Abstract
This chapter provides an examination of the relationships between religion and gender inequality in India, with a focus on the two largest religions—Hinduism and Islam. It focuses on existing literature as well as data from a project titled ‘Sustainable Development for Pastoralist Women in India: Heritage, Dignity and Adaptations in Times of Rapid Change’. The caste system in India plays a large role in maintaining social inequality and makes it difficult for people to improve their social and economic status. It is an endogamous system of socially differentiated groups that people are believed to have been born into because of their actions in previous lives (karma), which categorises people according to relative levels of purity within the Hindu social universe. In both Islam and Hinduism in India, women have limited opportunities for taking leadership roles within their religious traditions. Leadership roles for Muslim women in India are also limited.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
