Martha Chen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Martha Chen
PhD)
Occupation(s)Educator, academic
SpouseLincoln Chen
Children2
RelativesTom Alter (brother)
Stephen Alter (first cousin)

Martha Chen (née Alter; born February 9, 1944

UNU-WIDER).[4]
Martha is a
BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations, and in India, as field representative of Oxfam America for India and Bangladesh for 15 years.[5]

In 2011, she received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contributions in the field of social work.[6] She also received the Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War award by the Government of Bangladesh.

Early years

Martha was born on February 9, 1944, to Barbara and Jim Alter in rural

Presbyterian church. They pursued their missionary activities in undivided Punjab (mostly in Sialkot and Peshawar) and Martha's father was born in Sialkot. Later on, Martha's paternal grandfather took up a position as headmaster of Woodstock School in Landour, on the outskirts of Mussoorie. Their family settled here. Martha grew up largely in the hills of Mussoorie and Landour and in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.[3] She was one of three children. Her brothers were Tom Alter, the well-known film and theatre actor, and John Alter.[8]

Education

She attended

Cum Laude (with honors in English literature) from Connecticut College for Women and a PhD in South Asian Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.[8]

Career milestones and honours

During the 1970s and much of the 1980s, Chen lived with her husband and children in Bangladesh, where she worked with the NGO

Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), which is now the largest non governmental agency in the world.[3] Along with Bengali colleagues, she helped trained Bangladeshi women in animal husbandry, fish culture and helped revive traditional handicrafts so that women in remote villages have a form of income.[9]

Martha joined

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), and on the urban clients of the SEWA Bank. She carried out policy research on issues relating to the working poor, taught several courses on international development, and provided advisory services to international development agencies.[10]

In 1997, Chen co-founded (with

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University invited Chen to be its Horner Distinguished Visiting Professor in recognition of her scholarship on the situation of working poor women around the world. In 2001, the Radcliffe Institute extended appointment for a third year. From 2003 to 2006, she was a Visiting Professor at the SEWA Academy in India.[8]

In 2006, Woodstock School in Mussoorie recognized Chen as a Distinguished Alumna for her work with poor women in South Asia, especially for her work examining the status of widows in India by undertaking extensive field research and organizing a national conference on what can be done to improve the status of widows. Chen edited a volume of proceedings from the conference called Widows in Rural India: Social Neglect and Public Action. She is one of the Board Members of the Technological Change Lab (TCN) at Columbia University.[5]

Personal life

Martha Alter is married to Lincoln Chen; the couple has two children and six grandchildren.[8]

Awards and honours

  • The Connecticut College Medal (2015)
  • Padma Shri from the Government of India, 2011.
  • Distinguished Alumni Award from Woodstock School, India, 2005
  • Matina S. Horner Distinguished Visiting Professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 1999–2001
  • BA Cum Laude with Honors in English Literature, Connecticut College for Women, 1965

Publications

Books

Monographs

Book chapters

Journal articles

  • "Kantha and Jamdani: Revival in Bangladesh." India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 4, December 1984.
  • "Poverty, Gender, and Work in Bangladesh ." Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXI, No. 5, February 1986.
  • "A Sectoral Approach to Promoting Women's Work: Lessons from India," World Development, Vol. 17, No. 7, 1989.
  • "Women's Work in Indian Agriculture by Agro-Ecological Zones: Meeting the Needs of Landless and Land-poor Women," Economic and Political Weekly, Vol, XXIV, No. 43, October 1989.
  • "Recent Research on Widows in India: Workshop and Conference Report." Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXX, No. 39, September 30, 1995 (co-author with Jean Dreze).
  • "Engendering World Conferences: The International Women's Movement and the United Nations." Third World Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1995.
  • "Listening to Widows in Rural India." Women: A Cultural Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 312–319, 1997.
  • "Counting the Invisible Workforce: The Case of Homebased Workers" (co-authored with Jennefer Sebstad and Lesley O'Connell). World Development Vol. 27, No. 3, 1999.
  • "Globalization and Homebased Workers" (co-authored with Marilyn Carr and Jane Tate). Feminist Economics, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 123–142, 2000.
  • "Women in the Informal Sector: A Global Picture, The Global Movement." SAIS Review, Vol. XXI, No. 1, pp. 71–82. Winter-Spring 2000.
  • "Rethinking the Informal Economy: In an Era of Global Integration and Labor Market Flexibility." Seminar # 531, November 2003.
  • "Globalisation, Social Exclusion, and Work: With Special Reference to Informal Employment and Gender" (co-author with Marilyn Carr). International Labour Review, Vol. 143; No. 1-2, 2004.
  • "Informality, Gender, and Poverty: A Global Picture" (co-authored with Joann Vanek and James Heintz). Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 21, pp. 2131–2139, 2006. Reprinted as a chapter in Dey, Dahlia ed. Informal Sector in a Globalized Era. Hyderabad, India: Icfai University Press.
  • "The Urban Informal Workforce: Inclusive Planning for the Urban Poor." UN Habitat Debate. Vol. 13, No. 2. Nairobi: UN Habitat, 2007.
  • "Recognizing Domestic Workers, Regulating Domestic Work: Conceptual, Measurement, and Regulatory Challenges." Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 2011.

Encyclopedia and handbook entries

  • "Non-Governmental Organizations and the State", International Handbook of Education and Development: Preparing Schools, Students and Nations for the Twenty-First Century. Edited by W.K. Cummings and N.F. McGinn. New York and Oxford: Elsevier Science, Ltd. 1997.
  • "The Informal Economy", The International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies, 2006.
  • "Widows and Widowhood in Contemporary India", The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • "Informality, Poverty, and Gender in the Global South" in Chant, Sylvia, ed. Elgar Handbook on Gender, 2010.

Other publications

References

  1. ^ Martha Chen CV
  2. ^ "Film Ignites the Wrath of Hindu Fundamentalists". The New York Times. May 3, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c "Marty Chen | WIEGO". www.wiego.org. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  4. ^ "UNU-WIDER : The WIDER Board". 10 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Current Board Members". Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2013-09-24. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards Announced" (Press release). Ministry of Home Affairs. January 25, 2011.
  7. ^ "From India to Connecticut College — and Back: The Personal Journey of a Missionary Daughter" (PDF). wiego.org. WIEGO. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Connecticut College - CC:online magazine". Conncoll.edu. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. ^ https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/carey-chen-alter-ct-college
  10. ^ "Membership Based Organizing of Poor Women : Reflections After an Exposure and Dialogue Program with SEWA In Gujarat, India, January 2005" (PDF). Participatorymethods.org. August 15, 2005. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

External links

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