Women, development, caste, and violence in rural Bihar, India

This article focuses on the contradictions that exist between economic development and gender equity in India. It deploys concepts of cultural violence and symbolic hegemony to understand how gender and caste-based violence is normalized and institutionalized over time through cultural norms. It also uses an intersectional lens to examine the layers of marginalization and oppression. Based on field studies in rural Bihar, it shows that despite development gains, old forms of gender-based discrimination and violence such as son-preference, dowry, witch-hunting, and discriminatory practices associated with menstruation persist. It notes that there are new forms of violence used by the upper caste groups against the lower ones when the latter resist and refuse to continue performing traditional caste-based tasks. We argue that this refusal by lower caste women can be seen as symbolic resistance against historically defined norms of caste. The emerging patterns of violence discussed in the paper need a more concerted and nuanced exploration of reconfigurations of relations within and between caste groups, as well as the cultural and social contexts in which changes are taking place.