Women, Microfinance and the State in Neo-liberal India

K. Kalpana is Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India. Her research interests include gender, poverty, women‘s labour and microcredit. She has extensive experience in organising rural women‘s self-help groups and leading community health initiatives in Tamil Nadu. In 2013, she received the Young Faculty Recognition Award from IIT Madras for excellence in teaching and research. She is currently a National Executive Committee member of the Indian Association of Women‘s Studies (IAWS).

Tables. Preface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Introduction: The paradox of SHG-banking: Microfinance and neo-liberal governmentalities 1. The ascendance of SHG-based microfinance: Win-Win in India 2. Becoming micro-banks: Generating capital, building discipline 3. Evaluating the self: Distributing resources, containing risks 4. Managing micro-banks: How much autonomy? Whose responsibility? 5. The imperfect translation of SHG-banking: Autonomised bankers, vulnerable women 6. Female entrepreneurship and the SGSY: Subverting policy, surviving poverty 7. Learning about the state: A pedagogic reversal. Conclusion. Annexure: SHG-wise data by village. Bibliography. Index