Showing papers in "South Asia Research in 2012"
TL;DR: Based on fieldwork, the authors examines various aspects of tribal migration from the Northeast frontier of India to Delhi, a phenomenon which increased rapidly in the last half decade or so. This...
Abstract: Based on fieldwork, this article examines various aspects of tribal migration from the Northeast frontier of India to Delhi, a phenomenon which increased rapidly in the last half decade or so. This...
22 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines significant evidence of recent Bollywood influence on the Western movie industry, particularly Hollywood, and explores the implications of such developments in the context of globalisation, and offers a framework for explaining the growing cultural and economic changes and movements of such non-hegemonic spreading of popular culture and identifies future agenda for research.
Abstract: This article examines significant evidence of recent Bollywood influence on the Western movie industry, particularly Hollywood, and explores the implications of such developments in the context of globalisation. Within the ongoing globalisation of entertainment, a process that does not automatically lead to cultural Westernisation and uniformisation, Bollywood has by now become both a symbol of Indian cinema’s circulation all over the world and the embodiment of non-monolithic globalisation. Bollywood is evidently not a homogenising influence that forces non-Indian cultures to embrace its cinematographic or musical norms and practices. Rather, it creates new hybrids. The article offers a framework for explaining the growing cultural and economic changes and movements of such non-hegemonic spreading of popular culture and identifies future agenda for research.
18 citations
TL;DR: Despite the increased female involvement in local political bodies in Bangladesh, women continue to face multifarious problems in ongoing processes of shaping political institutions as mentioned in this paper, despite the increased involvement of women.
Abstract: Despite notably increased female involvement in local political bodies in Bangladesh, women continue to face multifarious problems in ongoing processes of shaping political institutions. Stereotypi...
15 citations
TL;DR: A preliminary study using questionnaire-based interviews of litigants in Delhi who were involved in cases under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 was implemented in India in October 2006 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: After prolonged lobbying, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 was implemented in India in October 2006. The Act soon gave rise to cases. This article is based on a preliminary study using questionnaire-based interviews of litigants in Delhi who were involved in cases under the Act. Primary data, taken from all the Delhi Metropolitan Magistrates Courts at that time, concern the background of those who used the law, the litigation process, implementation of the law and the forms of violence addressed. The article seeks to assess the effectiveness of this new legislation and examines specifically what kinds of people bring actions under this new gender-specific law. In addition, qualitative assessment of the perceptions of different kinds of violence by complainants and respondents provides deeper insights into ongoing and potential contestations over gender-based violence.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors re-examine the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) and highlight the fragmented image of "the people" as a multivocal, multivalent reflection of imaginations and expectations attributed to people within and behind the constitutive assembly.
Abstract: Although the Preamble of the Constitution proclaims that ‘We the People’ have solemnly adopted and enacted it, there is almost no further mention of ‘the people’ in the constitutional text itself. Asking who are ‘the people’ in whose name the Indian Constitution was drafted, this article re-examines the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) and highlights the fragmented image of ‘the people’ as a multivocal, multivalent reflection of imaginations and expectations attributed to people within and behind the Constituent Assembly. It becomes obvious that the aspirations of the actual Constitution makers find clearer expression in the constitutional text than the perceptions of ‘the people’ in whose name such law making takes place. Using the lens of the social revolution that the Constitution was to bring about, the article clarifies the implications of this multiplicity of visions, distinguishing ‘We the People’ seeking to claim such unfulfilled constitutional promises today, on the one hand, and the functionar...
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the ability of formal equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs and workplace agreement making in India to facilitate work and family balance for women workers, and assess the effectiveness of formal EEO programs.
Abstract: This article aims to assess the ability of formal equal employment opportunity (EEO) programmes and workplace agreement making in India to facilitate work and family balance for women workers. Usin...
11 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that there appears to be a pattern of disregarding the literary contributions of South Asian Muslim writers who produced English texts on a variety of topics, and mainly contextualized Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's English works in the tradition of writing in English to identify a continuous trend of undervaluing Muslim literary contributions in English in the region.
Abstract: This article argues that there appears to be a pattern of disregarding the literary contributions of South Asian Muslim writers who produced English texts on a variety of topics. It then mainly contextualises Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s English works in the tradition of South Asian writing in English to identify a continuous trend of undervaluing Muslim literary contributions in English in the region. The article thus argues for a re-assessment of the evaluation of this literary tradition, so that the many forgotten South Asian Muslim writers in English, including Rokeya, regain their long overdue recognition.
10 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the reification of mysticism and the process of "rehab" as imposed by Bengali bourgeoisie via the Tagorian archetype and the Western show business on the Bauls, to cleanse their image from inconvenient traits.
Abstract: Locating itself amidst current debates on post-modern analyses of mysticism, particularly academic debates on the Bauls of Bengal, this article discusses issues of cultural transformation as a result of gentrification and globalisation. It combines the author’s ethnographic research and a methodology mainly derived from Italian Marxist critique (Antonio Gramsci, Ernesto de Martino, Antonio Negri and Paolo Virno). The article examines the reification of mysticism and the process of ‘rehab’, as imposed by Bengali bourgeoisie via the Tagorian archetype and the Western show business on the Bauls, to cleanse their image from inconvenient traits. Suggesting an interpretation of radical materialist mystics as ‘multitude’ and viewing professional Bauls as ‘people’, this research explores how the construction of a myth has ultimately penetrated contemporary society at all levels, including academic circles.
9 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi's project of literary self-determination, as articulated in two programmatic essays published in the Hindi journal Sarasvati under his editorship (1903-1920), scrutinising his construction of literature as a culturally embedded category of national consequence.
Abstract: This article examines Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi’s project of literary self-determination, as articulated in two programmatic essays published in the Hindi journal Sarasvati under his editorship (1903–1920), scrutinising his construction of literature as a culturally embedded category of national consequence. His theorisation of Hindi literature as broadly inclusive in terms of its basic definition and function supported the growth of what he considered a national treasury of literature. His discussion of its historical and linguistic parameters and his emphasis on a prioritised plan of literary production, reified the notion of a modern discipline oriented towards a narrowly constructed national collective that sought to establish its sovereign identity via literature in Khari Boli Hindi. Though not explicit in its anti-colonial nationalism, this project nevertheless privileged Hindi as the projected lead language of a modern sovereign nation, with all the risks that delimitation entailed.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors search for sustainable methods of handling the stresses of globalising existence and contrast two strategies of using knowledge as a form of capital or resource in different forms of "packaging from above" and "packing from below" and suggest that structurally disadvantaged but hopeful and enterprising transnational individuals and groups may empower themselves to improve their "lifeworld" in diaspora.
Abstract: This article searches for sustainable methods of handling the stresses of globalising existence and contrasts two strategies of using knowledge as a form of capital or resource in different forms of ‘packaging from above’ and ‘packaging from below’. Taking the examples of appropriation of Vastuvidya in Europe and of Hindu worship of the Hawaiian Healing Stones, it is argued that such methods of re-packaging and the concept of ‘recombinant locality’ are strategically useful tools and devices to understand better how people may preserve glocalised spaces while opposing uniformising globalisation and capitalist domination. The article suggests that, in this way, structurally disadvantaged but hopeful and enterprising transnational individuals and groups may empower themselves to improve their ‘lifeworld’ in diaspora.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the intricate topography of the ostensibly unified but veritably fractured Muslim search for identity in contemporary West Bengal is mapped, and a comprehensive, qualitative, interpretive investigation of the performance of two linguistically distinct Muslim literary traditions (Bengali and Urdu) in determining the context in which the community negotiates and asserts its identity.
Abstract: This article maps the intricate topography of the ostensibly unified but veritably fractured Muslim search for identity in contemporary West Bengal. More specifically, it engages in a comprehensive, qualitative, interpretive investigation of the performance of two linguistically distinct Muslim literary traditions (Bengali and Urdu) in determining the context in which the community negotiates and asserts its identity. The interplay between ‘religion’, ‘nation’ and ‘region’ in the consciousness of Muslim literati and its implications for the religious/secular dimension of Muslim identity is researched in a quest to interrogate how and why the uniqueness of the West Bengal case, derived from history, still holds true. Literature and language, this article clearly confirms, serve as powerful tools for identity construction.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that people-centric community forest management in India is not sensitive enough to local development needs, nor indeed sufficiently protective of the basic needs of many of its most vulnerable citizens.
Abstract: In the past two decades, South Asia has undergone robust reforms in the forestry sector which claim to be initiating a transformation from state-centric to people-centric forest management. This shift is perceived as an important move towards decolonisation in governance processes in India. Examining the forest policies in colonial and postcolonial South India, this article finds, however, that community forest management in postcolonial India remains substantially rooted in the colonial framework of forest resource management policies. In practice, this means that exploitation of forests gives some consideration to the requirements of forest-dependent communities today, but does so now under the control of a state that fails to protect the most basic rights of many of its most vulnerable citizens. The article thus argues critically that supposedly people-centric community forest management in India is not sensitive enough to local development needs, nor indeed sufficiently protective of the basic needs o...
TL;DR: The main contribution of this excellent book lies in theorising and developing the concept of balanced enlightened judicial activism that manifests itself as a middleground strategy for improving justice as mentioned in this paper, which will be of great interest to practitioners and academics alike and makes a valuable contribution to ongoing debates about the proper limits of judicial activism.
Abstract: The main contribution of this excellent book lies in theorising and developing the concept of balanced enlightened judicial activism that manifests itself as a middleground strategy for improving justice. The study offers a comprehensive account of development of judicial activism in South Asia, examines its global trends and provides shape and contours of the concept of balanced judicial activism. This important study, based on a doctoral thesis, illuminates a crucial dimension of South Asian public law that is notably less explored in Bangladesh than in neighbouring countries. It will be of great interest to practitioners and academics alike and makes a valuable contribution to ongoing debates about the proper limits of judicial activism. The book contains a wealth of literature and exhaustive case law references, which is extremely helpful for future researchers on this subject.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the morality of business in Navi Mumbai and found that the same business morality enables local merchants to adjust to various kinds of challenging phenomena, including those seen as regionalism.
Abstract: Based on anthropological fieldwork, this article confirms that arguments about the decline of Mumbai’s cosmopolitanism through the rise of regionalism and hindutva have failed to consider the idea of ‘cosmopolitanism’ as understood and used by local people, specifically local merchants. Reconsideration of cosmopolitanism in relation to regionalism focuses on the morality of business, as expressed by merchants in Navi Mumbai, is examined through two case scenarios. The Marathisation of signboards led by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and participation in the Ganesh Festival show that their morality of business enables Navi Mumbai’s merchants to adjust to various kinds of challenging phenomena, including those seen as regionalism. The same business morality, then, skillfully re-constructs the foundations of cosmopolitanism as a polyphonic folk term.
TL;DR: In this article, Kumar argues that the literary historical divide between Freudian and Marxist writers, which characterises the experimentalist and progressivist camps, is an academic one, not based on the works of Hindi modernist writers themselves, and finds that Hindi literary tradition has departed from its literary grounding, engaging instead on the terms of its own self-enclosed realm of discourse and thus must be reconsidered.
Abstract: among scholars that these writers are ‘Freudian’ has persisted for two reasons: They wrote the first psychological novels in the wake of Premchand’s social realism and focused on the protagonist’s life story, making their narratives amenable to Freudian analysis (p. 207). The essay demonstrates that nowhere in their novels do Freudian concepts operate, nor do the authors engage Freud in their critical works. kumar thus argues that the literary historical divide between Freudian and Marxist writers, which characterises the experimentalist and progressivist camps, respectively, is an academic one, not based on the works of Hindi modernist writers themselves. Ultimately, kumar finds that the Hindi literary tradition has departed from its literary grounding, engaging instead on the terms of its own self-enclosed realm of discourse and thus must be reconsidered (pp. 212–14). For scholars of Hindi literature, world literature and modernist and postcolonial studies, this volume paves the way for understanding how during the interwar and post-Independence period, Hindi modernism took shape, dis/engaging in complex ways with western thought and the English language. If these essays seem to touch just the surface of the important issues they raise, it is only because Hindi modernist thought still requires a great deal more scholarly exploration.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors have made a contribution to the field of comparative Muslim family law in South Asia by comparing the attitudes and prejudices of the Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani judges.
Abstract: the factual detail of court cases in their actual social context. We rarely find any book on Islamic family law in such a social and anthropological setting. This reviewer did not find any major point for criticism. Given that Bangladesh is often under-represented in academic writing, one might have expected more detailed comments on the leading judicial decisions on family law by the Supreme Court and perhaps a separate chapter on how trial court judges interpret Muslim family law rules in Bangladesh. In the concluding chapter, the author could have made efforts to compare the attitudes and prejudices of the Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani judges. The book is an outstanding contribution to the field of comparative Muslim family law in South Asia. It will be warmly welcomed by anyone interested in Islamic family law of South Asian societies or in the study of law and society generally.
TL;DR: Gupta, Charu and Orsini as mentioned in this paper (2002) The Hindi Public Sphere 1920-1940: Women, Muslims, and the Hindu Public in Colonial India. New Delhi: Permanent Black.
Abstract: Gupta, Charu (2001) Sexuality, Obscenity, Community. Women, Muslims, and the Hindu Public in Colonial India. New Delhi: Permanent Black. Orsini, Francesca (2002) The Hindi Public Sphere. 1920–1940. Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ——— (2004) ‘Detective Novels. A Commercial Genre in Nineteenth-Century North India’. In Stuart Blackburn & Vasudha Dalmia (Eds), India’s Literary History. Essays on the Nineteenth Century (pp. 435–82). Delhi: Permanent Black.
TL;DR: In this paper, Scott argues that non-state people abandoned the world of texts and literacy as a strategy for illegibility because of the fi xity and permanence of writing.
Abstract: This methodology is indicative of the kind of direction that future comparative studies on the Nagas may take. The analytical framework of Scott’s model of marginal spaces, particularly the interaction between ethnic, cultural and religious forces and the construction of a national identity, can be really useful for contemporary Nagas vis-à-vis the dominant nation-state in which they reside. A post-1950 analysis of Zomia areas has thus more signifi cant implications and currency than Scott himself allows. How far is Scott’s thesis convincing and historically sound? Many of the connections and theoretical points made are impressive, primarily through his use of secondary sources from administrative reports and anthropological literature from Zomia regions along with some ethnography in Burma. However, Scott is writing about a people residing in non-state spaces that have no detailed written histories and are largely inaccessible. Therefore, we should perhaps be slightly cautious as the nature of those being studied means that evidence is hard to obtain. For instance, in the chapter on Orality, Writing and Texts, Scott argues that non-state people abandoned the world of texts and literacy—a phenomenon he calls ‘postliterate’—as a strategy for illegibility because of the fi xity and permanence of writing. Although plausible, such assertions require more rigorous analyses to be convincing, especially now in the internet age. Second, the basic concepts of state and non-state remain under-examined within local contexts. Though Scott himself suggests that the model of the nation-state as the exclusive standard of sovereignty is inimical to non-state peoples, the model he adopts seems to reify state-centric categories rather than exploring more diffuse Zomian notions of governance and sovereignty. Nevertheless, there is much to admire about this book. It is lucidly written and offers bold, provocative insights into the manner in which hill/valley societies interact. Its magnum opus stature will challenge any future study of Zomia areas and Scott’s book will be crucial to this debate. Not only will it generate new directions and provoke new frameworks, but this is a book that is ultimately ‘good to think with’.