In Bangladesh familyplanning has broadened women's space within the family and society. Based on tidings from ethnographic research in six villages, this paper describes how family planning came to be defined as a domain in which women are encouraged to take initiative, in contrast to other spheres oflife. It traces women's experiences and perceptions of family planning in the context offertility transition, and examines some of the effects offamilyplanning on women's lives. The results suggest that by bringing contraceptives to women in their homes, the famiIyplanningprogramme has empowered women within the reproductive sphere. At the same time, however, the patriarchal system that keeps women isolated and dependentis being reinforced. To counter this, a shift in emphasis towards clinic-based family planning services, improvements in quality of care, and interventions specifically aimed at reducing women's social and economic dependence on men are advocated. '[After the sterilisation] 1 could not get up from my bed for 20 days, and my mother and grandmother came over and scolded me. I was
This paper explains the persistence of a tax system characterised by low revenue collection and extensive informality in Bangladesh. It combines analysis of long-term formal and informal institutions and of micro-level incentives shaping negotiation of short-term reform. The system is unusually informal, discretionary, and corrupt, but remains resistant to change because it delivers low and predictable tax rates to business, extensive opportunities for corruption to the tax administration, and an important vehicle for fundraising by political leaders and rent distribution to their elite supporters. We then explore the dynamics of micro-level reform and external pressure within the constraints of this overarching political bargain.
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