Widowhood and Women Farmers: Structural Inequalities and Negotiation Strategies
June 2023 | Anurekha Chari Wagh
Introduction
The paper is based on the research which explores the everyday lives of ‘rural widow farmers’ in Wardha district of Maharashtra, India, to examine the complexity of agrarian distress, coping mechanisms and negotiation strategies used by widow farmers2. It links the macro structures of inequality, (which are the result of market driven policies and programmes of the state) to the micro
Anurekha Chari Wagh, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, Email: anurekha@uohyd.ac.in
level everyday realities of the widow farmers. In doing so, the paper bridges the gap present in literature on women/widow farmers by integrating their livelihood struggles to the strategies they develop to deal with their ‘self and personal identity’ in everyday negotiations within embedded structural inequalities. The paper highlights how women make use of ‘legitimized patriarchal codes’ to negotiate while located as excluded citizens within new forms of structural inequalities.
To gather data on the structures of marginalities and the specific processes of coping and negotiations—the research team3, conducted fieldwork in Wardha, Maharashtra. Multiple primary research methods included a household survey, and discussions and interviews with government and non-governmental organizations, trusts and foundations working in that district. For secondary analysis, we focused on policy research to get information on the issue. Based on purposive sampling we initially visited the families recorded in the government records as ‘families where farmers had committed suicide’ and then through conversations with the women, villagers and community leaders, got information about other cases of suicide by farmers not registered in the records. The research team visited 120 villages over eight talukas (administrative divisions), based on which we observed that many cases registered as suicide were bogus and many genuine cases were not registered. Thus along with government data, we added data of suicides collected by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other organizations, correlated and matched these with government data and started identifying families where there were widow farmers. After identifying 146 families, we initially conducted preliminary interviews and discussions with widows of the farmers who committed suicide, as well as other relatives, family members, neighbors and community leaders. It is important to note that the caste composition of the families included Maratha-Kunbi, an upper caste group, predominantly agriculturists and scheduled castes. On the basis of this, we identified thirty-five women, with whom we conducted in-depth interviews. The age group of women varied from 35 years to 55 years; they had children and were married for a minimum of 10 years. Insights from these interviews formed the core of the analysis presented and examined in this paper. The paper initially analyses the nature of agrarian distress, farmers’ suicides and women farmers’ marginality. Further it focuses on the negotiation strategies used by widow farmers to negotiate their ‘self’ and her ‘space’ within a social structure limited by patriarchal structures intersected by gender, caste, class and region.
I Agrarian Distress, Farmers Suicide and Women Farmers Marginality
Here it is important to ask two questions: one how do we make sense of the agrarian distress in India and Maharashtra in particular? Two, how severe is this agrarian distress and what does farmers’ suicide imply for the women farmers?
The data from the People’s Archive of Rural India states that a total number of 2,96,438 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1995 and in 2013, when we started the research the number was at least 3,146. What about Maharashtra? The figures are not very encouraging. The total number of farmers who committed suicide in Maharashtra is 60,750 since 1995 (National Crime Records Bureau, 2014). Recently the data reflected that Maharashtra recorded 5036 farmer’s suicides in two years (2020 and 2021), with over 50 percent deaths coming from the State’s Vidarbha region (Deshpande 2022, The Hindu). These are extremely shocking statistics that reveal the larger malaise affecting agriculture in India.
Scholars have argued that the agrarian economy of India is in a state of stagnation, defined by fall in productivity for almost all crops from mid 1990s. In a situation where the value of output from agriculture is steadily decreasing, it is a matter of concern that a large section of population is dependent on agriculture as their primary source of income. We need to recognize that approximately 64 percent are either dependent on agriculture or are self- employed, in conditions where there is limited rural non-farm employment (Mishra 2007). The situation is rendered complex in conditions where the majority of farmers in India are small and marginal, holding fragmented pieces of land, thereby rendering agriculture as a non-viable livelihood choice.
In this context it becomes necessary to understand why agriculture, which was such a critical sector within Indian economy, faced such crisis situations. Scholars such as Vasavi (1994, 1999), Jodhka (2006), Jha (2003), Gupta (2005), Krishnraj (2006) and Sainath (2004, 2005) contextualize the distress agrarian conditions to the shift in the priorities of the Indian nation state in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Given the fact that a majority of Indian population depended on agriculture, it was defined as the primary sector during the initial decades of post independent India. Unfortunately, though the rhetoric was pro- poor, the policy environment was characterized by adhoc, populist and symbolic gestures that did nothing to change the inequalities embedded within the agrarian economy. Failure of the land reforms programme in the 1970s and 1980s and the success of green revolution 1980s fundamentally changed the way agriculture was practiced. The core of green revolution based on increased productivity through use of high yield variety of seeds led to a phase of commercialization of agriculture, which was clearly unsustainable (Vasavi 1994). Such an agrarian policy paved the way for the steady and rapid decline of Indian agriculture, in the 1990s defined by stagnancy in production, deteriorating soil conditions and of farmers engaging in high capital single cash crop, based on short term gain at the cost of long term viability. The landholdings are so fragmented that there is little scope for agriculture regeneration (Gupta 2005). The arguments put forth could be summarized as that, the stagnancy and decline of agriculture conditions in India was accelerated by the liberalization and globalization policies of the 1990s, which left the vulnerable farmer handling stagnant agrarian economy to
deal with the logic of free market, leading to disastrous results such as suicides by indebted farmers (Jodhka 2005).
Analysis of the farmers’ suicides in Maharashtra also speaks of the how the commercialization of agriculture pushing farmers to engage in a competitive based high capital intensive exercise in an unregulated market renders them highly vulnerable and at extreme risk. Scholars analyzing incidences of farmers’ suicides in Maharashtra argue that it is a combination of factors. In Maharashtra suicide of farmers is particularly acute in the cotton growing districts of Vidharba region, where Wardha is located. Why is this? Studies have shown that farmers are engaging in high risk agriculture when they grow cotton. Growing cotton requires high capital investment and infrastructure which pressurizes the farmers. The poor irrigation systems, inferior quality of cotton, growing cost of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, technology, tools, lack of accessible formal credit structure4, increased dependence on informal private money lenders, lack of cotton lobby to push for their cause and no growth of cotton based industries in the region has led to this situation, where the farmer is caught in the vicious circle of non-viable capital intensive free market regulated agriculture; that they were committing suicide to escape the drudgery and increasing indebtedness seems to be the only ‘viable’ option (Sainath 2004, 2005; Mishra 2006, Deshpande, et. al. 2005, Mohanty 2001, 2005 and Mohanty and Shroff 2004). What about Wardha district? A combination of factors such as lack of crop diversification, farm fragmentation, lack of continuous electricity, lack of non- farm employment and industries linked to agriculture produce, following high investment and low returns crops accelerated the agrarian crisis affecting Wardha. Thus the district is an example of how the agrarian policy in India has pushed a market based agriculture venture that forces the farmers to compete in an unregulated market thereby putting them in positions of high risk (Chari Wagh 2020).
Rural distress, the out migration of men and farmers’ suicide has pushed women into agriculture without any means of control. Despite the fact that one does not have strong statistical evidence due to the faulty definitions adopted to classify women workers in agriculture as non-workers, the work of women is majorly underestimated (Hirway 2002). Women today are the core to agrarian economy, and form predominantly the rural subsidiary and casual workers. It increases the work burden of women without a commanding position in agriculture as cultivators and increased wages on par with men. The face of the farmer in India is female, thereby emphasizing the centrality of women’s work in agriculture, their heavy work burdens and unequal returns to their labour (Krishnaraj and Shah 2004). Vepa (2009) argues that whenever agricultural distress hits any region, the first victim is the women; increased work burden, debt- repayment burden, reduced household consumption and less spending on health care. Agriculture in this era of globalization is undergoing a number of changes and most of it impacts women who are sole principal earners of their households, especially widows left behind, surviving the farmers’ suicides who
face a daunting task (Krishnaraj 2005). There have been very few studies that have focused on the widow farmer dealing with such extreme conditions. Important among them, is the research by Padhi which emphasizes on the innumerable hurdles faced by women surviving farmer suicides in Punjab, India; highlights how the women have to take care of their family without the support of the ‘man’ and under constant control of her husband’s kin; a state of ‘pauperization’ despite ‘owning land’ (2009).
In the case of Wardha, the widow farmers are placed differently. Most of the widow farmers who were part of the study owned, controlled and had access to small pieces of land approximately 2 to 5 acres. Here it is important to understand that though the women were ‘widow farmers’, regional differences played an important role in structuring the coping and negotiations strategies. Thus it is a matter of concern that structural inequalities due to fragile agrarian conditions are so deeply entrenched that even access and control of ‘land’ by women farmers, does not provide them with support to deal with poverty and extreme hardships. Scholars argue that there is no proof that land ownership reduces poverty given that land is fragmented and agriculture is non-viable (Rao 2005, Krishnaraj 2005). The following paragraphs highlight the complexity of the strategy of negotiation, then goes on to explain the coping mechanisms used by widows to ensure economic security amidst scarcity and three e the negotiations that are used to develop a self-identity, that would ensure respect and self-esteem in the society.
II Coping Mechanisms, Negotiation Strategies and ‘Self Identity’
Negotiation refers to the process of how women bargain to access the resources, spaces and assets not generally available to them. Negotiation refers to the strategic use of the ‘codes’ as a tactical move to access ‘spaces, respect and freedom’ to lead their life with self-esteem and pride. How do negotiations take place? Drawing from Hartmann (1976) and Gearson and Peiss (1985), one can state that ‘negotiation’ describes how women bargain for privileges and resources. The process is also based on ‘accepted patriarchal values’ but provides a multi-dimensional perspective as women make conscious decisions to adhere, push, certain patriarchal practices so as to create ‘spaces’. Such a perspective perceives women as active agents and not ‘passive victims’. The resources available to women are generally patriarchal codes, to negotiate with men, state and community to access to privileges and opportunities. For example, the responsibilities for kin and domestic work not only gives them respect and obligations but also power and prerogatives (Gearson and Peiss 1985). According to Hartmann (1976) women’s subordination is reiterated by a combination of ideology and material circumstances. In the context of fewer resources and lack of power, women have lesser resources to negotiate and many a times accept the limitations of patriarchy to derive advantages and ‘shift boundaries’. It is clear that for women to access the resources and create their
own spaces they have to comply and use patriarchal structures, while doing so it steadily shifts patriarchy, but does not dislodge them, and in some cases reinforces patriarchy. So it is a continuous process of negotiations, where the extreme economic and social vulnerability severely curtails the process of challenging patriarchy but helps in shifting the boundaries and recreating newer boundaries.
Literature on widowhood in India, emphasize the fact that widows are stigmatized, vulnerable and experience the feeling of abandonment (Chen and Dreze 1995, Chen 1988, Chakravarthi 1993, Majumdar and Adur 2012). Patriarchies in India structured in terms of class, caste and religion, controls women through the institution of marriage, giving her identity, status and security and thus once she is widowed, the position becomes extremely vulnerable. Widowhood limits woman’s individual rights and makes them experience high levels of deprivation. The sources of vulnerability includes the institutionalization of Patrilocality (where after marriage women is ‘transferred’ to the home of her husband, thereby curtailing her economic and cultural rights in her maternal home), Patrilineal inheritance, limited remarriage practices (probability of young childless widow getting remarried is high, but that of middle aged widowed mothers very low), employment restrictions (single mother with many responsibilities and not enough market demand skills set), social isolation (very much exposed to malicious rumors regarding her as ‘sexually available, promiscuous, strong dress code, perception of being inauspicious, unlucky bringing bad luck, thus face social ostracism) and high possibility of experiencing physical violence (Chen and Dreze 1995, Chen 1998). Thus widows are ‘physically alive but socially dead’, their identity structured around the principle of denying her independent sexuality as well as her personhood (Chakravarthi 1995). Given this perception, widows have to carefully traverse the intertwining structures of economic, social and cultural inequality. Such vulnerability increases greatly when it comes to ‘widow farmers’ where the economic, social and cultural inequality multiplies. How does one ensure compliance and acceptance from women? Chakravarthi (1993) argues that women’s compliance and acceptance gets institutionalized through the dual processes of coercion and consent. Coercion is exercised by her family, the state and religious authorities, where ‘transgressing’ women who cross the set boundaries get punished, more often through violent means. The ideology of consent, on the other hand operates on the principles of self- regulation, where women regulate themselves by adhering to the patriarchal codes of behavior proscribed for them. These are socialized through religion, family and caste, thereby creating an ideological hegemony of consent. In this context, the purity of women is ensured by strictly channelizing women’s sexuality into the ‘acceptable institutions of marriage and motherhood’; wherein caste purity is maintained and patrilineal succession is ensured. Such an ideology thus makes the ‘widow’ stand exposed as she does not have her ‘husband and state of marriage’ to give her status and dignity. Women constantly negotiate spaces
through the use of ‘patriarchal legitimized codes’ of behavior (Ranade 2007). In such a context, the available resource for the widow farmers are ‘legitmized patriarchal codes’, which they use to negotiate the extremely unequal terrains, carving some degree of ‘spaces’, while subjecting themselves to greater control ideologically.
Within this larger structural and ideological context the coping mechanisms are framed around the extreme intersecting marginalities experienced by the widow farmers. Multiple responsibilities include dealing and paying of numerous debts (not waived off by the government), taking care of non-viable agriculture, demands of the household in terms of food, clothing, health and other incidental expenses, specific education needs of children (special classes for school children and/or tuition fees for professional courses for young adults), health needs of ageing parents/in-laws/self are shouldered by the widow within extreme economic hardship as discussed earlier. Such precarious situations pressurize them to strategize and prioritize the most immediate needs and thereby balancing and coping continuously.
It is important to realize that the widow farmers in Wardha district have been recipient of a number of relief programmes designed specifically for the widows of farmers who committed suicide. The government of Maharashtra has waived off a number of outstanding loans, women are receiving a number of schemes designed for poor widows and most importantly have access, ownership and control over agricultural land. But the non- viability of agriculture as sustaining livelihood has rendered these women extremely marginal, despite having control and access to assets such as agricultural land and receiving relief measures form the government. So the question is why these women face marginality despite having legal rights and ownership of crucial assets. The answer lies in the ‘politics of the inclusion process’; where structural inequality renders the ‘inclusion process’, of widow farmers through access and control over agricultural land, as fragmentary and disconnected pushing them into devising coping mechanisms to meet the household livelihood needs (Chari Wagh 2020). Coping mechanisms to ensure livelihood security adopted include three measures, one, engaging in multiple paid work, two austerities by reduction in daily needs and three investing in children’s education to create a livelihood that does not depend on agriculture (Chari Wagh 2020).
Further to build a strong selfhood for themselves, widow farmers use ‘symbolism of motherhood’ not only to carve out legitimate space, within highly unequal public space but successfully subvert the ‘stigma’ attached to the notion of widowhood. Thapan (1995) in her analysis of images of body and sexuality, argues that women’s experience of everyday life is very closely interlinked with the perceptions of their bodies and sexuality seen in relation to an ‘ideal accepted femininity’. In this context, the women’s body is socially constructed and therefore under the constant gaze of the ‘other’. It is through defining herself within the accepted notions of the dominant other, that the women shape their ‘self- identity’. As Giddens (1991) argues, ‘self-identity’ is not ‘given’ but
something that has to be routinely created and sustained in the reflexive activities of the individual. The strategies used by widow farmers included; one, erasing their identity as ‘single free widow woman’ and converting it to that of an ‘invisible worker’ working hard for her children and family’. Two, by subverting the ‘stigma’ associated with a ‘widow’ not bound by sanctity of marriage institution into a ‘self- sacrificing mother’, who struggles against all odds to build a future for her children, family and broadly the Indian nation.
Widow farmers navigated the ‘public spaces’ by donning a cloak of invisibility, thereby rendering themselves anonymous and invisible. Observations in the field revealed that the widow farmers consciously avoided doing anything that drew attention to themselves. They rarely invested their already meagre resources in beautifying/ grooming themselves, believing that it would draw unnecessary attention to them. Married women by the death of husband, cease to be a social entity (Chakravarthi 1995). Widow farmers shared that the only ‘respectable’ way to lead their life is to work continuously for their family and be careful not to draw any unwarranted attention towards them; thus to be as ‘invisible’ as possible.
The strategy of invisibility is used because now as single women, who have to negotiate public spaces carefully, traditionally associated as ‘male space’ as how they are perceived. Chakravarthi (1995) argues that the community’s perception towards widow/single women is that of ‘moral panic’, as after losing her husband, the sexuality of the widow cannot be ‘held’ in control, and so it is extremely necessary that she becomes unsexed. Through ceremonies after the death of husband that completely erases her ‘identity’ (regulation of dress, ceremonies that she could attend, jewellery that she could wear, occasions that she could attend and many more) and constant surveillance of the family, community, the ‘patriarchal gaze’ leads to the ‘sexual death’ of the widow (Chakravarthi 1995, Chen and Dreze 1999).
Widow farmers have been harassed by men on the streets, who stare at them, pass sexually loaded remarks and dare them to look at them. The strategy used is to go in groups, ignore the comments, put their head down, show that they are engrossed in work and ‘dress down’, trying very hard not to draw attention to themselves by becoming ‘invisible’. Phadke (2007) argues that space is gendered and that women who negotiate public spaces do so by ‘manufacturing respectability’. This demonstrates that they inhabit the public space because they have the legitimate right to be there and are not ‘loitering around’. Using the imagery of ‘respectability’ the widow farmers, rationalize and justify their inhabiting public spaces under the garb of ‘work’, rendering themselves invisible. This strategy helps to erase their identity as ‘women’, but as ‘asexual mother working for their family’. As one of them shared ‘ha samaaj jagu det nahi ani maru det nahi’ (this society neither let us live nor allows us to die peacefully). Widow’s reputations are closely linked to whether they are able to demonstrate on a regular basis their conformity to patriarchal social norms. As different bodies experience ‘space’ differently, depending upon gender, age,
status, class, sexuality, religion, physical ability, caste, the women discipline their ‘body and the image that it represents’ (Ranade 2007). Widow farmers in Wardha district try very hard to project an image of a ‘respectable single mother’ working hard to secure the livelihood of her family, where the ideal of a ‘visible good mother and invisible ‘sexual self’ helps her to negotiate hierarchies of access to gendered public spaces.
Another crucial negotiation strategy used by the widow farmers is to is to subvert the notion of ‘stigma’ associated with ‘widowhood’, within the largely patriarchal society in India and create for herself a ‘respectable ideal’ to be found in the imagery of ‘mother India’. One understands that all categories of women do not experience widowhood similarly and so stigma is not to be understood as a universal category experienced by widows cutting across caste, class and region. Despite the various distinctions one important similarity is the state of ‘inauspiciousness’. Why stigma? Widowhood in India has to be analysed within the ideological significance of ‘auspiciousness’ (lucky, blessed) associated to the state of ‘being married’. The ideology of Brahmanical patriarchy had given the onus of maintaining the health and long life of the husband to the wife. It was understood and accepted that a ‘good, chaste, virtuous wife’ through following her duty, that is ‘pativrata’ can ensure long life of her husband and fight death on his behalf. In cases that the husband dies before the wife, it stigmatizes the ‘wife’ as she was not virtuous, good and chaste enough to save her husband from death. The widows by subverting the stigma of widowhood into that of a ‘self sacrificing mother’, who stays on, works hard to take care of her ‘fatherless children’, builds ‘respectability’. ‘Motherhood’ becomes an accepted symbol countering ‘widowhood’, where she uses the patriarchal symbols and identity of ‘status and responsibility’ as that of a good mother, to help her negotiate ‘spaces’. Why motherhood? Globally motherhood is institutionalized in such a manner that it provides a social identity to large sections of women with a strong enough sense of self- worth from which it becomes possible to challenge various forms of oppression and in the process, develop new strengths and capabilities (Walker 1995). Further, within India, the institutional and ideological importance of motherhood (but only within the institutions of marriage), where bearing and rearing of children (especially male child) is central to women’s power and well- being (Dube 1986, Uberoi 1993, Reissman 2000).
Widows very consciously build their image around the ‘super women syndrome’ and argued that they were ‘Mothers of India’, who struggled against all odds, tribulations and hardships for the sake of their family and children. What does the symbolism of ‘Mother India’, refer to? As an ideology, immortalized by the epic movie ‘Mother India’ (directed by Mehboob Khan in 1957), highlights the strength of ‘mothers of India’, who despite having no resources, no support, through sheer hard work, strong will power, survive and can endure at extreme margins for the sake of building a better future for their children specifically and the community and nation at large. Schulze (2002) based on her analysis of ‘Mother India’ argues that it was based on ideological
construction of ‘motherhood’, having an embryonic link of the mother to land onto the soil and the nation at large. This iconic mother through her struggles, endurance and emotional strength, can create a better future for her children and nation at large. Thus the idea of ‘Mother India’ is not based on the idea of liberating oneself as a human being, but uphold the existing social order that suppresses ‘self’ by supporting its ideology and public morality of self-sacrifice and fortitude of the ‘mothers’ of the nation.
The negotiation takes place into ways: on the one hand, the widow farmers demand for a special ‘cultural’ recognition that they faced the extreme conditions of agrarian distress, by sticking around and handling, intense economic marginalities, whereas their husbands committed suicide, as they were weak and could not handle tough times and left the family vulnerable and alone to face the tough times. Widow farmers blamed the ineffective and disastrous agricultural policies of the state and argued that as ‘men were strong physically but weak emotionally’ they could not handle these distressing conditions. They use the symbolism of ‘Mother India’ to effectively to negotiate their position within society, their stigmatized identity of a ‘widow’ was erased under the dominant identity of a mother and worker, who fights against all obstacles and impediments for the larger good of their family. Thus the imagery invoked and used as a negotiation strategy by the widow farmers generally revolved around the image of strength, fortitude, steadfastness, loyal, resolute and strong, which is what the neoliberal discourses on ‘enduring capacity and efficiency of women under distressing conditions’ is based on.
Justification and acceptance of the ‘Mother India’ symbolism was also based on the way the widow farmers presented their husbands. It is important to recognize that such imagery is not contrasted with the image of an ‘insensitive husband and irresponsible father’ who did not think twice before committing suicide, but that of how women are strong but men are weak emotionally. Widows presented their husbands as ‘good’ and ‘kind’, and that they miss the ‘sense of security and protection’, that ‘his’ presence had given the family. Widows regretted that their men did not share their economic fragility and the extent of indebtedness so that they could have helped him. The suicides have left many women defenseless and powerless. Widow farmers share that many women (friends/relatives/village) do not question their husbands regarding economic transactions as they fear that they would commit suicide. Their greatest regret is that their children had to put their childhood on hold and become responsible for household duties early in their life.
Conclusion
In conclusion one could state that the widow farmers through using multiple coping and negotiation strategies based on ‘legitimate patriarchal codes’, constantly push and draw/re-draw patriarchal structures, changing and reconfiguring it but not completely dislodging and displacing it. It is important to
understand that institutionalized gender inequality denies the possibility to women, and particularly to marginal women like the widow farmers who are embedded within highly disparate structures to traverse the inequality autonomously. Women thus have to strategically use the ‘legitimized patriarchal codes’, thereby initiating a process that simultaneously dislodges and paradoxically reinforces patriarchal structures in complex intersecting ways.
Endnotes
- This paper is based on a UGC Major Research Project (2012-2016). Some aspect of this study is published as a chapter titled: Gendered Rights, Politics of Inclusion and Negotiating Power Structures: Widow farmers in Wardha District, Maharashtra in Shalini Suryanarayan, et. al. (Eds.) (2020) Thinking Gender: Socio Cultural Perspectives. Concept Publication: New Delhi.
- The author acknowledge the time shared by the farmers and thank them for the insights as part of the research. I also wish to acknowledge my thanks to the anonymous reviewer for their comments. The lapses in the paper are entirely mine.
- The research team included Project Fellows, Tejashree Kamble and Research Assistants Santosh Chandane, Poulomi Ghosh, Chandrakant Kait, Satish Bhalerao and Bhargavi Ghosh.
- Shah (2007) states that the new policy regime of the liberalized government regarding financial sector reform has grossly neglected the rural credit delivery system. The Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) in Maharashtra have shown not only slower growth in their loan advances but also poor performance since 1991. So true to the neoliberal policies formal institutions are declining and the state pushes credit delivery systems such as microcredit groups to play an important role in dealing with the rural credit demands.
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