Rising Gender Inequities: The Case of Authoritarian Patriarchy

Meghna Sabharwal

University of Texas at Dallas

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1294-559X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v1i1.4929

Keywords: gender inequity, Hindu Nationalism , Authoritarian Patriarchy , Social Equity, Gender Roles


Abstract

In 2014, India elected a populist government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In line with other populist leaders, such as the former U.S. President, Donald J. Trump, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, and President Erdoğan of Turkey, Narendra Modi has brought about a rise in Hindu nationalism that promulgates values steeped in fundamental religious practices promoting the interests of the majority Hindu community at the expense of religious minority groups and marginalized and disenfranchised people of lower castes. A rise in gendered conservative norms deeply embedded in patriarchy and ethnonationalism has created a clear division in gender roles in nation-building. This study will utilize a social equity framework to examine ways in which systems of oppression, inequities, discrimination, and bias are maintained across gender, caste, and religion and perpetuated under the name of authoritarian patriarchy in India. 


Author Biography

Meghna Sabharwal, University of Texas at Dallas

Meghna Sabharwal (mxs095000@utdallas.edu) is a professor in the public and nonprofit management program at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research is focused on public human resources management, specifically diversity, equity and inclusion. She has published three books and over 55 peer reviewed journal articles, and is the winner of four best paper awards.


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