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Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses rights based approaches from the perspective of a Santali community in India. Based on ethnographic research, I draw on examples of state development policies pushed by the Orissa government, and the impact of these policies at the local level from a gendered perspective.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses rights based approaches from the perspective of a Santali community in Orissa, India, focusing in particular on policies to increase women's participation in local level government. As India increases its reservation for women in local level politics to 50%, the relationship between state level policies and indigenous governance becomes more complex. The Santali Majhi system and the decentralised system of state governance - the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), work in parallel to each other, yet the power vested in the locally elected women representatives interlinks and overlaps with the Santali system at numerous levels. This paper seeks to analyse the manner in which politics and 'rights based approaches' plays out at the local level, demonstrating how the PRI and the Santali system can both simultaneously complement and contradict each other. Based on ethnographic research, I draw on examples of (failed/challenged) state development policies pushed by the Orissa government, national and international organisations, and the impact of these policies at the local level from a gendered perspective. Through this process I highlight the opportunities created for Santali women through state structures, while demonstrating the importance they continue to place on the Santali system of governance.