Depletion and destruction of forests have eroded the already fragile survival base of adivasis across the country. Deprived of their traditional livelihoods, an alarmingly large number of adivasis have been displaced to make way for development projects. Many have been forced to migrate to other rural areas, the urban fringes or cities in search of work, leading to further alienation. This systematic alienation, however, is not a modern-day phenomenon. Invasion of adivasi territories, for the most part, commenced during the colonial era and later intensified during the post-colonial period. The Adivasi Question situates the issues concerning the adivasis in a historical context while discussing the challenges they face today. The introduction examines how the loss of land and livelihood began under the British administration. The British brought tribal land under their control and weaned the adivasis away from shifting cultivation. It analyses how the colonial government forced a section of the adivasis to take up cultivation on lower rates of assessment, thereby making them dependent on the landlord-moneylender-trader nexus for their survival. The articles, drawn from writings of almost four decades, discuss questions of community rights and ownership, management of forests, the state’s rehabilitation policies, and the Forest Rights Act and its implications. It presents diverse perspectives in the form of case studies specific to different regions and provides valuable analytical insights. Bringing together contributions by well-known sociologists, historians and environmental activists, this book will be an indispensible read for students and scholars of environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, political science, and policy-analysts. About the Author Indra Munshi retired as Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Bombay.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures Introduction Padmini Swaminathan Section I: Conceptualising Work, Mapping Complexity 1. Women Craft Workers as Security for Family Subsistence 2. Dynamics of Sexual Division of Labour and Capital Accumulation: Women Lace-Workers of Narsapur 3. Work Participation of Rural Women in the Third World: Some Data and Conceptual Biases 4. High Participation, Low Evaluation: Women and Work in Rural Haryana 5. Tracing a Timeline for Work and Family Research in India Section II: Imparting Visibility, Interrogating Data Systems 6. Muddy Feet, Dirty Hands: Rice Production and Female Agricultural Labour 7. Valuing Work: Time as a Measure 8. Employment and Unemployment Situation in the 1990s: How Good is NSS Data? 9. Girl Children in the Care Economy: Domestics in West Bengal Section III: Forms of Labour, Conditions of Work: Sectoral Perspectives 10. Womens Paid Domestic Work and 243 Rural Transformation: A Study in South Gujarat 11. Resilience of Gender Inequities: Women and Employment in Chennai 12. Disempowered despite Wage Work: Women Workers in Beedi Industry 13. Development Process and the Status of Women: Tanning Industry in Tamil Nadu 14. Feminist Contributions from the Margins: Shifting Conceptions of Work and Performance of the Bar Dancers of Mumbai Forum against Oppression of Women Section IV: Critiquing Policies: Implications and Consequences for Work 15. Rural Energy Scarcity and Nutrition: A New Perspective 16. Womens Work is Never Done: Dairy Development and Health in the Lives of Rural Women in Rajasthan 17. Women and Pro-Poor Policies in Rural Tamil Nadu: An Examination of Practices and Responses List of Authors