Playing With Fire: Feminist Thought And Activism Through Seven Lives In India [Hardcover]

Sangtin Writers (Author), Richa Nagar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0816647690 | ISBN-13: 978-0816647699 | Edition: 1

Seven voices contribute to this rare glimpse of the work being done on the front lines of the fight for social change in India. Playing with Fire is written in the collective voice of women employed by a large NGO as activists in their communities and is based on diaries, interviews, and conversations among them. Together their personal stories reveal larger themes and questions of sexism, casteism, and communalism, and a startling picture emerges of how NGOs both nourish and stifle local struggles for solidarity. The Hindi edition of the book, Sangtin Yatra, published in 2004, created controversy that resulted in backlash against the authors by their employer. The publication also drew support for the women and instigated a public conversation about the issues exposed in the book. Here, Richa Nagar addresses the dispute in the context of the politics of NGOs and feminist theory, articulating how development ideology employed by aid organizations serves to reinforce the domination of those it claims to help. The Sangtin Writers, Anupamlata, Ramsheela, Reshma Ansari, Richa Singh, Shashibala, Shashi Vaish, Surbala, and Vibha Bajpayee, are grassroots activists and members of a small organization called Sangtin in Uttar Pradesh, India. Richa Nagar teaches women’s studies at the University of Minnesota.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (June 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816647690
• ISBN-13: 978-0816647699
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,723,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book!, January 4, 2007

By 

K. Hobson "khob" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Playing With Fire: Feminist Thought And Activism Through Seven Lives In India (Paperback)

I read this book for a graduate school class and thought it was really amazing. First it is interesting to read about the differences between women living in India, a group of people that a western gaze tends to homogenize. It also shows the struggles that NGO's face, and the conflicts between the bureaucrats of those who run the NGO's and the real women who work for them. I would highly reccommend this book if you are interested in third world feminism, NGO's, and reading about real women's lives.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indepth look at lives of Indian women, March 12, 2007

By 

Vanishri Murti "VM" (Miami) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Playing With Fire: Feminist Thought And Activism Through Seven Lives In India (Paperback)

This book does a great job of giving a brutally honest, indepth view into lives of Indian women. It illustrates how important context is when explaining oppression of women. Painstaking work goes into giving rich details of the lives of women.