Gender and Slum Culture in Urban Asia

Contents: Introduction. I. Urbanization and gender: 1. The city. 2. The welfare state. 3. Migration and gender. 4. Women's lives in Ratmalana and Khlong Toey--urbanization and gender struggle. II. The significance of being a woman: 5. Gender as destiny. 6. Clusters around the mother. 7. Work and identity. 8. Women's lives in Ratmalana and Khlong Toey--material conditions and identity. III. Two women: 9. Swarna. 10. Damnika. IV. Slum culture and gender: 11. Slum culture and social movements. 12. Slum culture in daily life. 13. Organization in Ratmalana. 14. Women's lives in Ratmalana and Khlong Toey-- gender and culture. Bibliography.

"One of the major consequences of the development process in third world countries has been large-scale migration of the rural poor to urban centres in search of work. These migrants largely end up in slums living in makeshift structures and with few facilities. Transplanted from their relatively homogeneous social environment, the greatest difficulty they face is in adjusting to new social relations not just with their neighbours but with their own spouses and children. And it is the women who have to deal most with these unfamiliar socioeconomic realities.

This absorbing book compares the social and cultural life prevailing in two Asian slums--one on the outskirts of Colombo in Sri Lanka and the other in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. Both countries share a background of Theravada Buddhism but the development and urbanization processes and the economic policies pursued by both countries have resulted in considerable differences. Susanne Thorbek examines the common and differing features of both slums, focusing on gender identity and the impact of slum life on women. The author spent considerable time in both areas talking to the inhabitants and has preferred to let these people speak for themselves.

In the first part of the book, Dr. Thorbek looks at how urbanization influences people's lives and its impact on gender relations. In the next part, she shows how gender identity is defined. She then quotes extensively from in-depth interviews with women who live in the Colombo slum. The final part outlines the common cultural characteristics of slum life and the significance of gender in shaping slum culture. This vivid and direct book makes visible the lives of poor women, their joys and sorrows, their feelings and thoughts. It provides numerous insights into the nature and consequences of urbanization and political organization in third world cities. It will interest sociologists, political scientists, urban planners, development activists and all those involved with understanding women's lives." [Jacket]

[Susanne Thorbek is Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Development and Planning Aalborg University, Denmark.]