JBS Vol 05. Num 2. 2003 - POOREST WOMEN IN BANGLADESH: ECONOMIC PATHS TO SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

This article looks at the socio-economic survival of the poorest women in one of the poorest countries of the world.
It is based upon 57 in-depth interviews of these poor women who serve as construction workers on the roads of rural
Bangladesh. A majority of these women are single and range in age from 15 to 45. One of the criteria of their
employment was that they had to be destitute, often with many dependents to feed. All of the above women had to
overcome social taboos (such as purdah) to work outside on the road as common laborers. Moreover, they were paid
the equivalent of one US dollar a day and had to work 6 days a week. This program was initiated by an international
NGO and financed by a three-way arrangement between local government, the Central Government of Bangladesh
and Canada, offering foreign aid to the project. This article traces the development of a number of these road
maintenance groups who have already finished their tenure. It catalogues the social skills that the women have
learnt, their economic growth in terms of property and money, and also their political development, as some women
have contested the local government elections.