Unpacking Gendered Access to Land: Intrahousehold Sharing of Land Rights in Rural Tamil Nadu

This paper examines intrahousehold access to land in rural Tamil Nadu, India, arguing that household members do not have equal access to their household's land. Drawing on the ‘bundle of rights’ metaphor, this paper unpacks the various rights that household members can derive from household land. Ethnographic data reveal that women have the most limited bundle of rights compared to men in their household. Social norms and practices prefer sons to inherit land, restricting women's access to land. This paper argues that simply registering land in women's names does not necessarily give women greater control over household land, as management rights are shaped more by gender norms than legal ownership. This suggests that solely increasing women's landownership is insufficient to challenge the underlying social practices that perpetuate gender inequalities in land access. The paper highlights the importance of understanding intrahousehold dynamics to address the complex barriers women face in accessing land.