Weaver, JoLesti, Hannah2024-08-302024https://hdl.handle.net/1794/3005253 pagesIndia is the second largest consumer of gold in the world, and Indian households are estimated to own 25,000 tons of it, worth $1.4 trillion. The majority of this wealth is held in women’s jewelry, which is given a life of its own in the sociocultural and economic context of Indian Hindus through its multifold significance in religious worship, women’s inheritance, social connection, and monetary wealth. Through an exploration of the historical, legal, and social contexts which shape India’s asymmetrically gendered patterns of gold accumulation, and a review of current governmental and economic endeavors to reduce the country’s gold demand through the use of financial technologies, this paper argues that contrary to popular economic belief, India’s household gold is neither stagnant nor unwarranted. Rather, gold jewelry is a profoundly dynamic and rational store of wealth for Indian women, and is a medium of social and economic autonomy that warrants a similarly comprehensive approach.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 4.0IndiaGold mobilizationMarital normsNeoliberal reformsHeirloom jewelryThesis/Dissertation0009-0005-8206-1396