Dhaka International University

Journal of Social Science DIU

A peer-reviewed journal publishing research across the social sciences.

Submit a manuscript Browse articles

A sunlit university library reading room with wooden tables, green lamps and stacks of books

Open-access research, free to read

Peer-reviewed articles from scholars in Bangladesh and around the world.

A Dhaka street at golden hour with cycle rickshaws, fruit stalls and shops under blue awnings

Research rooted in everyday life

Fieldwork on communities, livelihoods and governance across South Asia.

A desk with annotated printed manuscripts, a pencil, a laptop showing charts and a cup of coffee

Submit your manuscript

Transparent peer review, with decisions and reviewer feedback sent by email.

Latest articles

Score 1
9 views
1 comment

Sociology7 Jul 2026

Neighbourhood Credit and the Social Boundaries of Mutual Aid in Dhaka

Ayesha Rahman

Informal lending helps urban households meet sudden expenses, but access may depend on social recognition within a neighbourhood. This study investigates how residence duration and tenant status shape mutual aid in three low-income areas of Dhaka. A household survey of 324 residents was combined with 36 interviews and six months of observation at savings meetings. Network models compared borrowing ties while accounting for income, household size, and kinship proximity. Long-term tenants reported more potential lenders than recent arrivals, yet property owners controlled most introductions to larger lending circles. Women organised frequent small transfers that were poorly captured by questions about formal borrowing. Interview accounts linked exclusion to uncertain residence rather than a simple absence of trust. The findings identify tenancy as an important boundary in neighbourhood welfare provision. Because participants were recruited within selected settlements, estimates describe local associations rather than citywide prevalence. Community savings initiatives could improve inclusion by recognising newcomers' existing relationships and recording small reciprocal transfers.

Score 1
9 views
1 comment

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Development Studies10 Feb 2026

Savings Groups and Seasonal Food Security in the Northern Charlands

Mei Lin Tan, Imran Siddiqui, Maliha Islam

Households on Bangladesh's northern river islands face seasonal income gaps alongside recurring damage to land and transport links. This study investigates whether participation in women's savings groups is associated with more stable food access across the agricultural year. Quarterly interviews with 360 households in six chars were combined with group account books and 30 household food diaries. Household fixed-effects models compared changes in food insecurity scores across lean and harvest seasons. Regular savers reported smaller seasonal increases in meal reduction, particularly when groups permitted emergency withdrawals without requiring a new loan. Benefits were weaker among households that lost cultivable land during the study period. Qualitative accounts showed that flexible access mattered more than the nominal size of accumulated savings. These findings position group rules as a significant part of local livelihood support. Participation was not randomly assigned, and households with severe losses were more likely to leave the panel. Programmes should assess withdrawal flexibility and exclusion during shocks alongside membership and savings totals.

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Economics4 Jan 2026

Mobile Wage Payments and Household Budgeting among Garment Workers in Gazipur

Sanjay Adhikari, Samuel Okafor

Digital wage payments can change who handles earnings without necessarily increasing household financial control. This study examines budgeting practices among garment workers in Gazipur following the introduction of mobile payroll accounts. Researchers followed 286 workers at four factories for nine months, collecting monthly expenditure diaries and conducting 42 interviews with workers and partners. Factory and month fixed effects were used to compare budgeting outcomes before and after payroll conversion. Account adoption was associated with fewer cash shortages near the end of the month and more frequent small savings deposits. These changes were concentrated among workers who retained personal access to their phones and account credentials. Shared devices and withdrawal charges limited the benefits reported by married women living in extended households. The study therefore connects payment infrastructure with everyday bargaining over wages. Since factories adopted mobile payroll voluntarily, the estimates cannot isolate a causal effect of digitisation. Payroll support should combine accessible withdrawal arrangements with practical measures that protect workers' independent account access.

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Score 0
4 views
0 comments

Anthropology3 Dec 2025

Cooking Across Generations: Food, Respectability and Shared Housing in Sylhet

Priya Narayanan, Mei Lin Tan, Imran Siddiqui, Maliha Islam

Shared kitchens are important sites where changing household arrangements become visible in everyday life. This ethnographic study explores how three generations negotiate food preparation and respectability in shared houses in Sylhet. Fieldwork involved repeated visits to 18 households over eleven months, 47 life-history interviews, and participant observation during shopping, cooking, and religious celebrations. Thematic analysis traced disagreements over meal timing, purchased ingredients, and the allocation of kitchen labour. Younger women used paid work schedules to negotiate shorter cooking routines, while older relatives treated some collective meals as evidence of household continuity. Men increasingly purchased prepared food but rarely assumed responsibility for planning daily meals. These negotiations produced partial changes in authority without a uniform decline in intergenerational dependence. The analysis shows how domestic cooperation can accommodate contested expectations of appropriate behaviour. Access through women household members made some private disagreements among men less visible. Housing and care research should therefore attend to the kitchen as a shared space in which time, recognition, and obligations are continually renegotiated.

Score 0
4 views
0 comments

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Public Administration23 Oct 2025

Tracking a Complaint: Administrative Handoffs in Rural Water-Service Repair

Nabila Karim, Lucia Fernandez

Rural residents often report water-service failures through several offices before a repair is authorised. This study follows complaint handling in twelve union parishads across two Bangladeshi districts to identify where administrative delays accumulate. Researchers reconstructed 173 repair cases from registers, interviewed 39 officials and residents, and observed service desks for eight weeks. Event-history analysis distinguished time awaiting inspection, approval, procurement, and final verification. Cases requiring confirmation from more than one office remained unresolved longer, even when recorded repair costs were similar. Interviews showed that residents frequently carried documents between offices because staff lacked a shared way to track responsibility. A locally maintained referral ledger shortened some handoffs but did not resolve shortages of replacement parts. The findings connect service delays to fragmented information as well as material constraints. Incomplete registers may underrepresent complaints that were abandoned early. Improving rural maintenance requires clear ownership of referrals, accessible progress information, and separate monitoring of administrative waiting time and procurement delays.

Score 0
3 views
0 comments

Score 0
2 views
0 comments

Political Science19 Oct 2025

Who Speaks at Ward Meetings? Participation and Agenda Control in Two Bangladeshi Municipalities

Maliha Islam, Nabila Karim, Lucia Fernandez

Public meetings can expand consultation while leaving substantial control over local priorities with established representatives. This article examines participation and agenda setting in ward meetings in two medium-sized Bangladeshi municipalities. The research combines observations of 24 meetings, a survey of 198 attendees, and interviews with 32 councillors, residents, and municipal staff. Speaking turns were coded by topic, gender, and whether an intervention received a recorded administrative response. Residents raised drainage and street-lighting problems frequently, but meeting chairs devoted more time to projects already listed in municipal plans. Women participated more often when neighbourhood associations submitted questions collectively before meetings. Attendance alone consequently overstated opportunities to influence spending priorities. Differences between municipalities suggest that advance circulation of agendas matters when accompanied by clear procedures for recording unanswered questions. The sample excludes residents who never attended, limiting conclusions about overall political inclusion. Municipal consultation could become more accountable through public response registers that connect residents' proposals to subsequent decisions and explanations of resource constraints.

Score 0
2 views
0 comments