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About the editor; Title page; Copyright; Table of contents; Acknowledgements; Foreword by Shirin M. Rai; Reference; Introduction: paradoxes and possibilities; Feminist loss and hope; South Asian feminisms; Feminism institutionalized; Witnessing and resisting violence; A new generation of feminists: spaces and practices of 'young' feminists; Conclusion; Notes; References; 1 Sex workers' rights and women's movements in India: a very brief genealogy; Feminism and sex work; 'The woman question'; Trafficking and prostitution; History and feminism; Force, choice and race (and caste).

This article maps the trajectory of South Asian feminist struggles in Britain1 and analyses the key issues that have shaped them. We begin by setting the context for the emergence of a distinctive South Asian feminist voice out of existing forms of self-organisation and resistance within minority communities and its location at the intersection of gender, race and class. We then move on to outline the nature and effects of four decades of activism, policy interventions and practice by South Asian feminist groups in Britain. We locate this activism within the context of government policy and statutory practice that has shifted from multiculturalism to multifaithism and highlight the implications for women's and girls' rights and the costs to secular feminist provision, particularly in relation to combatting violence against women and girls. Lastly, we also analyse how recent neo-liberal policies of austerity and shrinking welfare provision pose key ideological challenges for South Asian feminist organising.

This book on the future of Asian feminism, confronting fundamentalisms, conflicts, and neo-liberalism is a critical contribution to the rising voices of Asian women's studies scholars and activists. It is based on the ongoing research and advocacy work of the Kartini Asia Network, founded in 2003 in Manila. The five overlapping themes of the network are women/gender studies, fundamentalisms, conflicts, livelihood and sexuality. Considering that the economic and political weight of the region is growing fast, and that the 21st century has been named the Asian century, Asia is increasingly recognised as the continent to which economic, if not political power, will shift in the coming decades. The chapters brought together in this volume demonstrate the great diversity of the transversal cultural flow that women's movements within Asia provide. Members of the Kartini network stimulate the articulation of a particular Asian voice in women's studies and in the global women's movement. Considering the existing patriarchal structures all over the continent a continuum of oppressions enfolds, from the global sphere of market exchange to emerging fundamentalisms and to bitter conflicts and struggles around sexualities. The present volume provides elements for the critical dialogues that are needed between women in the region, between women and men, between people in all sorts of strategic positions, and between theoreticians in the Global South and the Global North to create a world in which human dignity is not eroded by predatory economic processes and in which democracy, diversity, pluralism, and inclusivity are the guiding principles of governance

These are turbulent times for the many countries that form the Global South. South Asian nation-states are no exception; the last half century has ushered in liberalization of economies, forced structural adjustments, climate chaos, criminalization of indigenous and lower caste populations, and rapid technological changes. All these forces have resulted in massive upheavals often manifested in political, economic, and social crises. Experts observe that in times of instability, the most marginalized groups, already the target of social violence, are disproportionately subjected to enormous stress, anxiety, and insecurity. In South Asia, women, as one such group that faces multiple intersectional oppressions depending on class, caste, religious locations, etc. have been active participants on the frontlines of struggles for social justice and equity. In the new era of hardened nationalism and militarism, they have also been the targets of violence and brutality.