Women's studies research projects dealing with South Asia seem to be done relatively better and more frequently than those about most other developing areas. And there are good reasons for this phenomenon. First, the character of South Asian societies is relatively open. Second, many South Asian countries today confront challenging political conundrums, such as the presence of women in positions of national leadership coexisting with the constraints of purdah and rural poverty in daily life. South Asia is also home to many active non-governmental organizations (NGOs); about 7,600 are registered in Bangladesh alone. One of the largest of these NGOs, the Grameen Bank, is well known because of its Nobel Prize winning founder, Muhammad Yunis, and its efforts toward the empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh. It is against this backdrop that Elora Shehabuddin frames the study under consideration here.

The author brings a variety of distinctive strengths to her effort, such as an emphasis on the fact that Bangladeshi identity is both Islamic and Bengali, a fact that creates relatively dramatic conflict for poor women in rural areas of the country. Reflecting the tradition of James Scott's classic Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, Shehabuddin seeks to demonstrate how impoverished women in an impotent state often take matters into their own hands in seeking to improve their own condition; thus, they act as agents of change on their own behalf. In addition to an account of legislation that affects women's interests, Shehabuddin offers analysis of the conflicts between choices offered to women by indigenous and foreign NGOs, on the one hand, and certain imperatives of Islamic tradition.

These conflicts are not easily studied or resolved. For example, even a cursory reading of the book reveals the apparent paucity of data concerning a central theme of its subtitle: development. Closer consideration explains the book's largely anecdotal narrative. For example, the local Islamic council (shalish) assumes a dominant role in the resolution of property disputes and in family law; it is here that NGOs have proven their value by helping women represent their interests effectively, as in cases of domestic violence. Corrupt police and cumbersome courts have little interest or involvement in such cases. NGOs help to ensure that the shalish observe national laws, but their role is neither easily measured nor frequently studied. It remains unclear how NGOs, their clients, and their adversaries have evolved over nearly 40 years of Bangladeshi independence. The present conflict between tradition and change continues unabated. Shehabuddin quotes a local Islamic figure who considers NGOs nothing more than Trojan horses designed by the West to bring harm to Islam.

Unlike the political decay experienced by nationalist regimes in other Muslim societies, the “secular” Awami League remains a major force in Bangladesh politics, taking turns in power with the Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Although the smaller Jamaat-I Islami (Society of Islam) has failed to realize its goal of instituting Sharia law, Muslim piety is a basic fact of political and social life in Bangladesh. The Jamaat's consciousness of women's interests and its emphasis on piety mean that the party holds substantial appeal to rural women. Thus, the Jamaat was able to enter a government coalition with the BNP after the 2001 parliamentary elections, improving dramatically on its previously dismal electoral showings. One female Jamaat activist acknowledged a “new political awareness among women” that compelled the party to reexamine its political stance on issues of significance to women.

Because the study depends on in-depth interviews of most involved parties, Shehabuddin is well qualified to address the personal experiences of women arising from the conflicting pressures of gender, faith, and opportunity. The conflict between the choices offered women by indigenous and foreign NGOs and the imperatives of Islamic tradition is not easily resolved. Most Bangladeshi women, particularly in rural areas, confront corruption, dominating patrimony, and oppressive poverty on a daily basis. These challenges show little prospect of easing, nor is there much hope that increased gender consciousness by itself can go very far toward resolving such dilemmas. Moreover, the situation that Bangladeshi women experience is partly the consequence of competing secularist and Islamist visions of the state's future. To be sure, women have developed a deeper sense of their own interests in recent times, but their voting may not promote higher standards of electoral democracy. Instead, Shehabuddin reports that women both are likely to vote for the party that provides them small material inducements and largely refuse to vote in way contrary to the views of their husbands.

Shehabuddin has done much to explain the complex situation of women in Bangladesh. The book provides a fine perspective about the difficulty of political change in an emerging civil society. Less certain is the significance of the author's findings for the country as a whole. The unusual synthesis of the religious and the national in Bangladesh means that the country's experience may not be generalizable to the greater Islamic and developing worlds.