Bargaining with Patriarchy

Bargaining with Patriarchy

Deniz Kandiyoti's concept of "bargaining with patriarchy" provides a framework for understanding how women navigate and negotiate their roles and rights within patriarchal structures, particularly in the context of household dynamics. This concept highlights the strategies women employ to assert agency while simultaneously accommodating the constraints imposed by patriarchal norms.

## Bargaining with Patriarchy

### Concept Overview

Kandiyoti argues that women engage in a process of bargaining with patriarchal systems to secure certain rights and privileges while also negotiating their subordination. This bargaining is not merely about resistance; it involves a complex interplay of compliance, negotiation, and strategic adaptation to existing power structures. Women’s experiences and strategies vary significantly based on cultural, social, and economic contexts, making these bargains "situated" and dynamic.

### Key Aspects of Bargaining

1. **Negotiation of Roles**: In many households, women negotiate their roles by balancing traditional expectations with personal aspirations. For instance, a woman may agree to take on primary caregiving responsibilities while simultaneously seeking support for her educational or professional goals. This negotiation often involves discussions with family members about the division of labor and the recognition of women's contributions beyond domestic spheres.

2. **Strategic Compliance**: Women often find ways to comply with patriarchal norms while subtly subverting them. For example, they may frame their participation in paid work as beneficial for the family’s economic stability, thereby gaining legitimacy for their roles outside the home. This strategic compliance allows women to navigate patriarchal expectations without outright confrontation.

3. **Utilizing Cultural Norms**: Women may leverage cultural and religious norms to legitimize their actions within patriarchal frameworks. For instance, they might emphasize their roles as mothers or caregivers to gain support for their involvement in community activities or business ventures. By aligning their desires with culturally accepted narratives, women can negotiate greater autonomy while maintaining familial harmony.

4. **Household Dynamics**: Within household dynamics, bargaining often involves negotiating consent from male family members for various decisions, such as pursuing education or engaging in community work. Women may seek approval or support from husbands or fathers, framing their requests in ways that align with traditional gender roles, thereby reinforcing their standing within the family while still advocating for personal agency.

5. **Context-Specific Strategies**: The strategies employed by women are heavily influenced by the socio-economic context in which they live. In contexts where economic pressures are high, women may negotiate more assertively for their rights due to the necessity of contributing financially to the household. Conversely, in more affluent settings, women might have greater opportunities to challenge traditional roles outright.

## Implications of Bargaining

The concept of bargaining with patriarchy reveals several important implications for understanding women's agency:

- **Agency Within Constraints**: Women are not merely passive victims of patriarchy; they actively negotiate their positions within it. This agency is often exercised through subtle means rather than overt rebellion, reflecting a nuanced understanding of power dynamics.

- **Transformative Potential**: While bargaining can reinforce existing power structures, it also holds transformative potential. As women gain more rights and recognition through these negotiations, they can gradually shift societal norms and expectations regarding gender roles.

- **Intersectionality**: The effectiveness of bargaining strategies is influenced by various factors such as class, race, ethnicity, and cultural background. Recognizing this intersectionality is crucial for understanding how different groups of women experience and navigate patriarchy differently.

## Conclusion

Deniz Kandiyoti's concept of "bargaining with patriarchy" offers valuable insights into how women negotiate their roles and rights within patriarchal structures in everyday life. By highlighting the complexities of these negotiations—ranging from strategic compliance to leveraging cultural norms—Kandiyoti emphasizes that women's agency exists even within restrictive environments. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing effective strategies for promoting gender equality and empowering women across diverse contexts.

Citations:

[1] https://academic.oup.com/isagsq/article/4/1/ksae004/7618596

[2] https://www.amacad.org/publication/daedalus/cooperation-conflict-patriarchal-labyrinth

[3] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08985626.2018.1551792

[4] https://www.international-alert.org/publications/breaking-the-gender-trap-challenging-patriarchal-norms-to-clear-pathways-for-peace/

[5] https://www.gla.ac.uk/0t4/crcees/files/summerschool/readings/WestZimmerman_1987_DoingGender.pdf

[6] https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=greatplainssociologist

[7] https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/34776/3/Ismail%20Mohanty%20and%20Third%20World%20Feminism%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Patriarchy and Beyond

 Patriarchy and Beyond 

Unit III. Patriarchy and Beyond 

• Capitalist patriarchy

• Comparing variants of feminist interpretation on patriarchy

• Patriarchy in everyday life: household and intra-household bargaining

Required readings

Lerner, Gerda (1986) "Origins," The Creation of Patriarchy, Chapter 1, Oxford: OUP, pp. 15-35.

Eisenstein, Zillah (1999) "Constructing a theory of capitalist patriarchy and socialist feminism,"

Critical Sociology, vol. 25(2/3), pp. 196-217.

Beechey, Veronica (1979) "On patriarchy," Feminist Review, vol. 3, pp. 66–82.

Kandiyoti, Deniz (1988) "Bargaining with patriarchy," Gender and Society, vol. 2(3), Special

Issue to Honor Jessie Bernard, pp. 274-290.

Agarwal, Bina (1997) “Bargaining and gender relations: within and beyond the household,”

Feminist Economics, vol. 3(1): pp. 1-51.

Additional reading

Bhasin, Kamala (1993) What is Patriarchy? New Delhi: Kali for Women.

Unit III of your course, **Patriarchy and Beyond**, explores how patriarchy operates within different social, economic, and household structures, offering critical insights from various feminist perspectives. Let’s go through the key themes and readings in this unit:

### 1. **Capitalist Patriarchy**

   - **Capitalist patriarchy** refers to the intersection of capitalist economic systems and patriarchal social structures, which together reinforce women’s oppression. This perspective argues that both capitalism and patriarchy rely on women’s subordination to sustain their power and organization.

   - **Zillah Eisenstein** (1999) in her article *Constructing a Theory of Capitalist Patriarchy and Socialist Feminism* explores how patriarchy and capitalism are intertwined, creating a system where women’s reproductive and domestic labor is undervalued and exploited. She argues that socialist feminism is necessary to critique both patriarchy and capitalism, as both systems are inherently oppressive to women.

   - This reading is crucial for understanding the economic dimensions of patriarchy and how feminist theory has evolved to challenge not just gender inequalities but economic ones as well.

### 2. **Comparing Variants of Feminist Interpretation on Patriarchy**

   - Feminist scholars have offered various interpretations of **patriarchy**, some focusing on its historical origins, others on its manifestations in different social structures.

   - **Gerda Lerner** (1986) in *The Creation of Patriarchy* looks at the historical development of patriarchy. In Chapter 1, "Origins," Lerner traces the origins of patriarchal systems to ancient civilizations, where women were subordinated through legal, religious, and cultural norms. She argues that patriarchy is not a natural system but a historically constructed one.

   - **Veronica Beechey** (1979) in her article *On Patriarchy* explores different feminist approaches to patriarchy, distinguishing between radical feminist theories that see patriarchy as the primary system of oppression and Marxist feminist theories that emphasize the relationship between capitalism and patriarchy. Beechey’s work helps students compare how different feminist schools of thought interpret the root causes of gender inequality.

   - This section emphasizes the diversity of feminist thought on patriarchy, showing how scholars from different perspectives have critiqued patriarchy’s role in sustaining gender inequality.

### 3. **Patriarchy in Everyday Life: Household and Intra-household Bargaining**

   - Patriarchy is not just an abstract system but one that operates in everyday life, particularly within households. **Intra-household bargaining** refers to the negotiations and power dynamics that occur between family members, often reflecting broader patriarchal structures.

   - **Deniz Kandiyoti** (1988) in her influential article *Bargaining with Patriarchy* examines how women in different cultural contexts "bargain" with the patriarchal systems they live under. Rather than simply being passive victims of patriarchy, Kandiyoti shows how women navigate and negotiate their roles within these systems to maximize their benefits or reduce their oppression. Her work highlights the agency of women even within patriarchal structures and introduces the concept of "patriarchal bargains," where women may accept certain forms of subordination in exchange for security or other gains.

   - **Bina Agarwal** (1997) in *Bargaining and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household* further explores how bargaining processes shape gender relations not only within households but also in wider social contexts. Agarwal’s work looks at how economic, social, and cultural factors influence power dynamics within households and how women can resist or negotiate patriarchal constraints. This reading connects feminist economic theory with real-world gender relations, making it particularly relevant for understanding patriarchy in a Nepali context.

   - **Kamala Bhasin’s** (1993) *What is Patriarchy?* provides a simple yet powerful explanation of patriarchy, especially focusing on South Asian contexts. Bhasin’s work is useful for understanding how patriarchy manifests in everyday interactions and institutions, making it an accessible entry point into the study of patriarchy.

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### Key Takeaways:

- **Capitalist Patriarchy**: Zillah Eisenstein’s work demonstrates that patriarchy and capitalism work together to reinforce women’s subordination, especially through the undervaluing of women’s domestic and reproductive labor.

- **Feminist Interpretations of Patriarchy**: Gerda Lerner and Veronica Beechey provide different historical and theoretical analyses of patriarchy. Lerner traces its origins, while Beechey compares different feminist critiques of patriarchy, highlighting the complexity of the system.

- **Intra-household Bargaining**: Deniz Kandiyoti and Bina Agarwal examine how patriarchy operates within households and how women "bargain" within patriarchal systems to assert their agency. These readings explore the micro-level dynamics of gender relations, linking personal experiences to broader structures of inequality.

This unit provides a comprehensive look at how patriarchy operates at both macro (societal) and micro (household) levels, combining economic, social, and cultural perspectives. By understanding these different approaches, you’ll be able to critically analyze the persistence of patriarchy in Nepalese society and beyond.