Showing papers on "Caste published in 1998"

The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India

Abstract: In a compelling account of the lives of those at the bottom of Indian society, the authors explore the construction of the untouchables as a social and political category.

On the Edge of the Auspicious: GENDER AND CASTE IN NEPAL

Abstract: Starting from the perspective of lower-caste Hindu women, Cameron offers a long-overdue study of artisans and farmers in western Nepal

Female gene flow stratifies Hindu castes

Abstract: Scientists have long been interested in understanding how social processes modulate evolutionary forces1. A good example of this is the intensively studied Hindu caste system, which governs the mating practices of nearly one-sixth of the world's population2,3. However, there is controversy concerning the effect of social stratification on the genetic structure of caste communities. Here we show that differences in social rank between castes correspond to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) distances between castes but not genetic distances estimated from Y-chromosome data.

Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change

Abstract: CONTENTS: 1. The Beginnings 2. The Distinctiveness of Indian Popular Cinema 3. Cinema and Society in India 4. Religion, Ethnicity and Caste in Indian Cinema 5. Women in Indian Cinema 6. Styles and Techniques 7. The Changing Scene in Popular Cinema 8. Regional Cinemas of India 9. Conclusion Appendix: NFDC Bombay

The effects of migration on the establishment of networks: caste disintegration and reformation among the Indians of Fiji.

Abstract: This study examined the effects of type of migration on reformation of caste groups among the Indians of Fiji during 1880-1930. The Indians of Fiji had 5 distinct subcommunities and 3 types of migration context. Data were obtained from interviews among 50 people from suburban rural and urban areas of Vitu Levu island during 1989-90; participant observations during several short-term visits; and historic ethnographic archival research. This article begins with a review of the caste system and migration context followed by theorizing. It then describes the histories of the Fiji Indian groups with specific examples of how migrants reasons prevented or enabled them to establish subcaste groups in Fiji. The focus is on caste-free descendants of indentured workers that arrived in Fiji during 1879-1916 and caste-based descendants of non-labor migrants from Gujarat during 1900-30. It is concluded that the migration histories of indentured workers were very different from the free Gujarati immigrant experiences. The Gujarati community was able to form and maintain family and caste-based migration chains within their migration streams in Fiji. Indentured workers were prevented from reformation of caste groups overseas. The ability to establish and maintain migration chains determines the level of caste-related behavior overseas. The Punjabi community on Fiji was different from the previous 2 subcommunities because of their recruitment as labor from different districts and social groups which resulted in greater assimilation in the host society. Migration context directly affects the level of cultural reformation in the host society.

Village, Caste, Gender and Method: Essays in Indian Social Anthropology

Abstract: This work is a collection of Srinivas's essays which have had a lasting influence on the discipline of sociology and social anthropology. To each of these the author has brought a fresh outlook which reveals continuities amidst changes taking place in India today.

Communal discourses, marriage, and the politics of gendered social boundaries among south Asian immigrants in Tanzania

Abstract: Focusing on communal discourses among South Asian groups in Tanzania, the author highlights the manner in which discourses around religion, caste and race shape gendered patterns of migration and marriage and the everyday politics of social boundaries in an immigrant community. The article demonstrates how discursive processes operating at the community level mediate between the household and the broader political economic processes. It also illustrates that although discourses, boundaries and social relations are easily modified in response to changing circumstances, new narratives and ideologies frequently emerge to ensure that the predominant balance of power in a community is not disturbed significantly.

Caste and purity: A study in the language of the Dharma literature:

Abstract: The caste system, according to the currently prevalent view, is based on purity, each caste being located on a hierarchical gradation of purity, a thesis laid out most compellingly by Louis Dumont....

Sanskritization: The career of an anthropological theory:

Abstract: The paper sketches the origins and development of one of the most widely influential of anthropological contributions to thinking about Indian society, 'Sanskritization', tracing its sources and its evolution in the thought of M.N. Srinivas, its author. As a process, he identified it first in his work as a student of G.S. Ghurye on 1930's rural Mysore. The roots and the form of this identification are examined. The theory was named and proclaimed in his classic Religion and society among the Coorgs, based on his Ph.D. work for Ghurye which he had reworked under the influence of Radcliffe-Brown's structural functionalism. Appearing thus, its original limited base was hidden: it was no longer a theory about Mysore society but about India in general, and indeed India resurgent in the era of Independence. Two diverging theses developed, linked by the centrality of the Brahman. One, seminal for future theoretical development, introduced social mobility into caste analysis; the other, more politically significa...

Caste and class in historical north-west ethiopia: the beta israel (falasha) and kemant, 1300–1900

Abstract: This article compares the histories of two small groups in north-western Ethiopia between about 1300 and 1900. It explores the development of separate identities by the Beta Israel (Falasha) and the Kemant peoples from an orginal common. Agaw-speaking base during three time periods in Ethiopian history: the centralizing state to 1632; the urban-centered state, 1632-1755; and the regionalized but re-centralizing state, 1755-1900. It argues that the key variable in explaining the historical development of these two groups was their differential relationship to the Ethiopian state. During this six hundred year period, Beta Israel resisted conquest, were partially incorporated into the broader society, but ultimately maintained a high degree of social separation in an essentially caste relationship with the dominant society and state. This separation allowed the group to refashion their identity again in the twentieth century: between the 1970s and 1991 virtually all Beta Israel separated completely from Ethiopia by emigrating to Israel. In contrast, Keman did not resist the original royal incursion into the region beginning in the fourteenth century. Unlike Beta Israel, they tried to maintain their identity through a process of accommodation and withdrawal up to the mid-nineteenth century. Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing into the twentieth, however, their society has experienced strong pressures from the dominant society and state, leading to the loss of their cultural distinctiveness and their incorporation into the overall class system of the region. These two cases, thus, illustrate some to the processes by which north-western Ethiopia became a traditional Amhara area.

Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India

Abstract: This book offers a systematic analysis of the violent clashes between the South Indian 'right' and 'left' hand caste divisions that repeatedly rocked the European settlements on the Coromandel Coast in the early colonial period. Whereas the Indian population expected the colonial authorities to intervene in the disputes, the Europeans were reluctant to get involved in conflicts which they barely understood. In the nineteenth century the significance of the divisions diminished, a development that has long puzzled historians and anthropologists. In addition, this study addresses the larger issue of the nature of colonial encounters. The rich material relating to these disputes convincingly demonstrates how Europeans and Indians, as they sought to incorporate each other into their own social structure and conceptual universe, participated in a dialogue on the nature of South Indian society.

Widowhood and well-being in rural north India.

Abstract: This book chapter reviews the evidence on widows position and their social support in rural North India. The authors describe the health of widows in rural North India based on empirical evidence; examine 4 basic causes of widows vulnerability and dependence; analyze social support from relatives and the community and identify the implications for action. The data sources of this article include a 1990 study in 3 villages in West Bengal Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (Dreze 1990) and an ongoing study of 262 widows in 8 villages in Bihar West Bengal an Uttar Pradesh. A widows position is influenced by kinship and inheritance systems ability to earn a living social isolation and the forms of intra- and inter-household transfers. India has a large number of widows (over 33 million in 1991; about 8% of total population). Although the study areas are largely Hindu and reflect caste differences the patrilineal practices that affect widows status and determine gender relations vary between regions. Widows receive little social support after their husbands death except from their own children. Widows dependence upon social support affects residence inheritance remarriage and employment each of which is discussed. Evidence suggests economic vulnerability. Intra-household neglect may independently enhance mortality. Widows and widowers are a larger proportion of population in southern states perhaps due to low survival chances in the north. Public pressure is needed in order to give adequate priority to the social protection of widows and to recognize them as significant contributors to the household economy.

Challenging untouchability : Dalit initiative and experience from Karnataka

Abstract: PART ONE Dalits and State Action - Simon R Charsley and G K Karanth The `SCs' Caste, Cultural Resources and Social Mobility - Simon R Charsley PART TWO Escaping Domination - G K Karanth Rajapara's Untouchables Privilege and Conformity - K G Gayathri Devi The Madars of Nuliyur Female Enterprise and Male Employment - K G Gayathri Devi Thigala Holeyas of Akkahalli Checks to Integration - Neil Armstrong AKs of Mahepura Caste Metamorphosis - E N Ashok Kumar The Korachas of Dharmapura Increasing Autonomy - Simon R Charsley The Harijans of Rateyur Upward Mobility or Class Formation? Samagars of Jenubhavi - E N Ashok Kumar PART THREE Beyond Untouchability? Local Experience and Society-Wide Implications - G K Karanth and Simon R Charsley

The Absence of Political Ideals in Nietzsche's Writings: The Case of the Laws of Manu and the Associated Caste-Society

Abstract: The Absence of Political Ideals in Nietzsche´s Writings: The Case of the Laws of Manu and the Associated Caste-Society

From “book view” to “field view”: Social anthropological constructions of the Indian village

Abstract: The “book view” of rural India of the title is that of Indologists and Orientalists, constructed from Hindu scriptures and the historical record. In the post‐Independence period this was gradually replaced by the “field view” of sociologists and anthropologists, based on participant observation. Their studies threw new light on the nature of the village community, particularly in relation to caste, gender and political faction. The work is important in the context of development since traditional society was, and remains, in a state of flux. One important result of the “field view”, however, is that India's villages appear to have been well integrated into the broader economy and society for a very long period of time, rather than being isolated communities. While recognizing this important contribution, the problems of participant observation are discussed in this paper, notably the possibility that the social and economic background of those engaged might itself induce bias into the results. Th...

Social Stratification in India: Issues and Themes

Abstract: Introduction Theoretical and Methodological Issues Culture and Social Stratification Social Stratification in Rural-Agrarian Settings Social Stratification in Urban-Industrial Settings Social Stratification in Weaker Sections of Society Gender and Social Stratification Social Mobility New Dimensions in the Studies of Caste, Class, Ethnicity and Power

Caste, class synergies and discrimination in India

Abstract: There is sufficient empirical evidence to suggest that discrimination, defined as absence of equal opportunities, exists before the market as well as in the market against certain social categories in India. Inequality in access to sources of human capital acquisition reinforces inequality in the labour market and vice versa. Apparently, caste‐community discrimination and class discrimination overlap. However, in the case of socially deprived categories, the latter accentuates the former. The impact of modernisation notwithstanding, the inegalitarian sacral tradition of caste still has strong hold over the minds and lives of Indians. The development processes have strengthened caste and community consciousness resulting in the metamorphosis of different social categories into interest groups. With patron‐client relationship as the basis for political mobilization, development policies have favoured the dominant social categories as well as the articulate better‐off sections across all social categories. So it seems that “divinely ordained” social inequities persist in a secular garb, though possibly with reduced inhumanity. Yet, with increasing political assertion of the lower social categories and widening opportunities for social mobility, hegemony of the traditional elite is likely to decline. The change in the composition of the elite should foster non‐brahmanical pragmatic cultural ethos conducive to social mobility and development. The policies designed to promote equal opportunities, taking into account heterogeneity of Indian society, will speed up the process of socio‐economic change.

Caste: Origin, function, and dimensions of change

Abstract: This comprehensive study is diveded into 5 chapters. The introduction looks at the definition of caste, the evidence of Vedic texts, and the the class role of caste and the elite. Other chapters examine stratification in Rig vedic society and early Bhuddhism. The concluding chapter provides an overview of the changing paradigms of brahmanical integration.

Caste, Class and Catholicism in India 1789-1914

Abstract: This is a study of the ways in which changing social expectations among Indian Catholics confronted the Roman Church with new questions, as well as giving fresh urgency to the old problem of the persistence of caste among Christians. Low-caste restiveness prompted different reactions among European missionaries and high-caste Indian priests, and the socio-economic significance of religious conversion became a problem that reached the level of the Apostolic Delegate, and eventually of the Pope. The English brought their social attitudes to India, where they became racial attitudes while retaining their triple functions of supporting authority structures, protecting vested interests and providing psychological reinforcement, Roman Catholic missionaries came from different European countries and brought with them different national attitudes to social mores. A major question asked in this book is how far such national differences were reflected in attitudes to caste, class and sexual behaviour, how similar were the attitudes of Indian Christians, and how far the functions of such attitudes remained constant.

Spatial and Temporal Change in the Caste System:The Punjab to Bradford

Abstract: The principal focus of this study is the caste system. The study begins by producing a 'skeletal' definition of the term 'caste', which breaks out of the 'theoretical stagnation' imposed on Indology by the work of Louis Dumont (1970). Using this definition, a simple framework for conceptualising Indian society is constructed which illustrates the nature of the caste system. The fortunes of the caste system are then explored in India's historical past and in Indian Hindu Diaspora, and from this exploration a commonsense view of the caste system as being immutable is confounded. Instead, it is established that the institution is adaptable and flexible, because it is constantly changing in response to forces affecting it over time and space. However, whilst some aspects of the caste system are open to change, it is argued that other aspects remain resolutely unchanging. Accordingly, it is suggested that the institution contains elements of both modernity and tradition, and that this may be the key to its survival through time and space. The caste system is then examined with reference to Punjabi Hindus in Bradford. Through a detailed analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected amongst this community during 1994 and 1995, a fascinating picture unfolds concerning the presence and operation of the caste system desh pardesh (at home abroad) for Bradford's Punjabi Hindus. Spatial and temporal changes in the caste system are also identified as having occurred through the migration and settlement of Bradford's Punjabi Hindu community. The conclusions relate this back to the wider issue of spatial and temporal changes in the caste system occurring in other parts of Indian Hindu Diaspora, and consider implications for the future of the institution amongst Punjabi Hindus in Bradford.

Caste and the census: implications for society and the social sciences.

Abstract: The authors report on a symposium held at the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi on July 17 1998 on the issue of the use of the reintroduction of terms concerning caste in the census of India scheduled for 2001. The arguments for both the inclusion and exclusion of caste terms in the census are summarized as well as the practical difficulties of caste enumeration. (ANNOTATION)

Determinants of Fertility in Three North Indian States: Caste, Female Autonomy and Economic Development

Abstract: This paper examines some of the determinants of fertility in three fairly homogenous states in northern India. The results show that scheduled tribe status—though not the scheduled caste status—has a substantial negative effect on fertility. The results also provide strong support for the view that improving the position of women through more equitable social and economic development will have a far greater impact on fertility reduction than will the provision of family planning services. Finally, the results provide indirect support for the view that increased income leads to increased fertility and that children are not “inferior goods.”

The issue of 'right to food' among the Hindus: Notes and comments

Abstract: The paper starts with a comparative discussion of food in Hindu religion and law and in Indian democratic polity, examining the general question whether the Hindu system possesses at all a substantive cultural basis of its own for addressing the goal of 'food-accessibility-for-all'. Though democracy demands egalitarian 'public policy' and 'public action programmes' for food for all its citizens, the Hindu system frames the issue within its language of karma, debts and duties, and yields some moral-practical (if socially weak) formulations and four specific 'notions of shared sustenance'. But today, as dharma, history, caste, and modern India entangle with one another, there is no clear social direction, and the issue of 'right to food' also remains correspondingly muddled.

Indian presence in carnival

Abstract: Trinidad's Carnival is alive. It grows organically out of a rich culture, a torturous history. The event is a space where the entire range of our cultural expression and ethnic diversity emerges. It is in terms of this, the fundamental nature of Carnival, that we are to understand the Indian presence in it. Indian indentured immigrants arrived in Trinidad from 1845 to I9I7. The conditions on the sugar plantations, where they labored during their contract period of at least five years, were like the slavery which indentureship replaced. The conditions were oppressive in the extreme: a number of families shared a single barracks; the Indians were strangers to each other, often speaking different languages. They came from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu. Men outnumbered women by up to three to one-making the women targets of male violence despite the potentially strong position that imbalance gave women. Despite all these troubles, a communal dynamic emerged. The dominant language was a Trinidadian version of Bhojpuri-Hindi, common in Uttar Pradesh. And as the Indians moved off the plantations, a basic pattern of Indo-Trinidadian community-the rural village-came into being. Life in the villages centered on the extended family and a reformulated sense of caste.' Village life was regulated by the rhythm of cane and rice farming. It is not coincidental that the major Indian settlements were around the Caroni and Nariva swamps where rice flourished. Beyond farming, some Indians became involved in family-based businesses. Hinduism and Islam were practiced in the villages by most people, though some converted to Christianity, especially Presbyterianism, which is viewed in Trinidad as an "Indian church." For all this diversity, the core of East Indian spirituality is Hinduism, especially as disclosed in the notion of leela (also spelled lila), or play. The entire cosmos is a leela, a dance of energy, a drama staged by Brahman, the Absolute. Leelas are also specific celebrations, the most important in Trinidad being Ramlila, the story of Ram (Rama), the god-warrior-king as told in Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana and retold in Hindi by the I7th-century poet, Tulsidas. The celebratory feeling of Ramlila and other Indian festivals was countered by more than a century of severe oppression. During this period, the Indian community was ghettoized and responded by adopting a siege mentality. The Indian engagement with the Trinidad landscape is awkward: a place where Indians belong yet do not feel fully at home. Crossing the kalapani, the "black water," from India to Trinidad was a one-way trip. Within the Trinidad landscape, Indianness had to be redefined. The Indian celebration most like Carnival is Hosay, derived from Shi'ite Islam.2 Hosay, which takes place for three nights and a day during the Islamic

Hindus at the edge: Self-awareness among adult children of interfaith marriages in Chennai, South India

Abstract: My concern is with the adult children of intercommunity marriages? specifically those who are the offspring of Hindu-non-Hindu unions and those contemplating such unions themselves?and with how, in late twentieth-century Chennai, a child's self-awareness is affected by the experience of having mixed parents. Most particularly, in this paper, I wish to explore how the adult children of such marriages portray their awareness of self, their relations with parents and family, and construct their personal sense of religious identity and practice. I focus on the offspring of intermarriage because, in contrast to their parents, it is the children who must solve the riddle of identity posed by a dual heritage and in their solutions claim for themselves their places in society and among their kin. One wonders, do these mixed offspring represent new ways of reckoning relationships and society, dissolving old social categories and creating new, or do they make choices that enable them to be reabsorbed into society's existing categories of caste, kin, and religion? The autobiographical narratives detailed below reveal that class and education provide upper-middle-class elites flexibility to construct their own personal narratives and to make many of their own choices, partially displacing kinship embedded within caste pedigree and religious community as sources of self-understanding. Most importantly, the narratives portend the emergence of a new religious eclecticism that allows believers situationally to switch religious identities. Interfaith marriage is largely an urban phenomenon in south India, and the interviews on which I base this exploratory analysis took place during 1994 in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu State.1 In India mixed marriages, whether between castes or faiths, are unusual, although there is substantial evidence that some marriage rules have been

Anthropo-Demographic Study Among the Caste and Tribal Groups of Central Himalayas: 3. Mortality Differentials and Determinants

Abstract: Mortality measures and determinants have been presented for the caste croups of Kumaun and the Bhotia tubal groups from Uttar Pradesh hills or Uttarakhand The various population groups reveal diffe...