>SheridanFord at 23:06, 20 June 2021

2021-06-20T23:06:55Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
'''Kali for Women''' was a start-up [[feminist]] [[publisher]] in India. [[Urvashi Butalia]] and [[Ritu Menon]] set up Kali for Women in 1984, arguably the first Indian publishing house dedicated to publishing on and for women. When they decided to take this step, Butalia had worked with [[Oxford University Press]] and [[Zed Books]] in Delhi, while Ritu Menon was a scholar. They started with very little capital but with an urgent sense that they had to make Indian women's voices heard, through academic publishing and activist works, translation and fiction. They were followed by other Indian presses concerned with gender and social issues such as [[Bhatkal and Sen]] who publish the imprints Stree and Samya and [[Tulika Books]].

==Publications==
Widely regarded as India's answer to [[Virago Press]], Kali for Women published some pathbreaking books such as the Hindi reference book ''Shareer ki Jankari'' ('About the Body'). ''Shareer ki Jankari'' was written by 75 village women and sold by them at a special price in the villages. ''Shareer ki Jankari'' was extremely frank about sex and women's bodies including issues such as [[menstrual taboo]]s, shocking some commentators. Till then academic presses had largely ignored the markets for cheap, mass literature. (See academic books by [[Jyoti Puri|Jyoti Puti]]).<ref>Jyoti Puri, ''Woman, Body, Desire in Postcolonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality'' (London: Routledge, 1999)</ref>

Butalia and Menon were committed to social change through publishing and, almost as a byproduct, they innovated the ways they produced and sold their books.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Kali for Women published [[Radha Kumar]]’s ''[[The History of Doing]]'', the ecofeminist [[Vandana Shiva]]'s landmark work ''Staying Alive'', and [[Kumkum Sangari]] and [[Sudesh Vaid]]'s landmark ''[[Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History]]''.<ref>Paola Bacchetta, 'Reinterrogating Partition Violence: Voices of Women/Children/’Dalits’ in India’s Partition', ''[[Feminist Studies]]'' 26 (2000): 3</ref>

==Corporate split==
In 2003, the founders parted ways. Butalia set up [[Zubaan Books]] in 2003, which besides feminist books also published fiction, general interest books and children's titles. Menon founded [http://www.womenunlimited.net/ Women Unlimited]. The firms are active.<ref>{{cite web| title = Urvashi Butalia: I want to prove that feminist publishing can survive commercially|publisher= Livemint| url =http://www.livemint.com/Companies/595QfElEltDLfuvgNqTiOI/Urvashi-Butalia--I-want-to-prove-that-feminist-publishing-c.html|date=14 June 2013|accessdate = 2013-08-16}}</ref>

==Award==
In 2011, Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon were jointly conferred the [[Padma Shri]] award, for their contribution to the nation by the [[Government of India]].<ref name=pib2>{{cite press release|title=Padma Awards Announced|url=http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=69364|publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] |date=25 January 2011|accessdate=16 August 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Women in India]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/fasiapub/india/kali.htm Kali for Women at Spinifex]
* [http://www.womenunlimited.net/ Women Unlimited]
* [http://www.zubaanbooks.com/ Zubaan Books]
* [http://blog.prathambooks.org/2010/04/story-of-kali-for-women-indias-first.html Account at Pratham Books]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Publishing companies of India]]
[[Category:Feminist book publishing companies]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in 1984]]
[[Category:1984 establishments in Delhi]]
[[Category:Companies based in Delhi]]

Kali for Women - Revision history

>SheridanFord at 23:06, 20 June 2021