BJP – Champions of Feminism? a Study of Bharatiya Janata Party Politics on Maternity Leave and Party Affiliated Hindutva Gender Ideals
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BJP – Champions of Feminism? A study of Bharatiya Janata Party politics on maternity leave and party affiliated Hindutva gender ideals. Linnea Greven Bachelor’s Thesis in Development Studies, 15 ECTS Autumn Semester 2020 Department of Government, Uppsala University Supervisor: Hans Blomkvist Page count: 37 Word count: 10 238 1 Abstract In contemporary politics it is argued there exists a friction and contradiction between the right-wing, conservative parties that are gaining prominence around the world, among them BJP in India, and the feminist movement; one movement striving for the preservation of traditions and the other for change. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and compare differences in how a political party with strong affiliation and background in a nationalistic ideology communicates laws which affect women’s opportunities for societal advancement, doing this by analysing the religious, cultural and symbolic aspects of Hindutva ideology. Do they contradict each other? Through qualitative discourse analysis a comparative case study is performed on the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017, BJP political manifestos, excerpts from books and statements made by BJP leaders and affiliated key persons. The thesis presents the argument that the two discourses present contradicting ideas of women’s societal participation when analysed through a theoretical framework based on gender ideals; one set of material pointing to the importance of their economic and societal integration, and one on the importance of women’s role as mothers, and her protection. The study adds a different perspective on the friction between nationalistic Hindutva beliefs and contemporary, progressive legislation by analysing key concepts of gender ideals drawn from Hinduism and the Hindutva movement. Key words: Hindutva, maternity leave, BJP, gender roles, religious ideals, women’s empowerment 2 Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………4 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..5 1.1 PURPOSE, PROBLEM AND RESEARCH QUESTION………………………………………….5 2. CONTEXTUALISATION…………………………………………………………….8 2.1 COUNTRY PROFILE……………………………………………………………………………...8 2.2 THE BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY AND THE IDEOLOGY THAT DRIVES IT…………….8 2.3 HISTORY AND PUBLIC RECEPTION OF THE MATERNITY BENEFIT AMENDMENT ACT OF 2017………….…………………………………………………………………………………9 3. PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………………...12 3.1 HINDUISM AND GENDER ROLES…………………………………………………………….12 3.2 WOMEN’S SOCIETAL PARTICIPATION EMPOWERMENT; WID AND GAD…………….13 3.3 HYPOTHESIS AND CONTRIBUTION………………………………………………………….15 4. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIAL……………………………………………...16 4.1 DESIGN……………………………………………………………………………………..……16 4.2 METHDOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………...…..16 4.2.1 OPERATIONALISATIONS………………………………………………………..…..17 4.3 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY…………………………………………………………...……18 4.4 MATERIAL………………………………………………………………………………..……..19 4.5 MATERIAL SELECTION BIAS…………………………………………………………..…….19 5. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS………………………………………………………..20 5.1 WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT THROUGH WORK-LIFE BALANCE……………………...…21 5.2 WOMEN, GODDESSES AND PROTECTION……………………………………………...…..22 5.3 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BJP AND RSS……………………………………………..…25 5.4 SUMMARY AND REFLECTION OF ANALYSIS …………………………………………..….26 5.5 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………………..27 6. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………30 7. REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….32 8. APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………………………...……37 3 List of Abbreviations BJP = Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party) RSS = Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Organisation) WID = Women in Development GAD = Gender and Development MBAA 2017 = Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017 4 1. Introduction This introduction will provide background on aspects of the political situation in India and its incumbent reigning party BJP, an overview of the purpose of the thesis, a presentation of the research question, and the overarching research problem the thesis hopes to contribute to. India is considered one of the most diverse and socially complex countries in the world with a population exceeding one billion, a myriad of ethnic groups and languages, and extreme class differences. The country is a prominent country both economically, socially and geo- politically, and an important player on the world stage whose influence reaches far beyond its borders. Therefore, one can argue that how the world’s largest political party promotes women’s equality and opportunities is important, and is therefore important to analyse. Right- wing, conservative parties have for the past few years been gaining prominence not only in India, but the world, presenting ideas of nationalism and the conservation of tradition and culture. Simultaneously, the feminist movement is growing and promoting equal rights and opportunities for women. There is arguable friction and contradiction between the movements, one movement striving for the preservation of traditions and the other striving for change. The ideology of Hindutva, a nationalistic, right-wing ideology which strongly emphasises the importance of Hindu tradition, religion and culture, has gained prominence with the Bharatiya Janata Party since their election win in 2014. Since then, there has been debate regarding what kind of politics the party promotes, a party often changing their politics. American philosopher Martha Nussbaum is one of the scholars who most prominently has been involved in researching the Hindutva ideology and BJP politics, primarily focusing on the psychology behind the male-female positions in Indian society. Her 2007 book “The Clash Within” has become a staple in contemporary Hindutva research. This thesis hopes to use her research in combination with other prominent authors on Indian women’s empowerment and the relationship to Hinduism to explore the relationship between Hindutva ideology and the incumbent political party. 1.1 Purpose, Problem and Research Question The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and compare differences in how a political party with strong affiliation and background in a nationalistic ideology communicates laws which affect women’s opportunities for societal advancement, doing this by analysing the religious, 5 cultural and symbolic aspects concerning gender ideals of Hindutva ideology. Nussbaum’s research has primarily been focused on the psychology and philosophy behind Hindutva men’s contempt against Muslim women in India (Nussbaum, 2007), however this thesis wants to explore the religious ideas and constraints which is not limited to a certain ethnic or religious group. The thesis also aims to contribute to the debate Nussbaum touches upon in her book concerning the contradiction of the Hindutva movement represents, which promotes one unified culture and religion, in pluralistic and diverse India. The research questions allow for a specific legislation to be examined with the contradiction Nussbaum brings forth in mind. The objective of the thesis is to through discourse analysis analyse and compare differences in what is communicated by BJP and affiliated key persons through official legislation documents with literature, statements reported by newspapers, and Tweets. In other words, compare BJP’s Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017 and the arguments made in favour of it, with text material and statements made by BJP and connected to BJP that touch upon gender roles and women’s role in society. Through the comparison between the legislation and Hindutva ideology, guided by the hypothesis that BJP legislative rhetoric and rhetoric which supports the legislation differ from, or even contradicts, BJP and Hindutva rhetoric on women’s societal and workforce participation built on conservative Hindu religious and traditional connotations. The reason for focusing on religious and traditional indicators is the importance of Hindu religion, tradition and culture within Hindutva. The comparison will be made against a theoretical framework based on the religious and cultural connotations signifying the Hindutva ideology, which are drawn from Hinduism, contrasted with contemporary theories on women’s societal participation. Although the MBAA 2017 is focused on women's (author’s emphasis) societal and workforce participation, the thesis has chosen to include an analysis of Indian men's role in the domestic sphere since men and women's roles in society interact strongly with each other. The research questions guiding the analysis are: 1. How does BJP address women’s workforce participation in The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017? 2. How do BJP and party affiliated Hindutva ideologues construct gender ideals? 6 First, context will be given to the reader about the Bharatiya Janata Party and the implemented maternity leave legislation Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017. Second, previous research and theoretical framework will be presented where Hindu religion and the prominence of feminine ideal is presented alongside contemporary theories of women’s empowerment. This is followed by methodology, which is a comparative discourse analysis, and a presentation of results analysis. Lastly, a discussion of the results, alternative interpretations of material and analysis, and a conclusion are presented. 7 2. Contextualisation This chapter will provide background relevant to understand the analysis and its components. First, a brief country profile of India will be presented, followed by a summary of the Hindutva political tradition, and lastly a history and presentation of the