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Researcher : Professor Dr. Nasreen Khundker, University
of Dhaka
The purpose of the research would be to understand
the causes of the perpetuation of dowry as a social
practice, based on field research, which it is hoped
will lead to more effective policy options. The main
hypothesis to be tested is that the social practice
of dowry prevails and is on the rise because of a host
of socio-economic reasons, related to social and economic
opportunities. While historically, Muslim women received
dower, this was reversed over time, leading to payment
of dowry to the man. While this has brought about important
changes in gender relations, leading to disempowerment
of women, the causes can be traced to deep-seated changes
in the agrarian structure affecting access to and opportunities
for acquiring resources. In a more equal agrarian structure,
farmers had access to land and resources. The 'dower'
paid to the bride may have been more in the nature of
a gift, reflecting also the ability to pay of the groom
or his household. With greater inequality in terms of
social structure/landlessness, the means for acquiring
resources became more limited. Non-farm sources of income
also became increasingly important. Marriage could thus
be seen as a form of investment and an important source
of capital for both farm and non-farm households. Thus
payment of dower, common in the Muslim tradition, was
replaced by the practice of receiving dowry. It is also
hypothesized that with shrinking of economic opportunities,
marriage as a source of acquiring capital became more
important, the intensity of the stakes explaining the
high degree of violence associated with non-payment
or 'default' as regards payment of dowry. Thus it is
argued that the violence associated with dowry is not
so much a matter of unequal gender relations in society,
as reflective of unequal economic opportunities. A major
implication of this line of reasoning is that in the
present day context, while macroeconomic and industrial
policies continue to lead to greater unemployment, and
greater 'inequality', 'dowry inflation' has become the
norm. Further, an increase in women's employment has
not mitigated this process, since such employment has
been at the expense of male employment and in the context
of greater social inequality. The proposed research
aimed at studying the perpetuation of dowry as a social
practice in Bangladesh. The main focus of the research
will be an empirical one. Data will be collected from
2 Unions of Shibalaya Upazila in Manikganj district.
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