Description
Manohar The Political Economy of Dowry Institutionalization and Expansion in North India by Ranjana Sheel
Taking dowry as a crucial index for women's status, this locates it within a broad historical framework and a feminist perspective viewing it not as a static custom but as a product of changing political, economic, and social processes to comprehend its present shape as well as its various dimensions. Asks how integral was dowry to ancient marriage forms? How far was it legitimized by tradition? What were its linkages with property and inheritance structures? And, how did it become so pervasive over time?