This study compared socio-economic status attainment between the Muslim and Santal couples in rural Bangladesh. For this we hypothesized that socio-economic status attainment (occupation, education and income) of the Muslim couples was higher than the Santal ones in rural Bangladesh. In order to examine the hypothesis 288 couples (145 couples for Muslim and 143 couples for Santal) selected by cluster random sampling from Kalna village, Bangladesh were individually interviewed with semistructured questionnaire method. The results of Pearson Chi-Squire test suggest that there were significant differences in socio-economic status attainment between the two communities’ couples. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficients also suggest that there were significant associations between the socio-economic statuses attained by the two communities’ couples in rural Bangladesh. Further crosscultural study should conduct on how inter-community relations in rural social structure of Bangladesh influence the differences among the couples’ socio-economic status attainment. Keywords—Bangladesh, Couple, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Muslim, Socio-Economic Status Attainment, Santal.

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Cross-Cultural Socio-Economic Status Attainment between Muslim and Santal Couple in Rural Bangladesh

Problem statement: Bangladesh, often better known to the outside world as a country of
natural calamities, is a poor and low-income country. Bangladesh’s main challenge is to reduce poverty through increasing equitable income. Although Bangladesh has faced many problems since its independence in 1971, its gross domestic product has been growing steadily and the country has achieved much success in social indicators. This article explores the culture of consumption in rural Bangladesh and answers the following question: How is Bangladeshi culture associated with consumption. Approach: This study employed a triangulation of methods: namely semi-structured indepth qualitative interviews, ethnography and unstructured conversations substantiated by secondary sources and photographs. Results: This study highlighted consumption and other related issues of marriage and dowry, household decision making, division of labor, as well as different festivals such as Eid (for Muslims), the Bengali New Year and Durga puja (for Hindus). Early marriage and dowry are still practiced in rural areas. Women in rural Bangladesh perform most of the household work but men, as in any other patriarchal society, make the major decisions. Conclusion: The government and NGOs should engage in various activities to boost awareness among the rural people.

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The Emerging Consumer Culture in Bangladesh: Everyday Life and Festivals in Rural Areas

Ethnic community people (e.g., Muslim, Hindu, Santal and Oraon) living in Bangladesh have certain perceptual and cognitive view to the social and physical universe. According to their cultural point of view, they direct their personal, familial and community behavior to solve human problems faced in those universes. Actually, Bangladesh is an agrarian rural country where most of the Bangladeshi’s Muslim and other minority ethnic groups such as Hindu, Santal and Oraon characterized by low socio-economic status and using primitive agricultural technologies live in subsistent peasant economy in which they are directly related to and dependent on the nature indicated above for their living and sustenance. Among them the tribal groups, especially the Santal and the Oraon and others live in starvation and severe chronic poverty with the scarcity of and deprivation from social opportunities and natural resources (Ali, 1998; Bondopadhay, 2003; Kispotta, 1997; Paul, 2006; Rahman, 2004; Rafi, 2006) as are many lower class Muslims and Hindus inhabited in the northwestern region and all over the country (Sarker, 1997; Uddin, 2006; Uddin, 2008a).

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Cultural Value Orientation and Inter-Ethnic Relation: A Case of Majority and Minority Ethnic Group in Bangladesh

One of the important rights for human beings is freedom to marriage and religion as stipulated not only in the United Nation Declaration of Human Rights but also in Bangladesh Constitution. However, in some cases, this right cannot work smoothly within religious traditions that since very beginning seemed to emphasize single religion-based family over family based on pluralistic religions. In some regards Islamic law forbids interreligious marriage, especially a Muslim female with a non-Muslim male and also forbidden by the Hindu religious Rites. Interreligious marriage between Muslim and Hindu is recognized under Special Marriage Act, 1872 in Bangladesh. According to Article 2 of Muslim Marriage Law, 1974, “Marriage is legitimate, if it has performed in accordance with the religion and belief of each party”. This article discusses the right of interreligious marriage with the light of human right perspective and supported by the other laws. Meanwhile, the materials used in this article are primarily based on Muslim and Hindu religious rules-regulations and Marriage laws relevance to this issue. From this perspective this article argues that prohibition of interreligious marriage is contradictory to the universal human rights that maintain every human being has a right to build a family regardless of religious consideration. Where marriage is constitute in the life of two human beings not in religions.

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Interreligious Marriage in Bangladesh: From Human Rights Perspective

The aim of this study was to develop a culturally relevant scale of satisfying marriage for dual-career couples. In order to explore the phenomenology of satisfying marriage, 25 participants, 25–42...

Satisfying Marital Relationship among Dual-Career Couples: A Validation Study:

Marriage is a universal social institution through which an adult male and an adult female usually involves in marriage relationship and may perpetuate it to meet their reciprocal sexual, emotional, and material needs across the marital life cycle. Relevant literatures reviewed suggested that most of the studies on marriage relationship between Muslim and Santal communities in Bangladesh were culture-specific. In order to fulfill the knowledge gap purpose of the study was to explore and compare marriage relationship, including marital bond development, sexual behavior, and role relationship between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. For this research purpose 100 couples (70 couples for the Muslim and 30 couples for the Santal) out of 380 couples were randomly selected by cluster sampling procedure from the Kalna village situated in the Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. In so doing in-depth interview method with semi-structural questionnaire: Open and close-ended questions was applied for necessary data collection. The collected data were analyzed by Independent Sample T-test to compare marriage relationship, especially marital bond development, marital sexual behavior and marital role relationship between the communities’ couples. The results of the Independent Sample t test showed that there were significant differences in age at marriage for women, sexual frequency, and role relationships among the couples selected between the communities in rural Bangladesh. This study recommends that further cross-cultural research should be done on marital power relationship and marital adjustment across the couples’ life cycle between the two ethnic communities in Bangladesh.

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Md. Emaj Uddin

Papers

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Marriage Relationship between Muslim and Santal Communities in Rural Bangladesh