SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

Name:

Ms Zara Ramsay

Email address:

zararamsay@gmail.com

Thesis title:

Religion, Gender and Development: Women’s Empowerment in South India

Year of Study:

Third

Internal Supervisors

• Sian Hawthorne

PhD Research

Through ethnographic research, this PhD establishes firm links between religious belief and gender constructions amongst poor women in south India. Consequently it reveals a pressing need for women’s empowerment programmes to engage in greater depth with popular religious discourses. Analysis of the successful work of local faith-based NGOs helps to demonstrate this need clearly. The project aims to provide more realistic frameworks for both empowerment facilitation and measurement.