About the Book This volume is a collection of selected papers of the First National Seminar on Widowhood in India, organised recently by the Trivandrum-based Centre for Gerontological Studies. It gives a fair picture of Indian widows, cutting across ethnic and regional barriers. Some of the papers trace the origin and development of widowhood practices in India, some deal with special categories of widows, like the Brindaban widows, war widows, elderly widows, tribal widows, etc., others deal with comers the loopholes in property rights of and other legal remedies for widows and yet others deal with the double standards of society in its attitude and behaviour towards widows. The point that in spite of several social reforms and legal enactments, the widows continue to suffer from social discrimination has been brought out in the book with authenticity as also the factors contributing to the malaise. The problem assumes significance since 8% of the total women and 15% of married women in India are widows and this will make the content of this book especially significant to all concerned. The selection of papers has been done with great care and as a result, the reader can have a full view of the different dimensions of widowhood and their socio economic and psychological underpinnings. From several points of view the book will have strong appeal to the policy maker, social reformer and scholars of women's studies besides social scientists and social activists indeed all those concerned with the lot of a significant segment of the population the widows-who suffer from socially instituted but invidious and avoidable sufferings.
About the Author Prof. (Dr.) P. K. B. Nayar holds Masters' degrees in 5 subjects two from the United States and three from India all with top grades, besides a Ph.D. degree in Sociology from USA. He is currently Chairman of the Trivandrum-based Centre for Gerontological Studies. Earlier he was Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Head of the Dept. of Sociology and Director of Centre for Women's Studies and of the Centre for Population Research of the University of Kerala, Dr. Nayar was a Visiting Professor in the University of Paris and Fulbright Visiting Professor in some American Universities.. He was Chairman of the Kerala State Education Advisory Board and Consultant to FAO, ILO, WHO and World Bank. He is the recipient of the French Government's Award for Internationally Renowned Scientists. Author of 6 books (including the best seller Sociology in India) and over 100 articles in reputed Indian and international journals, Dr. Nayar is currently directing two research projects the Govt. of India funded project on "Abuse of the Elderly" and ICSSR funded project "Gerontology for India".
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