Rachel Brulé is Assistant Professor of Global Development Policy at Boston University. She specializes in comparative politics¿, the political economy of development, gender, ¿South Asia, representation, ¿inequality, and migration.

1. Introduction; 2. A theory of political representation and economic agency; 3. Property and power: a political history of the Hindu joint family; 4. Where are the women? Investigating reform's roots; 5. The politics of property rights enforcement; 6. The long arm of resistance: refusal to care for parents; 7. Representation and violence: gender equality and sex selection; 8. Conclusion.