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The role of women in promoting and sustaining pastoral livelihoods remains an under-researched area across the world. Often, studies discuss pastoralism as a male-oriented enterprise, thus overshadowing or ignoring the part played by women in such livelihood practices. In India, where pastoralism itself is essentially a neglected area of research, such discussions remain even sparse. Pastoral communities depending on migratory livestock rearing practices for their livelihoods exhibit gender-based differences in their everyday life in terms of division of labour, mobility patterns, and rights over resources. Women play different roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels that remain intertwined with their pastoral livelihoods. Drawing from the available literature, we aim to synthesize the situated agency of these pastoral women in their everyday lives and their collective activism in the face of mainstream models of development. We engage in a thorough analysis from a gender perspective in this paper to discuss specific cases of Indian women and their influence on pastoral livelihoods and interests. We aim to reframe and undo the invisibility women in pastoralism have faced thus far by re-telling their stories from a gendered perspective. Key words: Pastoralism, Livelihoods, Situated Agency, Women's activism, Gendered Perspectives, India, Indian women, Pastoral women, Introduction Pastoralism involves migratory livestock rearing practices that vary according to socio-ecological landscapes resulting in a wide range of diversity. FAO (2021) defines pastoralism as an animal husbandry practice that [...]

Introduction These are turbulent times for the many countries that form the Global South. South Asian nation-states are no exception; the last half century has ushered in liberalization of economies, [...]

The timelessness of The Mahā bhā rata lies in its ability to re-invent itself, thereby giving the society a chance to re-negotiate, revise, and revive the discourse. It also gives the so called 'villains of the piece', well established in the 'rogues' gallery', a chance to redeem themselves. One such character is Śakuni, the 'shrewd' maternal uncle of the Kauravas, whose negative image in Vyāsa's textual universe is questioned by the folk renditions of the grand epic. The Oriyā Mahā bhā rata by Saralā Das views Śakuni not as the master conspirator who brought about the great war, but as a victim who suffered because of the court politics of the Kauravas. The strong popular culture that supports him is also evident in the narratives of the Kalbeliās of Rajasthan, and in the folk renderings of the epic in Kerala. This makes us reflect as to why the metanarrative has vilified Śakuni and treated him with contempt when the folk traditions view him in a more charitable light, or at least give him the benefit of doubt. This paper utilizes narrative research methods to understand the dehumanization of Śakuni in the dominant discourse. It employs the postmodern theories of psychoanalytical criticism and deconstruction in the study of the petite narratives associated with Śakuni to facilitate engagement, plurality, and divergence in the discourse. The paper attempts to read the chronicles of self, society, and social justice in these lesser-known narratives to liberate Śakuni from his filial debt and relocate him in the discursive universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]