We Are Poor but So Many

By Ela R. Bhatt,

Book cover of We Are Poor but So Many: The Story of Self-Employed Women in India

Book description

This book is a first-hand account of the vision, rise, and success of SEWA, the Self-Employed Women's Association, a trade union of self-employed women in India. It takes the reader into an up-close look at these women's daily lives, at the forces that overpower them, the conditions that perpetuate their…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked We Are Poor but So Many as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ela Bhatt, a former Member of the Indian parliament, chronicles the astonishing rise of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) ,which she helped form in 1972.

The overwhelming majority of the labor force in India is self-employed and the majority of the self-employed are women. Today SEWA works in 18 Indian states and is made up of 2.1 million informal women workers — the single largest union of informal sector workers in the world.

In this first-hand account, Bhatt shows how the organization struggled against cultural norms, the state, and formal unions, and challenged the rise of Hindu nationalism as it mobilized…

From Aili's list on the economy as if people mattered.

Want books like We Are Poor but So Many?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like We Are Poor but So Many.

Browse books like We Are Poor but So Many

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in India, Mumbai, and the British Raj?

11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about India, Mumbai, and the British Raj.

India Explore 451 books about India
Mumbai Explore 35 books about Mumbai
The British Raj Explore 25 books about the British Raj