Paper Details

The impact of political conflict extends beyond institutions of governance and security; it reshapes the ways in which care is organised and provided within society. Existing scholarship has largely focused on terrorism, displacement and violence, whereas less attention has been paid to the impact of political uncertainty on daily practices of welfare and the redistribution of caregiving responsibilities. Similarly, literature on informal social welfare often conceptualises the family as a unified provider of care, overlooking the gendered organisation of care within households. Drawing on secondary literature, qualitative interviews and field observations, this paper explores how households in contemporary Jammu negotiate emotional support, intergenerational responsibilities, financial insecurity, healthcare, elder care and child care amid prolonged political uncertainty. It argues that political conflict has intensified dependence on family for welfare while reinforcing the gendered division of labour, in which women bear the burden of everyday welfare, caregiving and emotional support that often remains “invisible” and “unrecognised”. By conceptualising care as a political institution, this paper makes three interventions. First, it argues that prolonged political conflict has reshaped welfare in contemporary Jammu. Second, it demonstrates that families function as informal welfare institutions, compensating for uneven state provision through gendered care arrangements. Third, it examines how education, urbanisation, migration and mobility are not dismantling but negotiating gendered care arrangements within families. The paper contributes to contemporary debates on social policy, unrecognised work, informal care economy and gendered divisions within a conflict-affected state.

Gendered Care; Care Economy; Political Conflict; Welfare State; Unpaid Care Work; Jammu; Social Policy