Poster Women Archives: Political Participation

Women changing the age-old structures of power.

PoliticalParticipation 08Zubaan

In 1992 the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution brought in 33 per cent reservation for women in village and municipal elections. At first the move was greeted with some skepticism. A common reaction at the time, and one that has considerable currency even today, was that the women who would come into positions of political power on reserved seats would be mere proxies for their men. Women like 50-year old Ranganayagi, a Scheduled Caste woman from Tamil Nadu, proved this wrong. Not only did she confront intimidation and terrible violence to stand for election, but once in power, worked hard on village development and particularly on the needs of poor, scheduled caste women. All over India, of the million plus women who hold power as a result of the 74th Amendment, hundreds of thousands are working to change the structures of power at the grassroots level. The feminization and democratization of the rural public sphere has been one of the most significant developments in the women's movement in India. However, many women, especially those who belong to lower and backward castes and classes, have had to face tremendous opposition in the form of unprecedented violence, threats and intimidation. A similar move to reserve a third of elected posts for women in parliament has faced much stronger opposition.

PoliticalParticipation 01Zubaan

Women's march to Delhi to demand a law against domestic violence.
Source: Action India, National Women’s Network for Domestic Violence
Location: New Delhi, Delhi
Language: English, Hindi

PoliticalParticipation 02Zubaan

A demand for 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayats.
Source: Sthaniya Swashasan evam Uttardayi Nagrikta Sansthan
Location: Rajasthan
Language: Hindi

PoliticalParticipation 03Zubaan

Poster by Vama showing a range of issues on which politician routinely let women down.
Source: Vama Uttar Pradesh Mahila Sangathan
Location: Uttar Pradesh
Language: Hindi
Other details: Portrait, monochrome, paper

PoliticalParticipation 04Zubaan

A call for women to step out of their homes and fight for their rights.
Source: Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
Location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Language: Hindi
Other Details: Portrait, colour, paper

PoliticalParticipation 05Zubaan

Demanding the right to own land and be educated.
Source: School of Women's Studies and Sanshrishti
Location: Orissa
Language: English

PoliticalParticipation 06Zubaan

Riding towards a better future.
Source: Mahila Patchwork Co-op Society
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Language: Hindi, English

PoliticalParticipation 07Zubaan

Call for more participation of women in local governance.
Source: Search-Rajya Sansadhan
Kendra
Location: Haryana
Language: Hindi

PoliticalParticipation 08Zubaan

This poster was printed especially for a training program conducted by Asmita to encourage local self governance. This training program was started almost 15 years ago and over 14,000 women have participated in it.
Source: Asmita
Location: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Other details: Landscape, brown and black, paper

PoliticalParticipation 09Zubaan

Women as decision makers.
Source: Ekta Mahila Manch
Location, Ranchi, Bihar
Language: Hindi

PoliticalParticipation 10Zubaan

Corruption among male politicians.

Location: Orissa

PoliticalParticipation 11Zubaan

Recognizing the power of her vote.
Source: Indian Association of Women’s Studies Camp
Location: New Delhi, Delhi
Language: Hindi

PoliticalParticipation 12Zubaan

Equal participation of women in the village council.
Source: Centre for World Solidarity
Location: Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Language: Telugu

Credits: Story

The Poster Women Project (www.posterwomen.org) created by Zubaan

Zubaan is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi with a strong academic and general list. It was set up as an imprint of India’s first feminist publishing house, Kali for Women, and carries forward Kali’s tradition of publishing world quality books to high editorial and production standards. Zubaan means tongue, voice, language, speech in Hindustani. Zubaan publishes in the areas of the humanities, social sciences, as well as in fiction, general non-fiction, and books for children and young adults under its Young Zubaan imprint.

Zubaan
128 B, 1st Floor
Shahpurjat
New Delhi – 110 049
www.zubaanbooks.com
contact@zubaanbooks.com

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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Women in India: Unheard Stories
Celebrating women's impact on culture in India.
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