Rural Women Discovered: New Sources of Capital and Labour in Bangladesh Florence McCarthy and Shelley Feldman Bangladesh, as a relatively recent independent country zyx is enjoying a ‘development boom’ in the form of massive aid, grants and loans flooding the country from western and socialist countries alike. In one sense the boom is stimulated by western interests in keeping Bangladesh firmly tied to the West, and by socialist, primarily Soviet, concern in offsetting possible Chinese interests in the area. Before Independence, however, the area that is now Bangladesh was an integral part of the Indian subcontinent and hence shared its long history of colonial domination by the British. Therefore, processes coming to fruition in Bangladesh have a history that predates recent political events. zyxw I Of particular importance for this paper are the more recent processes of capitalist penetration of which the development boom is only a recent and single phase.2 In understanding the mobilization of rural women into the labour force in Bangladesh, it is necessary to see women’s issues in terms of these contextual socio-economic and political issues which establish the parameters of the Bangladesh countryside. A basic premise of the argument to follow is that trends in development The authors wish 10 acknowledge the help and encouragement received from Alex Dupuy, Wanda Dupuy, John Useem and Ruth Hill Useem, who carefully read and commented on earlier drafts of this paper. The authors’ names were listed by a toss of the coin, and their contributions to the article are equal. zyxw Development end Change (SAGE. London, Beverly Hills and New Delhi1, Vol. 14 (19831, 21 1-236