Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
A Peer Reviewed Journal of Loreto College, Kolkata.
ISSN - 3107-8044 (Online)
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol-1, Issue-1 (May, 2025)
Peer-Reviewed e-Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies
Loreto College, Kolkata.
Message from the Teacher in Charge
Sr. Dr. A. Nirmala
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: i
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Krishnokoli Hazra
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: ii
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Dr. Nikhil Kumar Mandal
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 01-13
This study explores women’s empowerment through microfinance by focusing on key factors such as savings with banks, access to credit, and loan repayment performance. All these factors fall under the dimension of economic empowerment. The initiative was launched by NABARD across India in 1992.The study utilizes data from the Rural Credit Innovations Department of NABARD for the period 2006-07 to 2023-24 and CPI for rural from RBI.
The findings of this study reveal that per SHG savings in real terms for women are higher than for men, with statistical significance at 6% level. The second indicator of women’s empowerment, access to credit in real term, also shows that women have higher per SHG credit compared to men. This factor is highly statistically significant at 1% level. These results highlight the importance of microfinance in enhancing women’s economic empowerment. The combined average percentage of outstanding loans over the years is 69.50% for women, slightly lower than 70.24% for men. This finding suggests that women’s SHGs generally exhibit stronger loan repayment patterns compared to their male counterparts.
Microfinance serve as effective tools for promoting women’s empowerment and sustainable development in rural India. Policymakers and stakeholders can leverage these findings to enhance the reach and efficiency of microfinance initiatives, ensuring greater economic and social inclusion for women. The study provides realistic evidence on the impact of microfinance on women’s empowerment in India over an extended period, highlighting its critical role in achieving sustainable development goals.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Md Fakhruddin Ansari
Mukesh Yadav
Dr. Abhijit Das
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 14-27
Women have been the epicentre of Indian agriculture, not only in food production but also in biodiversity and local ecosystem conservation. This paper explores the critical role women play in agriculture through indigenous knowledge systems-on their practice, challenge, and how they influence sustainable rural development. Women have traditionally been the backbone of agriculture, utilizing traditional knowledge to enhance productivity, preserve natural resources, and maintain ecological balance. Their contributions from seed preservation, organic farming, water management, and intergenerational wisdom, all of which are very significant to sustainability. Still, women have many problems, including access to resources, education, and decision-making, though they play a very significant role. In this paper, recognition and mainstreaming of women’s indigenous knowledge towards sustainable agricultural development is highlighted. It also calls for policy interventions that will empower women, provide them with better access to resources, and strengthen their participation in agricultural decision making. Through the utilization of skills and practices of women, India can develop more resilient, eco-friendly, and sustainable agricultural systems. The paper concludes by recommending that the policymakers support the contributions of women in the sense that their knowledge and practices will be preserved and used for the benefit of the rural communities and the environment.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Democracy Under Heat: Transforming Political Systems in The Face of Environmental Urgency
Neha Nandi
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 28-38
Philosophically, humans have placed themselves in a hierarchical power relationship with the world, where they have been given the highest rank of the evolutionary ladder, hence granting them the boundless capacity to use the environment as they like. The notion of climate change and the paradox related to human activity has at present led to a broad debate about the interaction between sustainability and democracy. A fast transformation towards sustainability will rapidly change individual lifestyles, thus the modern liberal assumption of Good Life (the Aristotelean ‘euzên’) that allows maximized individual freedom is incompatible with the need to lower consumption. Once politics takes sustainability seriously, it has to influence the way people live, their mobility, consumption, housing, etc. It is difficult to draw any certain conclusions on the most appropriate model of governance for tackling the wicked problem of climate change. This paper examines the broad issues that both authoritarian and democratic governments face as a result of climate change. By comparing and contrasting the political systems and climate policies of the US and China it provides a broad evaluation of the state of global climate governance. To assess the advantages and disadvantages of democratic and autocratic systems in tackling the climate catastrophe, the study consults secondary sources, policy papers, and current academic literature. The analysis ends with suggestions for how democracies might change to better satisfy the needs of a sustainable future.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Bodies and Ecosystems: The Gendered Politics of Reproductive and Environmental Rights in the USA
Meghna Bhattacharya
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 39-50
This study addresses the link between reproductive rights, gender equity, and ecological conservation in the United States of America (USA), with a special focus on abortion politics vis-a-vis environmental concerns. The perpetuation of various systemic barriers, such as social stigma and restrictive legislation, make critical health services inaccessible to marginalized groups. These inequalities were only heightened after Roe v. Wade was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reinforcing the control that patriarchal structures impose on women’s reproductive decisions. The study examines the intersection of reproductive and climate justice, focusing on the political economy of vulnerable women, resource scarcity, and migration dynamics. It critiques the ecofascist rhetoric, highlighting how reproductive control enforces racial and economic oppression in the US. There is a pressing need for inclusive policies, as the dual forces of climate change and an increasingly restrictive Republican government further entrench systemic constraints on women, magnifying their health vulnerabilities. This is further compounded by the defunding of abortion services and retreat from international climate agreements and World Health Organisation (WHO) commitments by the US. Viewed through an ecofeminist lens, this study underscores the need to integrate reproductive rights and abortion access into the broader social justice agenda, fostering global sustainability and advancing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Indian Feminism: Historical Progress, Impact and Unresolved Issues
Anindita Chatterjee
Sayoni Choudhuri Patra
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 51-60
Gender refers to the societal norms, behaviours, roles, and interactions associated with women, men, girls, and boys. Gender, being a social construct, varies among cultures and evolves over time. Patriarchy, an extensively embedded concept, is inherently tied to gender, resulting in a power structure that reinforces male domination. Feminist discourse challenges patriarchal structures. It promotes equality and justice for people who face gender inequity. Despite the continued strength of Indian patriarchy, male domination has been significantly challenged by three waves of feminism. This comprehensive inquiry focuses at the key characteristics of three distinct phases of Indian feminism, as well as their significant impact on women’s lives. Many laws supporting gender equality have been enacted, yet their enforcement remains insufficient. Women continue to experience various forms of violence—mental, physical, and sexual—both within the domestic sphere and in public spaces. This paper, therefore, critically explores the underlying causes of these persisting issues and evaluates how reforms in socialization processes could serve as a means to address them effectively.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Reinterpreting Gendered Narratives: Saradindu Bandyopadhyay – A Case Study.
Debjani Biswas
Ayona De Dhara
Krishnokoli Hazra
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 61-69
History through the prism of gender has recognised cultural ideas and institutions that have framed gender roles and expectations. The political and socio-cultural ambience of the late 19th and early 20th century had produced a rich cultural outcrop in Bengal, especially in Bengali literature. The social and political response of the Bengali bhadralok to the social questions regarding the position of women had shaped the lives of the newly educated Bengali Brahmo women as well as the curriculum developed for this expanding readership. These changes took place in the context of the nationalist leaders rallying against the mighty colonial state—leaders who were hailed as the brave sons of Mother India. This legacy of valour and martyrdom burdened Indian men with lofty aspirations and ambitious goals. These complexities were reflected in contemporary Bengali literature. This paper endeavours to examine the influence of the gender politics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Bengali popular literature, based on the case study of four of Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s historical novels- Tungabhadrar Teere, Tumi Sondhyar Megh, Gour Mallar and Kaler Mandira.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
The Role of Education in Empowering Women: An analysis in the context of Indian Society
Paramita Majumder (Sengupta)
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 70-83
Human society, biologically, is divided into two categories, male and female. Though biologically male and female are different, it has been scientifically proven that both of them possess same intellectual capabilities. In Indian Society since ancient period intellectual capabilities of women have been either denied or neglected. Women are restricted to certain social roles by social masters. Since the role of women in Indian society is mainly restricted to take care of family members and nurturing children, their importance is usually confined within the boundaries of family and home.
It has been observed that women’s capabilities are often judged from the perspective of their abilities to nurture their families. Thus, in spite of having same intellectual capabilities, society has constructed the gender role of men and women differently. As women are often perceived as care giver, the necessity of their intellectual development through proper education is less emphasized. It has been observed that in rural area or in a poor and lower middle-class family of urban area, the education of female child is considered as less important than a male child. If women are denied proper education, they would not be able to strengthen their economic and social security by themselves. They will also remain ignorant about their equal social rights to men. So, it is important for women to come out of the darkness of ignorance, to establish gender equality. Hence, in this paper I want to shed light on the role of education in eradicating the gender inequality. In this paper my effort would also be to reinvent the truth that only proper education can empower a woman in real sense and help them to gain equal social status with men.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Perspectives of Equity in School Education
Usashi Kundu (De)
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 84-90
Equity in education is to provide fair and inclusive opportunities for all students to help them achieve their fullest educational potential irrespective of their background or characteristics. Its target is to make sure that every student can avail the necessary resources, support, and quality education to flourish academically and personally. Equity identifies the diversified needs of the students and recognizes that they may require different levels of assistance and intervention to prosper in their learning journey. In this context, the present paper makes an attempt to explain the term ‘equity’ in education and the principles of equity. It also discusses the role of equity in school education, barriers to educational equity and the strategies to promote educational equity. The researcher has adopted qualitative research method. Dissertations, e-journals, e-books, and e-articles etc. have been thoroughly reviewed as secondary sources of data. NEP 2020 visualizes that every student will achieve his full potential and succeed academically and personally if educational equity is ensured in school education.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Transforming Education for a Better Future: SDG 4 in the Context of Agenda 2030
Dr. Nandini Banerjee
Dr. Shyamsundar Bairagya
Sreya Ghosh
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 91-101
Quality education is fundamental to a child’s development and future opportunities. Quality education helps all children to develop completely as a whole such as cognitive growth, social relationship building, emotional resilience building, mental development, and physical development without any basis of caste, race, gender, color, and socio-economic perspective. Education always develops empowerment, essential to live a successful life. It helps the individual to cope peacefully with any hard situations or circumstances. Quality education always helps to break the poverty line and inequality in society. To enhance the quality of education, a competent teacher’s role is very important. Quality does not denote quantity; it only signifies how the students learn effectively and can achieve proper learning outcomes. The method of the work is a qualitative and descriptive study. The researcher collected data from secondary sources like various journals, articles, and websites. In this work the main focus is on SDG goal 4 (Quality Education), the targets of SDG goal 4, the positions of SDG goal 4 on an overall world basis, positions of India on SDG goal 4, some government initiatives for achieving quality education, some issues for achieving quality education in India, and how we can achieve SDG Goal 4.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Sustainable Democracy in the 21st Century
Bansikha Neog
Sambhavi Ghoshal
Sayoni Choudhuri Patra
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: 102-110
This paper interprets the concept of sustainable democracy in 21st century along with interpreting related definition, challenges and strategies to address the challenges. Likewise, this research helps to understand that sustainable democracy is a governance model that helps to ensure societal wellbeing, promotes inclusivity and safeguards democratic values. It needs participation of citizens, accountability and equitable representation besides, addressing social, economic and environmental issues. Additionally, this paper traced certain challenges related to sustainable democracy including democratic backlashing, political polarization, erosion of democratic institutions, spread of misleading data through technology, climate change and so on. Also, populism and authoritarianism are identified as major threats for democracy that reduce trust on public process and institutions. The research has gathered data using secondary data collection method and interpreted the data using thematic analysis.
Similarly, the research has helped to understand that role of civil societies, democratic institutions and citizens are crucial to address such challenges. Nations like Poland, Hungary and others has issues related to their democracy. However, they have included strategies to address these challenges. Strategies like civic education, rule of law, monitoring medias and addressing social inequalities are done. Global bodies like IDEA, OSCE, EU and others plays important role in adopting sustainable democracy. The research findings also reflect the importance of decentralization, well-structured election process and legislative strength to progress sustainable democracy. Also, empowering civil societies and ensuring participation of informed citizens, democratic values can be preserved. Also, inclusive governance and global collaboration is needed to address interconnected challenges like geopolitical tension and to embrace sustainable democracy. Thus, effort from government and citizens will help to ensure justice and sustainable democracy in 21st century.
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences | Vol-1, Issue-1, (May, 2025) | Page No: iii-v
Loreto College Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Loreto College is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0