Showing papers on "Caste published in 1981"

Rural Society in Southeast India

Abstract: Preface Part I. Thanjavur: 1. The district 2. Castes and religious groups 3. The agriculturalists 4. The nonagriculturalists 5. Variations in ecology, demography and social structure 6. The colonial background and the sources of poverty 7. Political parties Part II. Kumbapettai: 8. The face of the village 9. Kumbapettai before 1855 10. Kumbapettai from 1855 to 1952 11. The annual round 12. Economics and class structure: the petty bourgeoisie 13. Independent commodity producers and traders 14. The semiproletariat 15. Village politics: religion, caste and class 16. Village politics: the street assembly 17. Class struggle and village power structure Part III. Kirippur: 18. East Thanjavur 19. The village 20. Economy and class structure 21. Village politics: the caste Hindus 22. The Communist movement 23. Conclusion Notes Glossary Bibliography Index.

A Christian Caste in Hindu Society: Religious Leadership and Social Conflict among the Paravas of Southern Tamilnadu

Abstract: Since the nineteenth century scholars have depicted Indian castes as timeless, fixed communities whose customs, rituals, and occupational specialities evolved at an unidentifiable point in the distant past. It has now been shown, however, that many jatis are of relatively recent origin, and historians have been able to trace the economic, political, and religious changes which acted to form individual caste groups during the colonial period. Several recent works on south India have argued that the agglomerations of artisans and cultivators described as castes in British ethnographies and Census reports had no real cohesion and were often no more than unstable political alliances or ‘administrative fictions’. In this view it was the misconceived European notion of castes as rigid, competing corporations which stimulated the formation of many south Indian castes after 1880.

demographic constraints on caste: a Fiji Indian example

Abstract: It is usually assumed that caste, and with it caste-endogamous marriage, is disappearing in overseas Indian communities. This paper reexamines some previously published data on endogamous marriage among Indians in Fiji in an effort to determine whether endogamy is truiy disappearing. Results of this study show that, as caste populations increase, so does the frequency of endogamy. These facts are discussed in terms of the structural theory of caste, particularly with regard to the relation between a structure of ideas and the material conditions of existence which determine the expression of the structure. The data also suggest that the desire for a larger subgroup population to meet ideal marriage rules may be an incentive to population growth, and therefore a matter of interest to those concerned with population dynamics and population control. [marriage, overseas Indians, demography, caste theory, structuralism]

Social History of a Dominant Caste Society: The Vellalar of North Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the 18th Century

Abstract: tics of a dominant caste society. A number of attributes have been identified as contributing to the dominance of a c:aste in the context of a village, district or region.I When a caste is numerically preponderant overt others, it has ’advantages which could contribute to its dominance. This would apply both in pre-modern state systems and in the era of adult suffrage and electoral politics. More basic to dominance is the control of various avenues to economic power. In agrarian societies, land ownership and the control of agrarian resources would be a key factor. There are other avenues of economic control such as access to limited monetary resources, dominance in commerce and in the exchange of goods and services, and power ’over the disposal of labour and its rewards. As as result of these factors of control, the caste would have a monopoly off administrative and official positions in the village, district and region. To

Some regional characteristics of Muslim caste systems in India

Abstract: There already exists a mass of literature on the Hindu Caste Systems and some work has also been done on the Muslim castes in India. A closer analysis indicates, however, an interesting regional variation in the social stratification among Muslims lending a complex castes system in different parts of India. The objective of this paper is to analyze the regional variation in the Caste System among Muslims and to examine the changing acculturation processes between the Hindu and Muslims Caste Systems in different parts of India.

The Role of Woman as Agents of Change and Development in Pakistan

Abstract: The Muslim state of Pakistan was carved out of the Indian subcontinent on the basis of its Islamic ideology. However, this does not imply that the nation is only secular or theocratic in its basis. Pakistan is both and neither, for it aspires to be theistic without being theocratic and aims to improve life in this world within the framework of a supraindividual and supraphysical verity without being secular. The principles of equality and social justice are therefore central concepts in Islamic ethics. A welfare state envisaging a free humanity that prohibits artificial distinctions based on race, caste, color, class, or sex is its ideal. Islamic religious philosophy has showed infinite concern for the harmonious development of the individual with freedom to develop his or her infinite potential unhampered by restrictions and barriers created by superstition and selfish-

Culture nutrition and infant and childhood mortality: a study in South Central India

Abstract: An examination of differentials in infant and early childhood mortality in South Central India is presented. The major factors associated with such differentials are analyzed including cultural and socioeconomic conditions socialization community health and nutrition. Three cultural groups are considered separately: Muslims Harijans or untouchables and caste Hindus. (ANNOTATION)