursue and legitimise neoliberal economic policies involving exploitation of poor women's labour The emphasis on women's agency marginalises analysis of oppressive structures, and shifts focus away from patriarchal ideologies. Assumptions about women's relative 'efficiency' remain unchallenged in much of the GAD literature. This article draws on experiences, approaches and perceptions of women in rural labour movements in Bihar in eastern India, looking at implications for questions of structure and agency It suggests that collective struggles by women may be accompanied by questioning of patriarchal gender relations which compel women to be more 'efficient'. © Institute of Development Studies.