The Library Committee is organising a Book Talk on the 17th of August, 2026 (Monday) from 5 PM to 6:30 PM, in the Conference Hall, Training Centre. Prabha Kotiswaran, Professor of Law and Social Justice at King’s College London will give her talk on her book Wages for Housework (OUP, 2026) , and Dr. Saurabh Bhatacharjee and Dr. Sudipa Sarkar will be the discussants.

About the Book

The book addresses arguments for and against unconditional cash transfers in feminist economics and welfare theory. It recollects the vision of the founding mothers of the Indian Constitution who advocated for the recognition of women’s unpaid work. It traces how Indian courts have, since Independence, treated women’s unpaid domestic and care work as being on par with an occupation to hold that the economic recognition of unpaid work is a step towards the constitutional vision of equality and dignity. Through an in-depth study of unconditional cash transfers in three states, namely, Goa, Assam, and West Bengal (implemented in 2013, 2020, and 2021, respectively), Kotiswaran elaborates on state-specific welfare regimes and analyses the implementation of cash transfers through interviews with bureaucrats, academics, feminist activists, and women beneficiaries to understand if and how they have resulted in women’s empowerment, whether in terms of education, paid employment, or the gendered division of labour.

About the Author

Professor Prabha Kotiswaran is Professor of Law and Social Justice. She previously taught at SOAS. She received her undergraduate law degree in India from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and then an LLM and SJD (doctorate) from Harvard Law School. She also practiced law at the New York law firm of Debevoise and Plimpton.