Belonging without a deed: women, shelter, and structural power

Bhattacharya, D., Patel, S., Chettiparamb, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7134-5725 and Acharya, S. (2025) Belonging without a deed: women, shelter, and structural power. In: Acharya, S. and Kale, R. K. (eds.) Diversity, Disparity and Discrimination in Access to Resources: Challenges of Not Leaving Anyone Behind. Springer, New Delhi. (In Press)

Abstract/Summary

This chapter examines how women in South Asia, India in particular, access and experience housing through the intertwined institutions of the family and the state. While both are often viewed as key enablers of shelter, they frequently function as gatekeepers, shaping women’s access to housing in ways that reinforce patriarchal norms and restrict autonomy. The chapter argues that women’s relationship to housing cannot be understood outside the socio-legal frameworks of kinship, marriage, inheritance, and citizenship that mediate their right to occupy, own, or inherit space. Within the family, women’s access to housing is often contingent—dependent on marital status, birth order, or relationships with male relatives. The ideology of the patrilineal home, the pressure to marry, and practices such as dowry or virilocal residence patterns reinforce the idea that women move through homes rather than belong to them. Even when legal reforms grant inheritance rights or joint titles, the translation of rights into practice is mediated by family norms that continue to devalue women’s rights. The state is often presented as a neutral guarantor of rights. Yet, housing and land policies frequently reproduce gender bias—whether through the assumption of the male head of household, the absence of marital property regimes, or a limited recognition of informal housing arrangements where many low-income women live. Despite constitutional guarantees and policy frameworks that appear gender-neutral, the state often mirrors and reinforces the patriarchal assumptions of the family. Drawing on feminist thought, this chapter positions housing not merely as a material asset, but as a site of gendered power and struggle. It calls for a reimagining of both family and state structures to recognize women’s right to secure, autonomous shelter—not as dependents, but as citizens and rights-holders in their own right.

Item Type	Book or Report Section
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/128057
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Real Estate and Planning
Publisher	Springer
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