Neera Desai (1925 — 25 June 2009) was one of the leaders of

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and was noted for her contributions as a professor, researcher, academician, political activist, and social worker. She founded the first of its kind Research Centre for Women's Studies and the Centre for Rural Development in 1974. She joined the

SNDT Women's University SNDT Women's University, also called by its full name Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, is a women's university in the city of Mumbai, India. The university headquarters are at Churchgate in South Mumbai, while the ma ...

in 1954 and was a part of various governing bodies as a professor and the Head of Department of Sociology (post-graduate).

Early life

Desai was born in 1925 to a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

family that was involved in and supported the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. Desai herself joined the freedom movement at an early age as a schoolgirl when she became a part of the Vanar Sena (Monkey Brigade), founded by

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

which helped the underground circulation of political messages and banned publications. Neera did her primary education at the Fellowship School, a co-educational institution which was founded on Theosophist ideology. She joined

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

in 1942, but soon gave up formal education to take part in the freedom movement after

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

's initiation of the Quit India Resolution. Neera married Akshay Ramanlal Desai, a fellow sociologist, in 1947. Eventually completing her studies, Desai concluded her postgraduate studies shortly post Indian independence. Her M.A. thesis focused on Women in Modern India (analysis of women in the Bhakti Movement), which was later published in 1957. Desai died on 25 June 2009 in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Professional timeline

Desai's professional works focused on improving

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

, bringing in practical experience into academic life through many policy recommendations, harboring and propagating an understanding the links of the civil society and educational curriculum. Listed below is short and by no way complete timeline of some of the positions she held during her career. * 1954 – Joined SNDT * 1965 – Completed her PhD in Sociology * 1972 – Appointed as a member of the Social Task Force of the Committee on the Status of Women in India * 1975 – Founded the Research Unit for Women's Studies * 1982 – Was one of the founding members of Indian Association for Women's Studies (IAWS) * 1987 – Became a member of the National Commission on Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector * 1988 – Became one of the founding members of SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women)

Notable works

Desai has written in both English and Gujarati at the intersection of

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

. Her books include: * Neera Desai, ''Woman in Modern India'' (1957; repr. Bombay: Vora & Co, 1977) * Neera Desai, ''The Making of a Feminist'', Indian Journal of Gender Studies 2 (1995) * Neera Desai, ''Traversing through Gendered Spaces: Insights from Women's Narratives'', in Sujata Patel and Krishna Raj (eds), Thinking Social Science in India: Essays in Honour of Alice Thorner (New Delhi: Sage, 2002). Another version was published in Gujarati in 1997. * N. Desai and S. Gogate, Teaching of Sociology through the Regional Language * Neera Desai, ''Women and the Bhakti Movement'', in Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid (eds), Women and Culture (Bombay: Research Centre for Women's Studies, SNDT Women's University, 1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Neera 1925 births 2009 deaths Indian feminist writers Indian feminists Indian sociologists 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Writers from Mumbai Women writers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian women educational theorists Indian women sociologists Educators from Maharashtra Women educators from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian educators