Sharmeen Azher’s research while affiliated with Union College and other places

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Publications (1)


Professional Niche Differentiation: Understanding Dai (Traditional Midwife) Survival in Rural Rajasthan
  • Article
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April 2017

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2 Citations

ASIANetwork Exchange A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts

Sharmeen Azher

Prescribing medicine, providing contraception, delivering babies – although we may turn to physicians, rural Rajasthani women turn to Barefoot Doctors out of necessity. Such care is available courtesy of the Barefoot College, a pioneering NGO that transforms the skills of the illiterate poor into local infrastructure. Barefoot Doctors are innovative because of their origins as dais (traditional midwives); once abundant across South Asia, dais are mostly extinct due to government/NGO interventions emphasizing “modernity”, like the Accredited Social Health Activist program. Why, then, have dais survived as Barefoot Doctors when they are extinct elsewhere? Ecological niche differentiation refers to when competing species successfully coexist; one species adapts to fulfill another role. Using over fifty interviews with stakeholders, I explain the persistence of Barefoot Doctors as health resources using “professional niche differentiation”. Barefoot Doctors exemplify how health infrastructure can be sustainable in resource-poor settings when created according to local needs and ideologies.

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Citations (1)


... Of the few academic articles, some use theoretical frameworks to examine the Barefoot College's success, necessary for translating alternative worldviews into academic spaces. Others provide useful reference for the projects examined here, contributing to the reliability of information: solar panel projects [14,16] night schools [17]; community midwives and social workers [18]. Two articles demonstrate a detailed study of women's empowerment and self-actualisation through solar panel training [16] and employment [18]. ...

Reference:

Learning sustainability at the Barefoot College: local and global community values in action
Professional Niche Differentiation: Understanding Dai (Traditional Midwife) Survival in Rural Rajasthan

ASIANetwork Exchange A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts