Women and the Public Domain-Critical Issues for Women Studies

Critical Issues for Women Studies Maithreyi Krishnaraj THREE events of major import have made imperative a re-examining and rethinking of the relationship between women and the public domain, By this I mean more than what is conventionally known as the 'public' arena. There is involved in this our understanding of the state and of appropriate feminist politics to meet feminist goals,These three events pertain to: first, the New Economic Policy which has changed the direction of our economy; second, the uniform civil code controversy which has raised many uncomfortable questions for feminists about religious identity and gender; and the third relates to the debate on reservation of seats for women in the parliament which has supporters and detractors. Implicated in all these three issues are notions of public space and citizen rights.