The postcolonial developing world is rife with paradoxes—primarily pessimistic. Why have so many countries failed to move ahead despite decades of investment, often Western, in attempts to replicate the development pathways supposedly behind Western prosperity: focus on economic growth and, later, the neoliberal agenda of "good governance", and social development will naturally follow? Then there is the Bangladesh paradox. How did a country infamously dubbed a "basket case" by Henry Kissinger at its birth—extreme-poor, disaster-prone, and frequently cited as an example of weak governance and corruption—achieve remarkable success in numerous crucial social development aspects?

In her 2024 book, Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency, and the Bangladesh Paradox, Naila Kabeer, a globally renowned Bangladeshi economist and professor at the London School of Economics (LSE), attempts to explain this enigma. She argues that such paradoxes arise because developing countries are often studied through an "etic" lens—the top-down perspective of an outsider—largely ignoring specific local contexts. Kabeer, in contrast, uses an "emic" lens—understanding the world from the perspective of the people being studied—to explain how individual lived experiences and agency interact with broader structural development inputs, such as policies and institutions, to drive change. Drawing on her lifelong research on poverty and gender, she argues that the agency of ordinary women has been fundamental to the positive social changes in Bangladesh. Kabeer's definition of agency is nuanced; it encompasses not only the individual capacity to act and make choices, but also the ability to navigate and engage with social structures.

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But how did Bangladeshi women, situated within a deeply patriarchal, traditional society, become agents of social progress? To explain this phenomenon, Kabeer first turns to our history and geography. Bangladesh's unique, often inhospitable and unstable yet fertile, deltaic landscape resulted in fragile socioeconomic and political structures. This created a decentralised agrarian economy—vulnerable to flooding, erosion, and famine—where privilege was not inherited but earned, offering scope for social mobility and encouraging risk-taking. A series of foreign rulers attempted to govern the land to extract its natural wealth but failed to establish permanent rule due to geographic challenges, turning the country into a "cultural crossroads" where different religious and cultural traditions converged.

The lack of long-term centralised control, coupled with the region's risk-taking and syncretic sociocultural traditions, provided a space for diverse interpretations of patriarchal and religious rules and norms. Bangladeshi women, albeit subconsciously, managed to use this interpretational flexibility to exercise their agency and renegotiate patriarchy. The flexibility enabled them to take advantage of the myriad of NGO-led programs and pragmatic government policies in the country. This is Kabeer's central argument in explaining the Bangladesh paradox.

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She explains how the extreme deprivation the country faced post-independence, hitting women the hardest, brought upon a realisation that the traditional patriarchal bargain was untenable, and consequently ushering in an era of change. Women used different strategies to renegotiate patriarchy to improve their own lives and those of their children.

For instance, when modern contraception became available through government initiatives, women could decide to have smaller families, departing from the fatalistic notion of "God's will". This shift was facilitated by the coexistence of two Islamic traditions in Bangladesh: the orthodox Shariati tradition and the more spiritual, flexible Marfati tradition. Additionally, Kabeer believes that Muslim women's inheritance rights, unlike those of their Hindu counterparts, further emboldened their agency to push for progressive change.

The same agency helped droves of women defy traditional norms and take on outside work, for example, in the garment industry or as entrepreneurs using NGO-provided microloans. Since dowry was a social phenomenon rather than a religious one among Bangladeshi Muslims, women frequently defied this tradition, leveraging the state as an alternative authority. The economic potential of women and the gradual weakening of dowry traditions made girl children more desirable, further contributing to smaller family sizes (in contrast to traditional families that often grew until a boy was born) and increasing investment in girls' education and nutrition.

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Combined, these changes have contributed to a reproductive revolution, inclusive economic growth, and greater gender equality in Bangladesh, gradually bringing about meaningful positive changes in social norms and values. Kabeer contrasts these developments with those in India, another country she has studied extensively. She argues that despite better macroeconomic performance, India's entrenched patriarchal traditions—manifested in inheritance laws, son preference, and dowry practices, for example—have slowed the empowerment of ordinary Indian women.

The author discusses at length the structural factors contributing to the Bangladesh paradox: policy interventions, the NGO revolution, the role of donors, and the responsiveness of post-independence elites, many of whom came from non-aristocratic backgrounds. However, she emphasises that without the active participation of women, Bangladesh could have joined the ranks of the unfortunate paradoxes. In the face of opportunity and the audacity to "dream big," women renegotiated patriarchy, often through active resistance but also through silent defiance—listening to authority without voicing protest while defying its directives in practice.

Kabeer's Renegotiating Patriarchy could not have been published at a more critical time. As Bangladesh enters a new era of possibilities, volatilities, and uncertainties, with orthodox Islam taking stronger root, the sustainability of the nation's social progress is under threat. It is essential to protect the precious agency of women that has brought us so far, making Bangladesh's social progress "surprising" but not paradoxical.

Renegotiating Patriarchy is a must-read for anyone interested in Bangladesh's history and the well-being of its people. It is also a valuable resource for those interested in gender and development, offering profound insights into how women's agency catalyses change and why it must be protected and nurtured.

Nusrat Jahan is the Head of Communications and Knowledge Management at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).