Understanding Human-Political Agency Amongst Dalit Women Leaders in Panchayat Administration from Haryana: A Critical Social Work Enquiry

Abstract

The present research is based on the use of longitudinal and qualitative research in the study of socio-economic dynamics among women from Dalit community as leaders in Panchayati Raj institutions over a period of ten years, i.e. 2012-2022 in the state of Haryana. It outlines the factors that lead towards their changing roles in family, politics and network of social relationships. It identifies the transformation in the lives of dalit women by understanding their participation in local governance structures and the overall impact over a period of a decade through longitudinal data. During mixed methods data collection through semi-structured interviews, also by overcoming the challenges of attrition and sample loss in the process, the researchers maintained their commitment to understanding the change in the human agencies of their participants struggling through caste barriers and continuously working on making strong decisions for welfare of all communities. The significant factor of this study is to reflect about the underlying self-esteem, social stagnation in perception of the other communities towards these representatives and the power dynamics that affects their ability to function independently. In this context, the development of its convergence with Self-help groups and Mahila Sabha has also transformed the though process about gender mainstreaming and women empowerment. Hence, the present research work highlights these social and economically dynamic yet time based transformations at micro- and macro-levels throughout local governance structures and creates a dialogue about inter-sectional understanding of local governance and the valued representativeness from the lives of its participants.

Keywords: Caste, Dalit Women, Governance, Longitudinal, Decade, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Local Governance, Agency

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