International Journal of Gender & Women's Studies

Role of Women in Gorkhaland Movement: Assessing the Issue of Power Sharing
Sanjeeb Lama

Abstract
Involvement of women in contemporary social movements in India has been remarkable. Their active participation has not only influenced the ground level demonstrations but has also been able to influence the decision making processes of the movements, thus in turn, affecting the whole decision making process in general. The erstwhile marginalized and excluded part of the society has found significant say in the general process of policy making, both as agent and target. This phenomenon has been able to draw the attention of not only the social science scholars, the political commentator and activist but it has also been able to move the mainstream media due to its mass participation in the movements. However, such participation of women in social movements has been met with several issues and has raised several questions. Of many issues of significance, the present paper focuses on and aims at exploring the various dynamics of women in social movements; of particular significance it seeks to analyze the nature of women’s involvement in the current phase of Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling hill and makes an attempt to put light upon the issue of their involvement in the actual decision making process.

Full Text: PDF