Annotated Source- Amartya Sen

Sen, Amartya. 2000.Development as Freedom, Chapter Four:                Poverty as Capabilities Deprivation. 87-110.

1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?

While the source is not exclusively about India, it discusses the poverty problems that India faces in great detail. In Amartya Sen’s eyes, poverty ought to be viewed as more than a lowness of income. Poverty is the deprivation of opportunity and means, whether this is gender inequality and preferential treatment within families, social deprivation and isolation, physical disability, lack of medical care, the inability to become educated, or simply the psychological results from unemployment. 

2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?                                                                                                                                                                                 Sen offers instances where families sacrifice their means to send the boys to school while the women at home are malnourished. Sen offers that nearly half of India’s children are malnourished, while a more recent study finds similar results. In fact, 42% of India’s children under the age of five are malnourished. (I verified Sen’s facts since the book is ten years old). He combines these facts to expand upon and support his theories.

3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?

Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)?  In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?

 Sen is targeting the book to a fairly well educated audience that is interested in the field of international development. Sen, as an economist focuses primarily on the data rather than the human aspect of development. His clear writing style and logical approach afforded him an apparent impartial shield under which he was able to reach a wider audience. Sen’s economic background as well as his international renown (Nobel Prize winner) lent him credence. Many authors who write on similar material can put readers off with their sentimentality and personal stories. While a balance between the numbers and the people behind them is certainly necessary, Sen’s concise and logical approach felt less like an attack and more like a mutual revelation.

4. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).

Sen mainly references facts in his book. His ideas are his own and the facts are there to support his argument. He draws from credible sources like the UN, WHO, etc. He uses his own economic knowledge as well to augment his evidence. This also widens his audience.

5. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different? 

Having a holistic view of development is vital for a field study. Sen uses facts, philosophy… Sen’s article expanded my definition of poverty. I am a international relations major, which means I study both political science and economics. I loved how Sen was able to pull information from so many fields and not just economics. I would like to be able to support my findings from several fields of study. I was intrigued by his writing style, something I would like to emulate. He wrote clearly and concisely, but still maintained the reader’s interest.

Annotated Source- Education

Chanana, K. 1993. Accessing Higher-Education - the Dilemma of Schooling Women,

Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Contemporary India. Springer 26 no. 1 (July): 69-92

This article explores the problems and inequalities that result from schooling in culture riddled with preferential gender treatment and systematic discrimination based on the caste system. It reviews the government’s school curriculum that attempts to promote equality. Implementing these ideas is difficult and has had little success in combatting the attitudes about caste and women. The idea that proper education would lead to social change has not proven effective.

This article is extremely useful for my research question. The failure of the education system for low caste children (especially women) is integral. The attitudes caused by the culture of caste perpetuate economic hardship and systematic discrimination that make significant participation in a political system nearly impossible. This lack of meaningful participation further creates a cycle of poverty that has lasted generations. 

Annotated Source

Richards, Rebecca S. 2011. The council of women world leaders, iron ladies, and

daughters of destiny: A transnational study of women’s rhetorical performances of power. PhD diss., The University of Arizona. In PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT), http://search.proquest.com/docview/865848577? accountid=4488 (accessed February 15, 2012).

This dissertation explores the effects of powerful women leaders, specifically the rhetoric of these women. The author argues that these rhetorical performances affect the possibility for female leadership. These ideas are explored through specific examples including Indira Gandhi, the first female Prime Minister who held office in the sixties.

This is an excellent source for my research question.  Indira Gandhi was an inspiring leader. Despite having one of their earlier woman prime ministers, India lags behind in gender equality. Understanding this paradox could help explain the difficulty in promoting equal rights or demonstrate the tenacity of the caste system. 

Annotated Source- "Our health is in our hands"

Narasimhan, Haripriya. 2007. "Our health is in our hands": Women making

decisions about health  care in tamilnadu, south india.Syracuse University. In PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT), http://search.proquest.com/docview/304768793?accountid=4488.

Tamil Nadu has relatively better healthcare than much of India. This study was conducted in an urban slum, a rural village, and an tribal "hamlet" (I love that word). The researcher observes the factors that contribute to women's choices when it comes to health as well as the factors that keep them from making those decisions. For example, women that have kin-marriages tend to have less bargaining power for health choices. The professional health-care sanctioned doctors tend to be extremely expensive, so many women forgo this option for qualified options. Additionally, some of these women instead self-diagnose, then deal directly with pharmacists. 

Annotated Source

A Community Health Programme in Rural Tamil Nadu, India: The Need for Gender Justice for Women

The article explores the work of Community Health and Development (CHAD). This group works to improve the status of women in rural communities of Tamil Nadu. Despite India's progress, Indian women still lag behind in rights and treatment. The birth ratio continues to decline, women receive little health care, education, and lower wages. Microcredit schemes that have significantly improved the situation of women in other areas has made little change in India. Their status as second class citizens makes a serious impact on the health care they receive. Despite CHAD's efforts, little has changed.

CHAD has worked in the area for fifty years and focuses on "care during pregnancy and delivery, contraception, education of girls, women's employment and empowerment". Analyzing their data has led them to the conclusion that their failure was not the fault of the program, but rather the result of the social structure. Maternal deaths and infant mortality have decreased (some). However, male infants have been almost the sole beneficiaries of these programs. Female infant mortality has changed very little in comparison. Female children continue to be brought to the hospital in much later stages of illness than males. This preferential treatment has not changed despite their work. 

These social inequalities run much deeper than I suspected. Mothers have been known to attempt commit suicide after failing to produce a male child. The female suicide rate is very high at 148 per 100,000 for ages 10-19 compared to men's 55 per 100,000. (Note: This is in sharp contrast to the United States where the male suicide rate is almost four times the female suicide rate.) Sexual violence is prevalent. Infertility too is often blamed on women. 

They conclude that the only way to improve the health of women is to confront gender issues openly. They have started including curriculum in schools addressing this issue. This curriculum seeks specifically towards changing men's attitudes about women. They know this will likely be a long endeavor. The government as well has joined the efforts, attempting to enact protective laws and include women voices in the government. 

This is the most relevant article I have read so far. I was surprised that microcredit seems to have made so little social change as my last source suggested that microcredit empowers women to have less children and seriously decreases the birthrate. Understanding the struggles that many groups have faced in improving women's health will be invaluable to my research. 

Gender, Feminism, and India

In our last class, we discussed gender roles. As Margaret asked what we considered men and women's traditional roles, I struggled to answer. I often feel divided when I consider this question. On one hand, I am quite a feminist. I can do anything, be anything, and resent anyone who tells me different. This may be a part of my competitive nature coming out (think "anything you can do I can do better"). I have struggled in the past reconciling my feminist nature with gospel doctrine. We know from the Family Proclamation to the world that gender is an essential part of our identity. I'll quote it directly "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners". 


I have realized that these two parts of my personality- my feminism and my testimony of the truth of the gospel- are not necessarily contradictory. The Lord's definition of female does not include the words submissive or subservient. The gospel is one of equality. " According to Helaman 12:7 " O how great is the ^anothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are ^bless than the dust of the earth." Or in the words of King Benjamin "are we not all beggars?" Women have different roles than men, that is sure. But we are not any less for it. Feminism too has evolved from its rigid image of the eighties: brightly colored pantsuits and high powered executive women that have no need for a man or a family. Feminism is really all about the power to make choices. Feminism should not become another expectation that women are expected to fulfill. 


While I have reconciled these beliefs, BYU has brought the dichotomy back to the front of my mind. I often have to remind myself after unkind remarks and insinuations that the culture and opinions of the members of the church is not necessarily gospel truth. I was shocked the first time someone questioned my choice of international relations as a major. What good is that? International work would be terrible for a family. He then suggested that teaching was a much better profession. I was infuriated. I (probably quite rudely) informed him that I was leaning towards medical school. Those comments were not the last. 


This post has gotten a bit off topic. While I finally feel comfortable with my my moral and personal role as woman, I question whether India will not shake those ideas again. Laura and I have been warned that as women we will have to be careful in how we interact with others. We cannot just make eye contact and speak freely with men. The buses are segregated by gender, and we need to dress like the Indian women (are they called saris in Tamil Nadu? I cannot remember). Male children are often treated preferentially as the heirs and future caretakers of the parents. I expect adjusting to a new culture that I may not always agree with to be difficult. However it is not my place to impose my western beliefs on their culture. Just as I chafe at the so called feminists who profess to advocate choice yet cry foul at those women they believe make the wrong choice, I will need to respect the culture and gender roles of India. As I will be working closely with women, this is an issue I will encounter. I am sure I will struggle to find the balance between being respectful and standing up for what is right, but it will be an enlightening experience (or an exercise in self control if nothing else).  

(Dowager Countess of Grantham from the BBC show Downton Abbey, a show chock full of exemplary feminists. )

Annotated Source

I wrote a political science paper on an interesting theory about the spillover effects of microcredit.  In this study, Empowerment of Microcredit Participants and Its Spillover Effects: Evidence from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Abdul Basher theorizes that participation in microcredit programs reduces the birth rate. Basher’s theory is based on fairly sound casual logic, but is centered on ethnocentric and unproven assumptions that undercut its validity.  This theory is based heavily on the fact that microcredit occurs in developing nations where the male based cultures cause women to have many children in order to produce an heir. The theory seems to suggest that the success women experience in microcredit lends them the confidence to defy cultural norms and choose to have less children. The theory, although sound is explained in an arrogant manner. It seems to boast in the obvious fact that childbearing is a poor activity that is irrational and best minimized. However, it is interesting to note how seriously an endeavor like microcredit can affect the lives of the community. It is truly incredible that participation in an economic program can change the family structure of its members. I wonder if these effects are the result of exposure to western ideals and if these changes extend to healthcare. Do these women have births at a western style hospital? Do they receive prenatal care? 

Project Question

In our last class, each student discussed and critiqued one another's project question. This exercise made me realize how much revision and research my proposal still requires. I will be studying medical care in India. Before I began the class, I had not considered the problems I face as a woman researcher. I know it was probably quite obvious, but I did not think that my gender would limit my ability to research. With this knowledge I have narrowed down my research question to two options: women or children. 

In a chapter from Amartya Sen's book, Development as Freedom, he discusses the alarming phenomenon of "missing women". This is not "missing" in the traditional sense, but occurs when women are artificially outnumbered by men. This appears quite often in India. This phenomenon is not always caused by the sensational, like sex-selective abortions and female infanticide, but more subtle practices like preferential treatment of male children. I am interested in studying how gender affects the amount of medical care children receive. 

I am also interested in what kind of medical care women receive, particularly when pregnant. Do they receive prenatal care? Do they go to a western hospital for their delivery or do they have a traditional midwife? I do not know whether the village is large enough to conduct research exclusively on maternal health. 

I am still uncertain whether I will be doing my research in Coimbatore or with the Shanti Ashram. I need to consider the benefits of each. While studying in the village will allow me to set my own agenda and research exactly the way I wish, I will face the difficulties of having to work with a translator. Working alone may be difficult, especially since I have a minimal grasp of the language.  Working with the Shanti Ashram will expose me to women from all the surrounding areas. I will be able to work within their existing programs. This may also limit my research since I will need to work within their existing programs. 

I feel much closer to my research topic than before, but I still need to research more to narrow down my topic. It is important to keep my proposal in check. I read all these interesting articles, then suddenly think I can add a segment like how the remnants of the caste system affect the medical care people receive.