Women's Status in North-eastern India

The vast socio-economic and cultural diversity of the north-east region of India remains a largely unexplored area of academic research. Within it, the status of women continues to be a neglected aspect. This book contributes to the slowly expanding body of literature on the subject of the status of women in the seven North-Eastern States of India, viz. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The author makes a painstaking effort to put together the economic, social, educational and cultural dimensions of the plight of women in these States, in the uniquely individual ecological, historical, social and political backdrop of the region. In the process she uncovers many aspects hitherto unknown to us, and also demolishes certain standard and pre-conceived notions about North-Eastern women. We learn about the distinctive features of each State, individually, in relation to each other, and the country as a whole. Using primary and secondary sources, the author builds up a useful wealth of statistical information about the subject; the book also contains explanatory maps and charts. In all, it is a useful text not just for scholars of the North-East and Gender Studies, but also for the general readers as well.