Abstract

Das Gupta and her colleagues explore a case where state intervention has played a decisive role in cultural change. They examine the very different contemporary statuses of women in three countries – China, India and South Korea – which started with very similar kinship and inheritance systems and, consequently, low levels of women’s autonomy and agency. Korea successfully achieved rapid economic growth while maintaining fundamental aspects of family organization deeply inimical to gender equity. As a consequence, while women now have high living standards and participate extensively in the formal labor force, they have gained relatively little in autonomy - as symbolized by some of the lowest levels of female legislative representation in the world. By contrast, the Indian State has a disappointing record on raising living standards, but has been fairly successful in encouraging gender equity. And the communist Chinese state made substantial strides in improving women’s lives, both through raising living standards as well as through a synergistic mix of policies aimed at creating gender equity. It is noteworthy, however, that some of these gains are being eroded in the period following the opening towards free-market capitalism with the reaffirmation of more traditional patriarchal values. Thus, despite similar initial conditions that are culturally determined, the nature of the state intervention can make a substantial difference to the dynamics of agency