Household Diplomacy, Responsibility and Control: Income Access and Women's Agency in Bangladesh

This study examines the implications of middle class women’s access to income earning opportunities and control over income which determines their position in intrahousehold gender power relationships. Empowerment of women by employment is a new orthodoxy in the development discourse since 1990s. In the bargaining approach it is well explained and argued that income –earning strengthens the intra-household position of women , where patriarchal structure play the predominant role and perpetuates the pervasive nature of gender inequality. Sen has argued through his household bargaining model that “outside earnings can give women a better breakdown position, a clearer perception of her individuality and well being, higher perceived contribution to the family economic position” (1990:144). The research will show that even though women are gaining power economically, there is no corresponding improvement in their bargaining power. Women continue to view the non-economic contributions of their husbands as more important than their own economic contributions. This study critically assesses this roposition based on the feminist model of the dynamics of intra-household relations and the concept of Intersectionality. It explores how the intersection of gender with social-class, religion and culture shapes the experiences of middle class women differently from men within the household in Bangladesh. This works as a base of normative theoretical argument. Based on primary data, a critical analysis of the social and institutional arrangements within middle class households is undertaken. This study uncovers how the intersectional experiences produce chains of discriminations for women who are at the junction point of these interactions.