Madhurima Dasgupta

Shri Shikshayatan College, West Bengal, India

Abstract Title:

Role of women in sustainability and waste management: a sociological perspective

Biography:

Dr. Madhurima Dasgupta is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Shri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata, with 12+ years of teaching and research experience. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Jadavpur University and is UGC-NET qualified. Previously, she served as Academic Director–India and HOD, Department of Gender Studies and Social Studies, Ashadi Wisdom Campus, Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on Sociology and Gender Studies, with 53 publications in UGC CARE, Scopus-indexed and Web of Science journals, and books with Taylor & Francis. She has received Best Teacher and Best Woman Faculty Awards and has delivered keynote lectures at 60+ national and international conferences.

Research Interests:

Women play a significant yet frequently under-recognized role in promoting sustainability and managing waste at household, community, institutional, and occupational levels. Their everyday practices, including waste segregation, recycling, reuse, composting, reduction of household consumption, and resource conservation, contribute substantially to sustainable environmental practices. At the same time, women engaged as waste pickers, recyclers, sanitation workers, and members of community-based environmental organizations make important contributions to waste reduction and resource recovery. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the multifaceted role of women in sustainability and waste management from a sociological perspective. It explores how gender norms, social institutions, economic conditions, education, access to resources, and community participation influence women's involvement in environmental management. Methodologically, the paper uses exploratory research and secondary data including e-books, articles to analyse how women from formal and informal sectors contribute and help in waste management and maintain sustainability. The cynosure is on women working in the informal waste sector, whose contributions to recycling and circular economies often remain invisible despite their economic and environmental significance. The study also considers the challenges faced by women, including occupational risks, social stigma, inadequate income, limited institutional recognition, and unequal access to decision-making processes from sociological perspective of Vandana Shive and Bina Agarwal. The paper argues that meaningful sustainability requires women's participation not only as household managers and environmental workers but also as decision-makers, entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders. Strengthening women's access to education, technology, financial resources, skill development, and institutional support can enhance inclusive waste-management systems. The study concludes that recognizing women's knowledge, labour, and leadership is essential for developing equitable, participatory, and sustainable approaches to waste management and achieving broader Sustainable Development Goals.