title: Contradictory discourses, state ideology and policy interpretation: A feminist evaluation of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH) in Kerala, India

authors: Simon-Kumar, Rachel

abstract: The Government of India in 1995 introduced the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) policy, as part of a paradigmatic shift in its ongoing population programme. The shift in policy came in the wake of the International Conference for Population and Development, 1994, which had espoused a rhetoric of reproductive health and empowerment for women in the planning and implementation of population programmes. This thesis explores the process of institutionalization of the ‘gender-sensitive’ discourse of reproductive health within the national population programme in India. This study offers a feminist political analysis of this phenomena; therefore, rather than study reproductive health as demographic or health outcomes, the emphasis is on the analysis of ideological frameworks of the state (and those policy makers who embody its values) that provide particular interpretations of reproductive health. The political analysis of ideology is significant to understanding the translation of global discourses into norms of local practice.

The focus on interpretive frameworks opens up a theoretical exploration of the state’s inherent ideologies. Arguing that India, like many other countries in both the developing and developed world, is moving to a broad political, economic and social ethos of neo-liberalism, I explore the implications of this ideological shift for the process of policy interpretation. There are two dimensions of the neo-liberal ideology that are pertinent to this research. First, the assumptions of the role and functions of the state under neo-liberalism is antagonistic to that which is, prima facie, demanded by reproductive health as a gender-empowering discourse. Second, the discourse of neo-liberalism has implications for women’s positioning as citizens within the developmental state, challenging their claims to access the state. The interactions of both these dimensions, that is, contestation of discourses regarding representation of women, and the definition of the state’s obligations under market development, are critical to the outcome of policy design and practice.

The empirical analysis in this research is fundamentally qualitative in approach. I primarily undertake an analysis of discourses in the RCH policy documents and interviews with key officials in charge of the programme in Kerala. The analysis seeks to explore the discursive manifestation of the neo-liberal/market ideology, particularly in the way that users of public health care are positioned in the programme, and the state’s broader ideology regarding gender and development.

In conclusion, this research seeks to renew a focus on the state as a negotiator of gender discourses in the formulation of development policy. Development policy design and practice cannot be viewed as independent of the ideologies around gender that dominate the state. I argue in this thesis that it is only by addressing issues of political identity that we can develop policies that are more accountable to women, and that are gender-sensitive.

text: Contradictory discourses, state ideology and policy interpretation: A feminist evaluation of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH) in Kerala, India The Government of India in 1995 introduced the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) policy, as part of a paradigmatic shift in its ongoing population programme. The shift in policy came in the wake of the International Conference for Population and Development, 1994, which had espoused a rhetoric of reproductive health and empowerment for women in the planning and implementation of population programmes. This thesis explores the process of institutionalization of the ‘gender-sensitive’ discourse of reproductive health within the national population programme in India. This study offers a feminist political analysis of this phenomena; therefore, rather than study reproductive health as demographic or health outcomes, the emphasis is on the analysis of ideological frameworks of the state (and those policy makers who embody its values) that provide particular interpretations of reproductive health. The political analysis of ideology is significant to understanding the translation of global discourses into norms of local practice.

The focus on interpretive frameworks opens up a theoretical exploration of the state’s inherent ideologies. Arguing that India, like many other countries in both the developing and developed world, is moving to a broad political, economic and social ethos of neo-liberalism, I explore the implications of this ideological shift for the process of policy interpretation. There are two dimensions of the neo-liberal ideology that are pertinent to this research. First, the assumptions of the role and functions of the state under neo-liberalism is antagonistic to that which is, prima facie, demanded by reproductive health as a gender-empowering discourse. Second, the discourse of neo-liberalism has implications for women’s positioning as citizens within the developmental state, challenging their claims to access the state. The interactions of both these dimensions, that is, contestation of discourses regarding representation of women, and the definition of the state’s obligations under market development, are critical to the outcome of policy design and practice.

The empirical analysis in this research is fundamentally qualitative in approach. I primarily undertake an analysis of discourses in the RCH policy documents and interviews with key officials in charge of the programme in Kerala. The analysis seeks to explore the discursive manifestation of the neo-liberal/market ideology, particularly in the way that users of public health care are positioned in the programme, and the state’s broader ideology regarding gender and development.

In conclusion, this research seeks to renew a focus on the state as a negotiator of gender discourses in the formulation of development policy. Development policy design and practice cannot be viewed as independent of the ideologies around gender that dominate the state. I argue in this thesis that it is only by addressing issues of political identity that we can develop policies that are more accountable to women, and that are gender-sensitive.

year: 2000

title: Funkin' Cultural Boundaries: Popular Music and Socio-Spatial Change

authors: Timbs, Darnelle

subjects: Music

abstract: In recent decades retheorised perspectives have transformed geographical studies of music. Human geographers have examined issues of music, place and identity in a range of empirical settings, theoretical frameworks and policy contexts. As a cultural sphere in which identities are created and challenged, music is a medium through which boundaries are established and transgressed, and in which difference is marked out and challenged. For marginalised or oppressed groups music provides a medium through which to create spaces to represent themselves and their aspirations. With contemporary cultural and economic processes having eroded senses of spatial distance, spaces of identity express complex fusions between the global and the local. Music is no longer integrally tied to specific ethnic groups; music results from numerous stylistic practices and transnational human musical interactions.

The music of the hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas exemplifies the boundary-challenging aesthetic of hybrid music. Evidence collected through face-to-face interviews and participant observation highlights the ways in which the Black Eyed Peas employ their music to unsettle existing economic and social conditions. Discussion of how the Black Eyed Peas transgress economic barriers, challenge musical expectations, and expose the experiences of 'others' reveals the power relations that manifest in boundary creation and maintenance. Comments from members of the Black Eyed Peas and their associates expose the contradictions and compromises implicit in efforts to relocate social boundaries. Conflict between transgressive intentions is exhibited in the fundraising activities of the Peapod Foundation, a charitable organisation managed by the Black Eyed Peas.

text: Funkin' Cultural Boundaries: Popular Music and Socio-Spatial Change In recent decades retheorised perspectives have transformed geographical studies of music. Human geographers have examined issues of music, place and identity in a range of empirical settings, theoretical frameworks and policy contexts. As a cultural sphere in which identities are created and challenged, music is a medium through which boundaries are established and transgressed, and in which difference is marked out and challenged. For marginalised or oppressed groups music provides a medium through which to create spaces to represent themselves and their aspirations. With contemporary cultural and economic processes having eroded senses of spatial distance, spaces of identity express complex fusions between the global and the local. Music is no longer integrally tied to specific ethnic groups; music results from numerous stylistic practices and transnational human musical interactions.

The music of the hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas exemplifies the boundary-challenging aesthetic of hybrid music. Evidence collected through face-to-face interviews and participant observation highlights the ways in which the Black Eyed Peas employ their music to unsettle existing economic and social conditions. Discussion of how the Black Eyed Peas transgress economic barriers, challenge musical expectations, and expose the experiences of 'others' reveals the power relations that manifest in boundary creation and maintenance. Comments from members of the Black Eyed Peas and their associates expose the contradictions and compromises implicit in efforts to relocate social boundaries. Conflict between transgressive intentions is exhibited in the fundraising activities of the Peapod Foundation, a charitable organisation managed by the Black Eyed Peas.

year: 2007

title: Cultural Conversations in a Counselling Context

authors: Harkness, Jane

subjects: counselling

abstract: This research project focuses on counselling practice with Māori women who have engaged in counselling in relation to overcoming the effects of both historic and recent sexual abuse. The researcher / counsellor is pakeha. The counsellor / researcher, researches her practice and its possible effects through research interviews with three women. The project offers a reflection on her practice ethics and on what she learns from the women. In particular, she explores the intentions and effects of an orientation to counselling that includes offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She explores the effect of the counselling conversations where aspects of ethno-cultural identity have been included on the women‟s sense of identity. She explores what she draws on as a Pakeha counsellor when offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She also explores the effects of offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity for the work of counselling. The project shows the researcher‟s responses to the research meetings and the learning she takes to her ongoing counselling practice.

text: Cultural Conversations in a Counselling Context This research project focuses on counselling practice with Māori women who have engaged in counselling in relation to overcoming the effects of both historic and recent sexual abuse. The researcher / counsellor is pakeha. The counsellor / researcher, researches her practice and its possible effects through research interviews with three women. The project offers a reflection on her practice ethics and on what she learns from the women. In particular, she explores the intentions and effects of an orientation to counselling that includes offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She explores the effect of the counselling conversations where aspects of ethno-cultural identity have been included on the women‟s sense of identity. She explores what she draws on as a Pakeha counsellor when offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She also explores the effects of offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity for the work of counselling. The project shows the researcher‟s responses to the research meetings and the learning she takes to her ongoing counselling practice.

year: 2008