Women Are Everything! Internal Male Migration & the Gendered Political Landscape

• In Event: Political Economy of Internal Migration

Abstract

Does the routine absence of men due to internal migration create incentives for elected representatives to feature women more prominently in electoral campaigns and their decisions about public goods provision? To answer this question, I propose using original data within a mixed methods approach from India, also home to over 100 million internal migrants. I will carry out a medium-N analysis using data from "shadowing" candidates in the run up to a local village level election. This analysis will examine the prominence of women in door-to-door canvassing, community meetings, posters and speeches, and the variation by extent of male migration. I will supplement this analysis using data from a face-to-face survey experiment of elected representatives that will measure their perceptions of the magnitude of male migration and its consequence on their decisions to provide female-centric goods and services. The results from this analysis will further our understanding of the unexpected, gendered consequences of internal migration on the local political landscape.

Author

• Rithika Kumar, Rice University