Kamla Bhasin Books Every Feminist Should Check Out

Kamla Bhasin books: The news of women's rights activist Kamla Bhasin's death has set off shock waves among the feminist community. She had been a prominent voice in the women’s movement both in India, as well as in other South Asian countries for almost four decades.

To spread the message of gender equality and women's rights among masses, she founded the feminist network ‘Sangat' in 2002. Its objective was to work with underprivileged women from rural and tribal communities. The community would use non-literary tools such as plays, songs and art to reinforce the message.

Kamla Bhasin books and writings

• Bhasin had also penned down books and booklets that revolved around her understanding of patriarchy and gender. Her work has been translated into 30 languages. A lot of NGOs use them to enable people understand gender issues.
• Laughing Matters, one of her books, was first published in 2005 and republished in 2013. It now has a Hindi version with the name Hasna Toh Sangharsho Mein Bhi Zaroori Hai. She co-authored the book with Bindia Thapar.
• Other important writings by her include Borders & Boundaries: Women in India's Partition which talked about women's experiences at the time of partition and what their idea of nation was.
• Understanding Gender is another writing of hers that deals with questions like the relationship between gender and woman, gender and development, gender and patriarchy and much more.
• What Is Patriarchy? is another booklet by her that attempts to locate women's struggles for social change with a special focus on South Asia.
• Her idea of feminism transcends class, borders and other binary social divisions and that reflects in her writings.
• Her poem ">Kyunki main ladki hoon, mujhe padhna hai highlighted the importance of education in a woman's life.

Suggested Reading

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Feminism is not an urban phenomenon, it has rural roots: Kamla Bhasin