Showing papers on "Caste published in 1988"

A Pakistani community in Britain

Abstract: 1 Introduction 2 From Pakistan to Britain 3 The early years of settlement 4 Households and family relationships 5 Caste, Biradari' and marriage 6 Taking and Giving 7 Community institutions and leadership 8 The second generation Appendix.

Conceptualizing the Person: Hierarchical Society and Individual Autonomy in India

Abstract: Explanations by social scientists of the Indian person have emphasized the subordination of the individual to caste and family and the compelling influence of hierarchy for explaining motivations for behavior. They have asserted there is no room for individuation and personal autonomy in Indian society. If correct, personal goals should be rare among Indians, rebellion against family and caste should be unusual, and deviation from the etiquette of hierarchy should be infrequent. Based on 23 life histories, the findings of this article contradict this view. As Indians age, achieving a degree of autonomy is an increasingly important theme in adult life and is closely associated with rebellions against hierarchy and with these Indians' perception of responsibility for how their lives turn out. The article concludes that hierarchy has been given such a dominant role in describing Indian society that the significance of personal explanations of autonomy and motivation has been discounted.

The archaeological analysis of plantation society: replacing status and caste with economics and power

Abstract: In recent investigations of plantation society, Otto and Moore use a model that incorporates status and caste. I argue that these concepts are too vague for plantation studies and must be replaced with a more relevant formulation that includes economics and power. A reconsideration of the data presented by Moore indicates that these last concepts have greater strength in the archaeological analysis of plantation society.

Consanguineous marriages and marriage payment: a study among three South Indian caste groups

Abstract: SummaryThe present study aims at understanding the interrelations between consanguineous marriages and marriage payment. The data are collected from three castes inhabiting two regions of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is evident from the study that the dowry system is more prevalent among higher castes, while the bride wealth system is more common among the lower castes in the hierarchy. Further, it can be seen that the dowry system is more prevalent in developed regions, while bride-wealth is more common in backward regions. Marriage payment is found to be less common in close kin marriages than in unrelated marriages. Most of the uncle-niece marriages are without any marriage payment, in all the castes. However, most of the matrilateral cross-cousin and patrilateral cross-cousin marriages are also without any marriage payment in the Devanga.

Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat

Abstract: With the exclusion of caste (except Scheduled Caste) from the census since 1951 (practically since 1941, because the census of that year did not result in much reporting), writings on castes as horizontal units greatly declined. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. Typically, a village consists of the sections of various castes, ranging from those with just one household to those with over a hundred.

Party politics and the north Indian peasantry: The rise of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal in Uttar Pradesh

Abstract: In the last 20 years politics in the rural areas of north India has been transformed by the emergence of non‐Congress parties with strong support among the prosperous strata of the peasantry Studies of these developments have placed different emphases on the importance of class and caste factors, as well as drawing attention to the existence of blocs of potential support previously alienated from the Congress In Uttar Pradesh (UP) the defection from the Congress of peasant leader Charan Singh and the formation of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal (BKD) in the late 1960s, has been seen as one of the most important examples of these changes in rural politics The purpose of this article is to examine the formation and initial electoral fortunes of the BKD in one locality, and, at the same time, to assess the applicability, to a local setting, of general explanations of the emergence and success of the party

The Indian National Congress : centenary hindsights

Abstract: The Indian National Congress, India's most important political party, was founded in 1885. These papers, by leading historians and political scientists, address a wide range of topics concerning the Congress's history and function, including its affinities with the Italian Risorgimanto; its early links with British radicals; the role of women in the congress; its relationships with the Indian peasantry, merchant communities, and Hindu nationalist groups; its success in the Hindi belt; its acceptance of partition; Jinnah's link with the Congress; and its caste and regional composition.

Female Literacy in India-The Urban Dimension

Abstract: The Urban Dimension S Raju Using 1981 Census data, this paper undertakes a socio-geographic analysis of female literacy both for the non- scheduled and scheduled caste segments of the population in class I cities of India Literacy is examined in relation to the levels for the corresponding male counterparts Viewed thus, the sex and caste disparities that exist provide insights into biases affecting females and scheduled castes These biases appear to vary along a north- south dimension Finally, in order to interpret the pattern, a number of socio-economic correlates of female literacy such as presence of particular communities which foster female education or vice versa, and composition of workforce, are identified The relative position of major localities, as far their literacy status is concerned, seems to be essentially the same as it has been since long Whatever breakthrough is visible can be attributed to the actions of social movements

Caste and labour relations in north west Nepal

Abstract: Anthropological work in South Asia has been dominated by cultural approaches which emphasise pan‐Indian cultural categories. Such cultural categories, particularly those pertaining to caste and kinship, it has been claimed, explain adequately the working and reproduction of caste society. Few anthropologists have considered agrarian and tenurial relationships and their representation or the economic processes which ensue from such relationships. An analysis of agricultural relations of production in a Himalayan community is presented here. It is suggested that although people present an idealised picture in which caste and economic position coincide, in reality ownership of means of production depends on control of the labour of others. Labour relations and processes of economic differentiation are shown to be crucial for the maintenance of caste hierarchy.

Spatial organization of a caste society: the example of the Newar in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Abstract: Even today, within the multinational state of Nepal, the Newar of the Kathmandu Valley form a microcosmic society with their own culture and a caste system which is regarded by other Nepali as being extremely orthodox. More than 30 castes exist within the relatively small group of Newar. The classification of castes correlates with a ritual and economic allocation of the various functions to be carried out within the population, and is manifested spatially in the tendency of the various castes toward segregation. Moreover, there are definite differences between caste structure and, therefore, functional divisions in the settlements. As there are often only a small number of castes in one settlement, the Newar village can very rarely be regarded as an autonomous unit. Ritual and economic relationship have to be built up beyond the confines of the settlement. The Newar caste system, the individual castes, and the types of interaction between them are outlined here. As an aid to understanding the functional structure of rural Newar settlements a cartographic presentation of the Newar caste system is given.

The Poison in the Gift : Ritual, Prestation, and the Dominant Caste in a North Indian Village

Abstract: "The Poison in the Gift" is a detailed ethnography of gift-giving in a North Indian village that powerfully demonstrates a new theoretical interpretation of caste. Introducing the concept of "ritual centrality," Raheja shows that the position of the dominant landholding caste in the village is grounded in a central-peripheral configuration of castes rather than a hierarchical ordering. She advances a view of caste as semiotically constituted of contextually shifting sets of meanings, rather than one overarching ideological feature. This new understanding undermines the controversial interpretation advanced by Louis Dumont in his 1966 book, "Homo Hierarchicus," in which he proposed a disjunction between the ideology of hierarchy based on the "purity" of the Brahman priest and the "temporal power" of the dominant caste or the king.

L'Artisanat féminin dans la région du Fleuve Sénégal

Abstract: In this study of women's handicrafts, some aspects of the situation of women in the Toucouleur and Sarakole society are highlighted. Among independent income-earning women, the article concentrates on the craftswomen rather than the tradeswomen, looking specifically at potters and dyers because these activities are the most commonly practised. This choice is interesting for two reasons. First, pottery and dying are important activities locally, are promoted by the government, and can contribute to both actual and potential development of the region. Second, in a caste system similar to that of the Toucouleurs' and the Sarakoles' society, it is important to look at women's contribution to economic development and the consequent modification of their social position.

Population diversity and internal migration: testing the Lee theory.

Abstract: This paper tests Lees theory that the volume of migration varies with the diversity of people by using household and village level data collected from the rural areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh India and investigates factors influencing recent rural out-migration. The study area has a high population density a low per capita income and a high level of out-migration. The authors examine population diversities in relation to 4 factors: caste education occupation and economic status. The data are from the survey entitled "Rural Development and Population Growth--A Sample Survey 1978" covering 3574 households in 19 villages. The hypotheses stated are as follows: 1) a curvilinear relationship exists between migration and caste-diversity 2) an inverse relationship exists between migration and the economic diversity of people at origin 3) a positive relationship exists between out- migration and educational diversity and 4) a positive relationship exists between migration and occupational diversity. The migration rate for the 19 villages ranges from 1.47 to 11.44 with an average of 5.8%. Most of the villages are homogeneous with respect to economic educational and occupational diversity but vary greatly with respect to caste. Results show that while caste education and occupation have linear relationships to migration the relationship between economic status and migration fluctuates. Of the variables studied occupation is the most important factor accounting for migration from the study villages. Thus Lees theory is acceptable for this study.