This article criticizes recent Bottom (or, Base) of the Pyramid (BoP) approaches for ‘cancelling out politics’ by obscuring unequal power relations at different societal levels and painting an optimistic picture of win-win outcomes that will make (some of) the world’s biggest corporations richer while simultaneously adding a few crucial pennies to the pockets of the poor. The article is thus positioned within a growing stream of literature critical of BoP ideas, but it goes further than existing critiques by arguing that the current BoP discourse serves an important ideological function for global capital, specifically producing a discursive depoliticization of its corporate interventions in the lives of the world’s poor. We argue that the poverty-reduction outcome of a BoP venture is contingent on its practice on the ground, which will inevitably be shaped by local and global power relations. In particular, we point to three cultural-political issues overlooked by the BoP discourse, which are vital in understanding the practice of business ventures at the BoP: adverse power relationships within poor communities; social-epistemological hierarchies between the poor and outsiders who administer poverty-reduction interventions; and local vulnerabilities induced by global currents in products, services, information and ideologies.

The empty rhetoric of poverty reduction at the base of the pyramid

New paradigms need critical discussion, and six scholars have helpfully stepped forward (in ConrribwiollS 24, 2, 1990) to co,nment on 'Toward an ethnosociology of India' (Comribwions 23, I. 1989).' Two of these dis­ cussants, L.A, Babb and Gerald James Larson, enler deeply into the details of my own proposals. and I here respond mainly to their valuable remarks, Two others, R,S. Khare and Michael Moffatt, situate my work within their histories of Indian cultural sociology, while K,N. Sharma contributes Indological corrections, I am grateful to all these for showing where my exposition has been insufficit::nt or unclear, and I look forward to further multilateral discussion.

Constructing an Indian Ethnosociology

Breastfeeding in India is universal and prolonged. Several cultural practices are associated with lactation and breastfeeding in India, mainly revolving around the concept of ritual purity and 'hot and cold' foods, food avoidance, restricted diet after childbirth, and remaining in seclusion for a certain time period because of the polluting effects of childbirth. This study on breastfeeding practices explored how the concept of ritual pollution influenced practices after delivery, including during lactation and breastfeeding. The study was conducted in four villages of West Bengal State in India, representing different levels of socioeconomic development, religion, and caste/tribe from September 1993 to April 1994. One hundred households with one woman respondent from each household were selected from each village. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed for data collection. A survey questionnaire was administered to 402 respondents and in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 women in the reproductive age group (13–49 years), and 12 case studies were documented with women belonging to different caste, religious, and tribal groups. Belief in 'impurity and polluting effects of childbirth' necessitated seclusion and confinement of mothers after childbirth in the study villages. Breastfeeding was universal and prolonged, and food proscriptions were followed by mothers after childbirth to protect the health of their newborn. Initiation of breastfeeding was delayed after birth because of the belief that mother's milk is 'not ready' until two-to-three days postpartum. Generally, colostrum was discarded before putting the infant to the breast in the study villages. Breastfeeding lasted up to five years, and the majority of women in the sample introduced supplementary food before six months. Most infants in the study villages were given a prelacteal feed immediately after birth, only a small number of women (35) exclusively breastfed – after giving a prelacteal feed – until six months in the study villages. Cultural and traditional practices have considerable implications on lactation and breastfeeding, and in the overall well-being and health of mothers and infants. Breastfeeding programs should take into account traditional beliefs and concepts when communicating with families about practices such as food restriction and food avoidance.

https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/246316/PMC2667394.pdf

Impact of ritual pollution on lactation and breastfeeding practices in rural West Bengal, India.

Cultures of caste in much of rural India have become entangled with institutions of rural development. In community-driven development, emphasis on "local resource persons" and "community spokespersons" has created new opportunities for brokerage and patronage within some villages, which interact with existing forms of authority and community afforded by caste identity and intra-caste headmanship. In this article, we study how these entangled cultures of caste and development translate into social network structures using data on friendship ties from a south Indian village. We find that although caste continues to be important in shaping community structures and leadership in the village's network, its influence varies across different communities. This fluidity of caste's influence on community network structures is argued to be the result of multiple distinct yet partially overlapping cultural-political forces, which include sharedness afforded by caste identity and new forms of difference and inequality effected through rural development.

Cultures of caste and rural development in the social network of a south indian village

This thesis explores beliefs and practices concerning dying, death and bereavement in the Hindu community in Westmouth (a pseudonym), with the aim of furthering understanding of Hindu belief and practice, particularly for medical and social work professionals. The Hindu model of a good death may be difficult to facilitate in British hospitals if medical staff are unaware of Hindu needs and if communication is inadequate. Funerals are arranged by professionals rather than the family, and there are delays because of bureaucracy, post mortems or lack of space in the crematorium. Priests, when available, may not be accustomed to conducting funeral rituals, and have to work within constraints of time and place, with more of the funeral taking place in the home than would be the case in India. All this has caused major changes in the traditional patterns of death rituals and mourning. Despite these changes there is strong family and community support at times of crisis, reinforcing social bonds and religious and cultural traditions. Religious beliefs help to make sense of the experience. This thesis has three parts. Part I sets the context of the study, fieldwork and methodology, introducing the Hindu community in Britain and in Westmouth. Beliefs about death, the afterlife, and the good and bad death are discussed. Part II explores nine stages of Hindu death rituals, from before death to the annual sraddha, comparing scriptural sources with practice in India and Britain to elucidate areas of change and continuity. Part III examines issues of hospital deaths and bureaucracy, mourning, and psychological aspects of bereavement. Hindus cope with and adjust to loss most satisfactorily when they are empowered to follow their chosen practices, have adequate social support, and find religious meaning in their understanding of death. Finally the implications of this research for Hindus themselves and for professional health care workers in Britain are examined.

Death, dying and bereavement in a British Hindu community.

Hindu Periods of Death 'Impurity':

From 1989 through 1990, residents of a Tamil village drew on national signs— the Rule of Ram, ideas of equality, images of Ambedkar—as they contested the social contours of their village through ritual action. Taking a phenomenological approach, I argue that as village residents localized their imagined futures of equality and power, they were in fact asserting themselves as historical actors with the power to remake their present and to remake the locality (the village) in which they live, [locality, ritual, politics, nationalism, phenomenology, South India]

Hindu nationalism, Untouchable reform, and the ritual production of a South Indian village

Guardians of Tamilnadu: Folk Deities, Folk Religion, Hindu Themes . By Eveline Masilamani-Meyer. Halle, Germany: Franckesche Stiftungen zu Halle, 2004. 279 pp. E 15.80.

Diane P. Mines

Papers

Hindu Periods of Death 'Impurity':

Hindu nationalism, Untouchable reform, and the ritual production of a South Indian village

Guardians of Tamilnadu: Folk Deities, Folk Religion, Hindu Themes . By Eveline Masilamani-Meyer. Halle, Germany: Franckesche Stiftungen zu Halle, 2004. 279 pp. E 15.80.