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What does politics really look like for women in rural India, beyond the ballot box?
In this episode of Backpocket Pod, I sit down with Rithika Kumar to unpack her fieldwork in high-migration Bihar. When men migrate for work, women step in to engage the state, chasing entitlements, dealing with ward members, and navigating everyday governance. Rithika calls this the "feminization of political engagement."
We get into what women voters actually want, why women's turnout surged after 2009, how gender quotas can launch entire families into politics, and why elected women often stay missing from governance despite holding office. It's a conversation about caste, migration, the household as a political unit, and what it really takes for representation to mean something.
We cover:
Why women are not a monolith, and what that means for politics
What women voters actually want in rural India
The surge in women’s voter turnout after 2009
How male migration reshapes women’s political engagement
The “feminization of political engagement” in rural Bihar
Politics between elections: ward members, entitlements, and everyday governance
How gender quotas launch entire families into politics
The household as the real unit of political analysis
Why elected women often stay missing from governance
Caste, class, and religion in political participation
Fieldwork, positionality, and the ethics of research
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