Women’s Agential Power in the Political Economy of Agricultural Land

This article seeks to understand whether the legal policies and advances of women’s movements have resulted in women’s entitlement to land and whether the land reforms carried out from the 1970s to the 1990s have weakened the grip of patriarchy and increased women’s capability and land-related decision-making power. We examine these questions by looking at (i) women as producers of agricultural goods and participants in the market economy and (ii) women as partial or full owners of land and the impact of this on decision-making. In both cases, there is the role of women as managers of productive assets, which is different from their former and traditional status as dependent family members.