Gender equality and community rights: Paradoxes of liberal democracy in India

Abstract

Today, the women's movement has an uneasy relationship with liberal democracy. While most women activists continue to acknowledge the importance of democracy, they remain sceptical of the possibility of empowering women through the liberal individualist ethic. Intervening in this debate about the relevance of liberalism for women's struggles, this paper argues that in countries like India, it is the procedural aspect of liberal democracy that is a bigger stumbling block. Analysing the Indian experience, it maintains that the twin concerns of autonomy and equality are nether central to the functioning of a democracy nor realised in every democracy. Democratic practices, particularly those associated with limited representative government, are not sufficient guarantee of women's interests. In fact, the logic of representative government often goes against the interests of women. This is particularly true of democracies where equality between groups rather than individual autonomy is the operating principle. Further, while liberal democracy justifies the participation of women in the political arena, the goals that this democracy sets up frequently sacrifice and subordinate the claims of women as equal citizens of the polity.