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SCHOOLS OF SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA
WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE BOMBAY
‘SCHOOL’
APPROACHES : INDOLOGICAL,
CIVILIZATIONAL, HISTORICAL AND
FIELD WORK
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical Development of Sociology In India
1.3 Different Schools in India
1.4 The Bombay School
1.5 Approaches Used In The Study of Sociology
1.5.1 Indological
1.5.2 Civilizational
1.5.3 Historical
1.5.4 Fieldwork
1.6 Summary
1.7 Unit End Questions
1.8 References and Further Reading s
1.0 OBJECTIVES
● To explore the development of different Schools of Sociology in India.
● To learn about the historical development of Bombay School
● To learn about the different approaches followed in Indian Sociology.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
A school can be said as an Institution which has certain scholarly
enterprise. Some characteristics of the it need to be like several scholars
work on some common areas. It has to functional for some years and is
popular because of its work. In the field o f sociology, the term school was
initially used with Chicago and Los Angeles. The present chapter will
focus upon understand the different schools of sociology in India and with
special focus to the Bombay school. In addition, the different approaches
in sociology would also be discussed in the later sections.
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1.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA
Ramkrishna Mukherjee has distinguished three stages in the historical
development of Indian sociology as follows:
i) Proto -professional stage of sociology which existed before the
twentieth century
ii) Professional stage of descriptive and explanatory sociology practised
in the first half of the present century.
iii) Stage of diagnostic sociology.
On the other hand, some other scholars have distinguished the
development of Sociology in India as follows: i) 1773 -1900 A.D. here the
foundations was laid; ii) 1901 -1950 A.D., when they become
professionalized (pre-independence years) iii) the post -Independence
years, when a complex of forces inc luding the under taking of planned
development by the government, the increased exposure of Indian scholars
to the work of their foreign colleagues, and the availability of funds which
resulted in growth in research activity (Srinivas 1973). This period ca n be
again sub divided into the following phases: a) Developments in the
Seventies b) Perspectives in the Eighties c) Imperatives in the Nineties iv)
Sociological Research in India (Nagla, 2008)
Check Your Progres s
1. How could Sociology division be seen in seventies?
2. State the three stages of development as discussed by Ramkrishna
Murkherjee?
1.3 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS IN INDIA
Teaching of Sociology started with 1914 at the University of
Bombay when the colonial government offered a special grant to the
institute for teaching posts. A separate Department of Sociology and
Civics was established in 1919 and Patrick Geddes, the Engl ish Urbanist
was the first professor. G.S Ghurye joined the department and took over
Geddes position in 1924 (Patel, 2002). M.N. Srinivas headed the
Department of Sociology in Delhi where Sociology and Anthropology was munotes.in
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given importance. In Mysore sociology took a social philosophical
orientation. At Lucknow school sociology turned to focus on
interdisciplinary indigenous approach. Dr. Radha Kamal Mukherjee
introduced anthropology in department of economics in 1922. In 1947
sociology was seen as an independe nt discipline. Initially it was Bombay
University which played an important role then Lucknow then, from
1960s Delhi university played a key role. There are several other
departments which also played important roles like Calcutta, Goa etc. The
issue of la nguage also came with several universities where those who had
English centres they became the dominant school than those operating
with regional languages.
Check Your Progress
1.Discuss the specialization of Delhi and Mysore school of Sociology ?
2. State the specialisation of Lucknow school?
1.4 THE BOMBAY SCHOOL
The Department was set up in 1919 with an eminent British
sociologist and town planner Sir Patrick Geddes as the first Professor
and Head. The Department played a pioneering role in the promotion of
social science research in general and in the development of sociology and
cultural anthropology in particular. It initiated a project of mapping out,
independen tly, the vast ethnographic landscape of India through
systematic field studies. In the span of over nine decades, more than 250
Ph.D. and M.Phil. dissertations have been completed in the Department.
The Department played a leading role in the professionalization of
Sociology and Anthropology in India. The Indian Sociological
Society and its Journal Sociological Bulletin owe their inception to the
initiative of Professor Ghurye and his colleagues in the Department.
Long before the value of in ter-disciplinary research came to be widely
acknowledged and emphasised, a number of inter -disciplinary studies
relating to the varied dimensions of Indian society were taken up in the
Department.
Professor Sir Patrick Geddes was the Head of the Departme nt
from 1919 to 1924. His academic endeavours spanned the disciplinary
boundaries of Sociology, Town Planning, Geography and Biology. He
impressed on his students the importance of field work and practical munotes.in
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experience. His work continues to inspire new gene rations of students not
only in Sociology but also in Architecture, Town Planning as well as
Sociology of Science.
Dr. G. S. Ghurye , was appointed Reader and Head of the
Department in 1924. He became Professor in 1934 and continued to head
the Departme nt until his retirement in 1959. Ghurye‟s initial training was
in Sanskrit and Indology. Under the influence of Sir Patrick Geddes,
Ghurye pursued higher studies in Anthropology under the distinguished
anthropologist W.H.R Rivers at Cambridge and later un der A.C. Haddon.
His attempt to combine insights from Indology with anthropological
perspectives was one of the major contributions of the time. After his
retirement he was designated the first Professor Emeritus in the University
of Mumbai. Some of his wo rks have been criticized though yet his
contribution is inevitable.
Professor Ghurye guided 55 students for the Doctorate in
Sociology, probably the highest number for any single Sociologist. He
trained many eminent sociologists who contributed to buildi ng the
discipline in India. Among them, mention may be made of the
following: Iravati Karve and Y.B. Damle who subsequently moved to
University of Pune, M.N. Srinivas who started the Department of
Sociology at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi , M.S.A
Rao who also went to Delhi School of Economics, A.R. Desai and D.
Narain who succeeded Ghurye as Heads of the Department in
Mumbai, M.S. Gore who went on to head the Tata Institute of Social
Sciences and later became the Vice Chancellor of the Univ ersity of
Mumbai, Suma Chitnis who became the Vice Chancellor of SNDT
Women‟s University and Victor D’Souza who was head of the
Department of Sociology at Punjab University.
Professor K.M. Kapadia succeeded Professor Ghurye as Head of
the Department in 19 60. Professor Kapadia will be remembered for his
notable contribution to the study of kinship, family and marriage in India.
His book Family and Marriage in India became a classic in its genre and a
reference book.
Professor A.R. Desai succeeded Professor Kapadia as Head of the
Department in 1967. Professor Desai made a significant contribution to
Sociology through his numerous publications relating to political
sociology, rural sociology, peasant struggles and trade union movement.
His books Social Background of Indian Nationalism, Rural Sociology in
India and Peasant Struggles in India are widely used. He was also a
Marxist scholar and actively engaged with trade union.
Professor J.V. Ferreira assumed the headship of the Department
in 1976. Initially trained in the Department of Sociology, Professor
Ferreira subsequently went to Vienna and obtained a doctorate from the
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theory and methodology through his book Totemism in I ndia (1965) and
later through numerous papers and monographs. He edited the second
series of the ICSSR sponsored Survey of Research in Sociology and
Social Anthropology in 1985. Ferreira also developed the model of
Integral Anthropology.
Professor Dhir endra Narain succeeded Professor Ferreira as
Head of the Department in 1982. Professor Narain completed his doctoral
dissertation under the guidance of Professor G.S. Ghurye, which was later
published as Hindu Character (1957).
Professor A. R. Momin distinguished Cultural Anthropologist
assumed the headship in 1991 after Professor D. Narain Professor Momin
practiced and advanced the Interpretative paradigm in cultural
anthropology, the hermeneutic tradition and phenomenological
perspective in the discipline.
Professor S. K. Bhowmik became the head after Professor Momin
in 1999. Professor Bhowmik carried out pioneering work in the areas of
plantation labour, trade union movement, the issues confronting workers
in the informal sector and urban pov erty. Tea Plantation Labour in
India , Street Vendors and the Global Urban Economy (2009) ,
and Industry, Labour and Society (2012) are among his major
contributions. Since October 2006 Prof. Bhowmik has moved to Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
The study of Gender as a field also emerged in the 1960s and
1970s in the Department. The department also have producing scholarly
work like on Tribes (Dr. Indra Munshi), important writings on Dalit and
marginalization by Dr. Jogdand and Dr. Ramesh Kamble.
Check Your Progress
1. State the contribution of Prof. Bhowmik
2. State the contribution of Prof. Ghurye?
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1.5 APPROACHES USED IN THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY
Nagla (2018) discusses several types of approaches in his book „The
Indian Social Thought‟ like -
1.5.1 Indological :
Indology deals with interpretation of ancient texts and linguistics
studies of the ancient Indian culture (Siddiqui, 1978). The Indological
approach works on the assumption that historically, Indian society and
culture are unique and the „contextually‟ spe cificity of Indian social
realities could be grasped better by the „texts‟. Indological approach refers
to the historical and comparative method based on Indian texts in the study
of Indian society. Indologists use ancient history, epics, religious
manuscr ipts and texts etc, to study of Indian social institutions. The
Indological writings also deals with the Indian philosophy, art, and
culture. Several scholars have used the Indology in their work like K.
Coomarswamy, Radhakamal, Mukherjee, D.P. Mukerjee, G . S. Ghurye,
Louis Dumont.
1.5.2 Civilizational :
Civilizational perspective refers to understanding a society from its
civilization. Civilizational perspective stresses on complex structure of
great and little traditions. It includes the studies on the tribal, rural and
urban culture. The civilizational perspective involves study of a
combination of many subjects like analysis of classical and medieval texts,
administrative records, village, caste and its wider network and ultimately
the issue of unity and diversity. It analyses the structural support sys tems
behind any civilization. For e.g. It looks into the historically framed
portrait of religion, caste, village, state formation, land relations and so on.
The followers of this perspective also believe that one has to undertake
study based on cataloguin g (listing of cultural traits), cultural essence and
cultural communication and history. N.K. Bose and Surajit Sinha, Bernard
S. Cohn and several others have used civilizational perspective in the
understanding of Indian society. They have tried to explore the historicity,
continuity and interlinkage of various structures in India.
1.5.3 Historical:
Social sciences could be divided into two major areas. These could
be classified in two categories viz., the nomothetic and ideographic.
Ideographic science s are those which study unique and unrepeatable
events, while the nomothetic sciences attempt to make generalizations. We
can thus call sociology as a nomothetic science and history as an
ideographic science. Historians and Sociolog ist both collect data but the
way they collect is different. For example – Historians collect the munotes.in
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knowledge of unique phenomena of the past. On the other hand,
sociologists try to seek information about certain uniformities in social
behaviour under specific conditions. Th us, the difference between the two
is the mode of inquiry. However, the data of history has been also widely
used by sociologists. This shows the assimilative quality of sociological
works. At present even historians are using data generated by sociologist s.
(Nagla, 2008). (1) History plays a very important role in Sociology. Guha
notes that history is no more a chronological record of kings and queens;
its realm has been considerably expanded and terms like „social history‟,
„history from below‟, „subalte rn history‟ indicate the variations available
today within the discipline. Another important aspect in which the linkage
between the history and sociology is that both disciplines has been
strengthened, changed understanding of truth and objectivity in his tory.
The monolithic concept of one ideologically neutral truth which is central
to liberal historiography is no more accepted (R. Guha 1989: 214). The
historical truth can give a great understanding of the society. (Cited from
Aloysius). There are other a pproaches too like Marxist, Feminist,
Structural Functionalist being used in the Indian Sociology.
Check Your Progress
1. Write in brief about the Indological approach
2. Discuss the civilizational and historical approach in brief?
1.5.4 Fieldwork :
Sociology has always been dealing between two views. Field view
and book view. Though both stand important, the field view helps in
getting a greater depth of the subject. The field work tradition in India
became more prominent with M.N. Srinivas. He even wrote an article
titled „Studying one‟s own society‟. Srinivas also developed the concept
Sanskritization in his book „Religion and Society among Coorgs of South
India‟ (1952) , D.N. Majumdar conducted fieldwork among Ho tribe of
Kolhan Bihar (Singbhum ), which appeared as book in 1937. Andre
Beteille, Iravati Karve, too carried out fieldwork in village and focused on
the structure of social relationships, institutional patterns, beliefs and value
systems of rural part of India. Several Sociologists and Anthropologists
have continued this tradition even today. Even though the pioneers of the
subject in India. A full -length study of the Sacred City of Gaya is
attempted by Vidyarthi in his book, „Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya‟,
(1961). The study focuses the city of Gaya as a dimension of Indian
civilization in the framework of Red -field and Milton Singer‟s theories of
civilization.
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1.6 SUMMARY
In this chapter we saw the discussion about different schools in
Sociology. We learnt about the tradition of Bombay school w hich started
during the colonial period and under the guidance of Patrick Geddes to
G.S. Ghurye and still continues to thrive. We also learnt about the
different approaches used while studying sociology like Indology,
Civilizational, Histori cal and fieldwork.
1.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the historical development of sociology in India with regards
to different schools of thought?
2. Explain the various approaches used in the study of sociology?
1.8 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
Aloysius, G. (1998). Nationalism without a Nation in India . Oxford
University Press.
Beteille, A. (1973). The teaching of sociology in India. Sociological
Bulletin , 22(2), 216 -233.
Das, V. (Ed.). (2004). Handbook of Indian sociology . New Delhi:
Oxford Uni versity Press.
Gupta, K. P. (1974). Sociology of Indian Tradition and Tradition of
Indian Sociology. Sociological Bulletin , 23(1), 14 -43.
Jodhka, S. S. (1998). From “book view” to “field view”: Social
anthropological constructions of the Indian village. Oxford
development studies , 26(3), 311 -331.
Kumar, V. (2016). How egalitarian is the Indian sociology. Economic
and Political Weekly , 51(25), 33 -39.
Patel, S. (2002). The profession and its association: five decades of the
Indian sociological society. International sociology , 17(2), 269 -284.
Patel, S. (Ed.). (2016). Doing sociology in India: Genealogies,
locations, and practices . Oxford University Press.
Patel, S. (2010). At crossroads: sociology in India. The ISA handbook
of diverse sociological traditions , 280 -91.
Madan, T. N. (2011). Radhakamal Mukerjee and his contemporaries:
Founding fathers of sociology in India. Sociological bulletin , 60(1), 18 -
44. munotes.in
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Madan, T. N. (2011). Sociological Traditions: methods and
perspectives in the sociology of India . SAGE P ublications India.
Mukherjee, R. (1973). Indian sociology: Historical development and
present problems. Sociological bulletin , 22(1), 29 -58.
Nagla, B. K. (2008). Indian sociological thought. Rawat publications.
Srinivas, M. N. (1987). Development of Sociol ogy in India: An
overview. Economic and Political Weekly , 135 -138.
Special Issue on „The Bombay School of Sociology: The Stalwarts and
Their Legacies‟, Sociological Bulletin (May -August) 2013, Vol. 62,
No. 2.
Upadhya, C. (2007). The idea of Indian society: GS Ghurye and the
making of Indian sociology.
Vasavi, A. R. (2011). Pluralising the sociology of India. Contributions
to Indian sociology , 45(3), 399 -426.
https://mu.ac.in/department -of-sociology
*****
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2
INDIANIZING AND INDIGENIZING
SOCIOLOGY AND NON BRAHMIN
PERSPECTIVES
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Indigenization of Sociology
2.3 Need for Indigenization in the context of India
2.4 Aspects of Indigenization
2.5 Classification of Indigenization
2.6 Challenges
2.7 Indigenization of Sociology in India
2.8 Non-Brahmin Perspective
2.9 Summary
2.10 Unit End Questions
2.11 References and Further Readings
2.0 OBJECTIVES
● To understand the concept of Indianization.
● To identify the factors behind Indigenization of Sociology.
● To analyse the emergence of Non -Brahmin perspective.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In order to understand Indianization and Indigenization of
Sociology it is important to understand the concepts of Sociology in India,
Sociology of India and Sociology for India. It started in 1914, at the
University of Mumbai by the Grant received from go vernment of India.
However, the discipline of sociology had made its formal beginning at the
Calcutta University in 1917 due to the efforts of B.N Seal but did not
make any impression. In 1919, the department of sociology was set up at
the University of Mu mbai by Patrick Geddes who was joined by G.S
Ghurye and N.A Toothi. Sociology was introduced in the department of
Economics and Sociology in 1921 at Lucknow University headed by
Radhakamal Mukherjee. Due to the effort of B.N Seal and A.F Wadia
sociology wa s introduced at Mysore University in 1928 and in the same
year sociology was started at Osmania University under Jafar Hasan and munotes.in
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in the late 1930s the teaching of sociology began in the Poona University
under Irawati Karve.
However undertaking empirical r esearch was prevalent before
professionalization of sociology to satisfy the requirement of the colonial
government. The area of research were caste, tribes, family, marriage and
kinship system, rural and urban communities and were influenced by the
wester n values and normative principles of Christianity which many India
Scholars felt was biased (Mucha 2012). Teachers had freedom to design
the courses as per their interest.
Sociology of India stands for the perspectives to understand Indian
Society. It cov ers social researches undertaken to study Indian Society
from colonial to contemporary period. The attempt to understand
structural and cultural aspects of Indian society were investigated by
undertaking village studies, city, region, nation and civilizati on. Even the
basis for differentiation, diversity and unity were investigated through
institutions such as caste, class, tribe, kinship, marriage and family,
gender, political institution and religious traditions. Attempts were made
to examine these instit utions by studying the concepts such as
communalism, secularism and identity movements. Sociological
perspectives thus remain an important factor to understand Indian Society.
Sociology for India stands for emancipation and contextualization
i.e Indianiza tion and Indigenization of Sociology. Mukherjee (1973)
divides development of sociology in to three distinct period Proto -
professional stage before 20th century; Professional stage of descriptive
and explanatory sociology in the first half of the 20th century and present
Diagnostic stage. In his opinion Indian sociology should enter diagnostic
state in order to seek solution to the social problems faced by Indian
society. There was a paradigm shift in Indian Sociology, a question was
raised regarding t he relevance of pedagogic content of sociology and
methods of research. RamKrishna Mukherjee called this phase as a
modernisers of Indian Sociology. By 1980s there was a quest for the
relevance and indigenization of Sociology in India. The western influenc e
on Indian Sociology began to decline. And 1990s onwards the Indian
Sociology started focussing on the LPG, PPP and other areas such as
Gender, Dalits, Migration and Diaspora etc.
2.2 INDIGENIZATION SOCIOLOGY
The ideas that culminated in to the emergenc e of discipline of
sociology can be traced to the three major events that described the
modern society and the culture of modernity: the growth and expansion of
modern science which stand for the view that human mind was capable of
mastering the world in e very sphere and the doctrine of naturalism - that all
phenomenon in the world of nature can be explained through cause and
effect, the American war of Independence and the French Revolution that
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Revolution - beginning of capitalist mode of production and need for
expansion of market. These three major events of history not only
prepared a background for creating a science of society but also outlined
the framework for developing sociologic al knowledge ( Jayaram 2019).
The new discipline spread to other parts of the world through the
process of colonization. For example in India the cities of Mumbai,
Kolkata and Chennai (Bombay, Calcutta and Madras) got universities
similar on the lines of British higher education This process categorised
the world social science system into center and periphery and the critiques
of this system called for the development of indigenous sociology (Panahi
2018). The indigenous scholars began asking questions regarding the
relevance of theories and methodology imported from the west and also
initiated a movement to replace it by indigenous thought and indigenous
techniques of research.
The term indigenization means the process of indigenizing
something that is exogenous from inside (Nagla 2013). Switching to
exogenous sets of thoughts by indigenous ones was also termed as
indigenization. The movement to indigenize sociology gained moment um
in 1970s when scholars from the developing world raised their voice
against the establishment of social sciences enabling “captivity of mind”
(developed by Alatas S.F, Malaysian Sociologist who critically explored
the indigenization of Sociology in Nige ria) and they were later joined by
others. The concern for indigenization of sociology was articulated first at
the Asian Conference on Teaching and Research in Social Sciences
organised by UNESCO at Shimla in 1973. The need for indigenization of
sociology was again raised in a meeting on International Cooperation in
the Field of Social Sciences organised by UNESCO in 1976 at Paris. One
of the astounding fact of this meeting was that it was attended by almost
ninety percent of the social scientist from the developed world.
Subsequently, the need for indigenization of sociology was addressed in
the Conference of National Social Science Councils and analogous bodies
in a meeting held in 1977. Later in the year 1978 a conference on
Indigenous Anthropology was a rranged by Wenner -Gren Foundation and
in 1979 the Korean Social Science Research Council convened a seminar
to deliberate on “Organization of Western Approaches in Social
Sciences”. In the same year, the AASSREC in collaboration with CNSSC
organised a spec ial panel discussion during its third conference held in
Manila. Believing in the need for indigenization and development of
independent sociology the advocate of this idea attempted to indigenize
sociology in their respective countries.
Thus the common u nderstanding among the western and non -
western scholars was that the social science in Asia, Africa and Latin
America is beleaguered by Eurocentric, imitative, elitist and they all
advocated for alternative discourse (Alatas 2005).
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Check your progress:
1. What are the factors that led to emergence of Sociology as a discipline?
2. What is indigenization of Sociology?
2.3 NEED FOR INDIGENIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF INDIA
Many scholars in India expressed their concern regarding the
applicability and relevance of the methods and theories from the west and
advocated for new methods and approaches relevant to Indian milieu
which led to the call for indigenisation of sociology.
Some thinkers believed that Indian Sociological imagination
emerged during Indian renaissance or in words of Radha Kamal
Mukherjee the pre -sociological reference groups. Some members of these
groups supported liberal reformist blend of Indian tradition and modernity
while other groups promoted revivalist dismissal of colonial domination.
One of the earliest Indian thinkers who was critical of Eurocentric
thinking was Raja Rammohan Roy. He was against the disparaging
outlook of the missionaries towards Hin duism and Islam. He argued that
the doctrines of Vedas, Puranas and the Tantras were more rational than
Christianity. Similarly Benoy Kumar Sarkar also critiqued several aspects
of Orientalist Indology. Sarkar also criticized Asian Scholars for falling
prey to the misleading sociological methods and western world (Alatas
2005).
The founding fathers of Indian Sociology such as B.N Seal, Sarkar,
G.S Ghurye, R. Mukherjee and D.P Mukherjee works were based on
premises of the nationalist reformation and were I ndia-centered. There
was a prevalence of Indological approach. All these Scholars believed that
Sociology was a cultural critique and questioned the attempt of the
western Indologist to understand Indian society from evolutionary and
reductionist perspecti ves.
Deva (1965) suggested that western ethnocentrism should be
discarded from the existing theoretical and conceptual framework of
sociology and a theoretical framework should be evolved that is impartial
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society. S.C Dube (1977) contend that Indian sociology was facing a
crisis due to the fact that it functions within the framework of dependency
by way of satellite system rather than an autonomous one.
In Singh‟s (1984) view most soci al science values intrinsically
involve concepts, tools and techniques that are developed for the study of
the western society. It introduces a kind of methodological individualism
and social system ideology in theories and researches which may not be
relevant for third world societies.
Other scholars who advocated the indigenization of sociology were
Yogesh Atal (2003) who believed that the need for indigenization of social
science emerged from the need to re -examine the structure of social
sciences and develop an appropriate strategies to promote indigenization
and Parth Mukherji (2005) asserted that the issue is not of autonomy but
of the „captive mind‟ thus the concept of indigenization as a process of
producing relevant concepts becomes more significa nt.
2.4 ASPECTS OF INDIGENIZATION
The proponents of indigenization stressed on some of the important
aspects of indigenization which are as follows:
1. Self-awareness and rejection of a borrowed consciousness: The
proponent stressed on the need for an inside view. It advocated
understanding of one‟s own society not by western concepts, theories
and methodology but generating new concepts and methods.
2. Alternative perspectives: Developing alternative approach on human
societies to make social science more enriching and less parochial.
3. Historical and cultural specificities: Indigenization appeals for
historical and cultural specificities with the aim to d evelop dynamic
approach to deal with national issues
4. False Nationalism: The proponents of indigenization of social sciences
stressed that indigenization should be above narrow parochialism or it
should not lead to fragmentation of a discipline into several insulated
systems of beliefs centred on geographical boundaries. It opposed not
only false universalism but also false nationalism.
Check your progress:
1. Write a note on need for indigenization of Sociology in India.
2. Explain important aspects of Indigenization of Sociology in India.
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2.5 CLASSIFICATION OF INDIGENIZATION
Krishna Kumar in “Indigenization and Transnational Co -operation
in the Social Science” suggested three types of Indigenization: Structural,
Substantive and Theoretical.
a. Structural Indigenization: It means nation‟s institutional and
organizational capabilities for the production and diffusion of social
science knowledge.
b. Substantive Indigenization: It can also be called as content
indigenization. The main thrust of social science should be own
society, people, political and economic institutions.
c. Theoretical indigenization: It occurs when social scientists of a nation
get involve in constructing distinctive conceptual frameworks and
meta -theories which reflect their worldvi ews, socio -cultural
experiences and perceived objectives.
2.6 CHALLENGES
Atal (2003) contends that the effort of indigenization in the Asian context
is pursued on following grounds:
1. National Language and use of local materials for teaching:
Many countries began teaching in regional language as a medium
of instruction at higher level of learning that required production of
material in regional language. Most of the reading materials were in
foreign language which the students would find it dif ficult to comprehend.
The need for vernacular books would be difficult to fulfil as the scholars
though expert in their respective field lack skills in vernacular or were
reluctant to come down from their standard and unwilling to write books
in regional l anguage at the cost of their research.
Secondly the new generation scholars due to their lack of
knowledge of international language would remain unexposed to the
recent trends and development in their respective field. At the same time
their work would not have wider reach. In case of India the same thing
may happen as we have numerous regional languages. Today due to
globalization there is curiosity to learn new languages such as French,
Korean, Chinese German etc., beside English.
2. Research by insider s:
Another important effort to indigenize is to promote research
undertaken by the locals. Many methodological challenges pertaining to
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research by the outsider is many a time politically motivated and
sometime even insiders are also restricted to undertake research on certain
themes. Restriction of the publication of research findings in another issue
where the outsiders may be allowed to collect data and publish their
findings but the insiders may not.
3. Determination of research priorities:
Another aspects of indigenization is promoting themes that is
regarded as relevant and having national significance which permeate in
all the sectors of Asian countries for example planning and resource
allocation. Thus introduction of social sciences teaching and the
promotion of research is influenced by this criterion.
4. Theoretical and methodological reorientation:
This is taking place gradually as voices are being raised about the
dominance of western theories and their suitability. Some press for the
need of Marxist alternatives but it is still alien and not justifiable. Thus
there is not much advancement in the de velopment of indigenous theories
and methodologies.
The process of indigenization became wide spread in different
parts of the world in case of India the scholars began working on various
fronts such as evaluating the work of foreigners on India; disting uishing
sociology from ideology and social anthropology and ; lastly defining the
scope of Indian Sociology and fix priorities for research.
The key factors that gave impetus for indigenization was as a part
of nationalist agenda many Indian scholars of t he 1940s and 1950s
examined the writings of the aliens on India to uncover colonial strategy
and western plot to degrade Indian culture and civilization to prove
supremacy of the west. Many popular approach such as the theories of
unilinear evolution, stru ctural functionalism and Marxism were seen as
western plot to maintain unequal, hierarchical relations. Concerned were
raised in the context of applicability of Western theories and methodology
in research and limitation of an outsider to understand intern al structures
of Indian society. The insider and outsider debate became a
methodological concern.
2.7 INDIGENIZATION OF SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA
Surendra Sharma (1983) summarised the objectives on Indigenization of
Sociology in India as follows:
1. Status of Sociology in India.
2. Need for re -adaptation and re -conceptualization of sociological
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3. Possibilities of inter -disciplinary approach and co -operation available
that can be further envisaged.
4. Problems of teac hing and research in sociology in India.
5. Possibility of further improvement.
6. Role of sociology and Sociologists in developing society.
7. Theoretical and practical problems to be taken up for research by
sociologists in India.
Conclusions drawn:
1. There is no specific formulae of Sociological enterprise and the
practice of sociology to be based on academic sensibility of individual
sociologists.
2. No antinomy between the use of approach such as historical facts and
the structural functional approach
3. Sociologists showed faith in universalistic characteristic of sociology
for India.
4. The prospect of having a typical and particularistic sociology rejected
(Singh 1967).
It is clear from above discussions that Indian Sociologist were
aware about the growth and development of sociology as a discipline.
They attempted self -analysis by examining the origin of Sociology as a
discipline and its growth. They reviewed the impact of British and
American sociology and Marxist approach to under stand the issues and
challenges faced by the discipline. It is evident that sociology in India in
the 19th and the 20th century was not the mirror image of the western
theories, concepts and methods. It was contemporaneous to the discipline
of sociology in the West. Sociological studies developed new sensitivities
which is evident from the theoretical orientations such as ethno -sociology,
post structuralism, neo functionalism etc. Specific areas of research was
also undertaken such as Sociology of Environment, Sociology of
Organization, Sociology of Tourism, analysis of problems faced by the
weaker section of society so as to promote social reconstruction and
development (Nagla 2013).
Check your progress:
1. Write a note on Indigenization of Sociology.
2. Explain challenges to indigenize sociology.
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2.8 NON -BRAHMIN PERSPECTIVE
In the study of Indian society scholars have used various
perspectives such as Indology, Structural Functionalism, Cultural and
Marxist. The Indological perspective stressed on ideals of Hindu Society
such as Dharma, Karma and Moksha etc. while the Structu ral Functional
perspective of Parsons and Merton emphasized on integration. Merton‟s
reference model was widely used to understand social mobility. The
structural orientation began stressing on power structure, family structure
and social stratification. T he Indian sociologists were influenced by the
theoretical orientation of Durkhiem, Weber and Marx. The culturological
approach to sociology started with the studies of M.N Srinivas on
„Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India‟. This study
broug ht forth the concepts such as Brahminization, Sanskritization and
Westernization. The dialectic historical approach based on the Marxist
perspective and method was considered by some scholars to be the most
suitable perspective to understand Indian social reality. A.R Desai who
advocated dialectic historical approach focussed on inequality, power and
property relations and the perspective of the marginalized, who were
involved in new social movements (Patel 2010).
Post-independence due to land reforms and wage legislation
coming into force the dynamic relations in agrarian society were seen to
be apt. As the protest movements gained momentum the life of the
oppressed became core of study. However to study the oppressed people
various theories emerged like theory of relative deprivation and the
subaltern perspective but it was considered inadequate.
The non -Brahmin social reformers not only questioned the
Brahminical hegemony but also developed their own philosophies and
ideology. They critically analysed historical writings and interpreted
Brahmanic production of knowledge. The factors that led to the
emergence of non -brahmanism was creation of public space and
development of idea of rights an outcome of colonial rule. The
discontinuation of old socio -political order influenced the social and
traditional relations of society. The new socio -economic order, cultural
changes and revenue collection policies dislocated people from their
traditional occupation and social status. Due to these changes various
social groups started their pursuit for new social identities and alternatives.
This search for new identities and alternative was multidimensional. The
growth of consciousness and political awakening was an outcome of these
reactions. As the life of people wa s not much organised during this period
the consciousness that emerged was scattered among various groups.
The term consciousness here means beginning of the resistance or
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movements lack ed ideological force. In most of the cases the origin of
social consciousness among the non -Brahmin in India in 19th century was
part of general public consciousness it was only during the 20th century
that the non -Brahmin movements gained concrete shape.
The protest movement against Brahmanical dominance emerged in
different parts of India for example in South India Aravippuram
movement (Shri Narayan Guru) and Self Respect movement (Perriyar),
Western India Satyashodak Samaj - Phule. But the movement reach ed its
peak under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar.
Although the approach of these social reformers were different but
the ideals remained same emancipation of the oppressed. They questioned
the writings and works of scholars who while defining India were
immensely influenced by the world view of Hinduism which privileged
the Brahmins. They challenged the Brahmanical production of knowledge
and gave voice to the marginalized and the oppressed section of Indian
society.
Sharmila Rege (2010) pointed that fo r the colonialists and
nationalist the nature of knowledge was essentially Hindu and
Brahmanical but after second World War the social science discourses
altered the binaries of Orient and Occident, the tradition and modernity or
indigenous approaches all of which explained the structural inequalities in
Indian society and normalized the knowledge production and education
project offered in India to be Hindu and Brahmanical. For her Phule and
Ambedkar by their emancipatory non -vedic traditions of Lokayatta,
Buddha and Kabir and Western ideas of Thomas Paine, John Dewey and
Karl Marx challenged the binaries of modernization and Indian tradition,
private caste and gender with public nation and strived to refashioned
modernity and thus its project of education.
T. K Oommen (2001) contend that the view from below is an old
and enduring issues in Sociology. The traditionally oppressed and
stigmatized groups which are homogenous and partially emancipated and
empowered began getting voice. These groups started ques tioning the
knowledge produced by the upper caste, men and bourgeoisie. The
necessity to give representation to them in the production of knowledge
gained recognition though reluctantly. Thus those who were at the bottom
of the society and invisible due to the upper caste, urban, middle class,
male researcher became the core and claimed their legitimate stake in the
production and representation of knowledge.
Check your progress:
1. What is Non -Brahmin perspective?
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2. Enumerate important features of Non-Brahmin perspective.
2.9 SUMMARY
Indian Sociology is plural and multidimensional which is
manifested in the various programmes of the study, research and
publication. After independence certainly it has come out of the shadow of
colonialism and moved forward indigenization of research and curricula
(Sharma, 2019).
The non -Brahmin perspective is based on the premises that there is
relation between knowledge and power. This relation influences the social
reality. The non -Brahmin perspective ra ises the question on how to
understand India? It argues that for long the Indian society has been
identified as Hindu society therefore the concepts such as inequality and
discrimination, hierarchy, injustice etc., were not matter of sociological
discussio n. So there was a demand for an alternative approach to
understand Indian society. This approach was political in nature as it not
only questioned the politics behind knowledge generation but also
incriminated the self that was involve in the procedure of knowledge
creation, consumption and circulation. The radical social thinkers from
various parts of India confronted the Brahmanical creation of knowledge
and gave voice to the marginalized section of Indian society with their
emancipatory perspective. The non-Brahmin perspective also took up the
cause of women liberation by emphasizing on girls education, widow
remarriage and so on. It envisaged a society based on equity and justice.
2.10 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. What is indigenization? Discuss it in the context of India.
2. Write a note on Indianization and Indigenization of Sociology.
3. Present different types of Indigenization.
4. Elaborate on Non -Brahmanical Perspective.
2.11 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
1. Alatas, S.F, 2005, indigenization: Features and Problems, in Jan van
Breman, Eyal Ben and Syed Farid Alatas (eds), Asian Anthropology,
London Routledge
2. Atal, Yogesh, 2003, Indian Sociology From Where to Where, Rawat
Publication, Jaipur and New Delhi munotes.in
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3. Deva, Indra, 1965, Possibility of an Indian Sociolog y, in T.K.N
Unnithan et al (ed) Sociology in India, Prentice -Hall of India Pvt.Ltd,
New Delhi
4. Dube S.C, 1977, Indian Sociology at the Turning Point, Sociological
Bulletin, 26(1).
5. Kumar, Krishna, 1979, Indigenization and Transnational Cooperation
in the Social Sciences, in Kumar Krishna (ed), Bonds without
Bondage, East -West Cultural Learning Institute, Honolulu.
6. Mucha, Janusz, 2012, Sociology of India, Sociology in India, Indian
Sociology, Polish Sociological Review, 2(178).
7. Mukherjee, Radhakamal, 1973, Indian Sociology: Historical
Development and Present Problems, Sociological Bulletin, Vol(22)
Issue 1.
8. Mukherjee, RamKrisna, 1973, Indian Sociology: Historical
Development and Present Problems, Sociological Bulletin, Vol(22)
Issue 1
9. Mukherji, Partha,2005, Sociology in South Asia: Indigenization as
Universalizing Social Science, Sociological Bulletin, Vol(54) Issue: 3
10. Nagla, B.K, 2013, Indian Sociological Thought, Rawat Publication,
Jaipur
11. Narayana, Jayaram, 2019, Towards Indigenization of an Uncertain
transplant: Hundred Years of Sociology of India, Tajseer, Vol(1)
Issue 2
12. Oommen, T.K, 2001, Understanding Indian Society: The Relevance of
Perspectives From Below, Occasional Paper, Series 4, Department of
Sociology, University of Pune
13. Panahi Mohd.Hossein, 2018 , Attempts at Indigenizing Sociology:
Achievements and Impediments, XIX ISA World Congress of
Sociology, Toronto, Canada
14. Patel, Sujata, 2010, At Crossroads: Sociology in India, in S.Patel (ed),
The ISA handbook of Diverse Sociological Traditions, Sage
Publication, London
15. Rege Sharmila, 2010, Education as Trutiya Ratna: Towards Phule -
Ambedkarite Feminist Pedagogical Practice, EPW, Vol.45, No. 44/45.
16. Sharma, K.L, 2019, Indian Sociology at the Threshold of the 21st
Century: Some Observations, Sociological Bull etin, 68(1), Sage
17. Sharma, Surendra, 1985, Sociology in India: A Perspective from
Sociology of Knowledge, Rawat Publications, Jaipur
18. Sing Yogendra, 1973, Modernization of Indian Tradition: A systemic
study of social change, Thomson Press, Delhi
19. Singh Yogendra, 1984, Image of Man: Ideology and Theory in Indian
Sociology, Chanakya Publication, Delhi
20. Singh, Yogendra, 1967, Sociology for India: The Emerging
Perspective, in T.K Unnithan et al (ed), Sociology for India, Prentice
Hall of India Pvt.Ltd, New De lhi
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3
AMBEDKAR’S THEORIZING OF CASTE
AND ‘CASTE QUESTION’, DUMONTIAN
AND POST DUMONTIAN APPROACHES
TO THEORIZING CASTE
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Ambedkar‟s Theorizing of Caste
3.3 Dumontian Approach to Theorizing Caste
3.4 Post Dumontian Approaches to Theorizing Caste
3.5 Summary
3.6 Unit End Questions
3.7 Reference s and Further Readings
3.0 OBJECTIVES
● To understand the concept and theorization of caste.
● To examine Dr. Ambedkar‟s and Louis Dumont‟s approaches to
theorising of caste.
● To gain a critical understanding of the Post -Dumontian approaches to
theorising Caste.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It is challenging to generalize the role and meaning of caste in the
present day India. There are conflicting views. For some it has vanished,
while for others caste give meaning to their lives and forms their identities
(Garalyte, 2017). Caste has been deliberated in classical Hindu writings,
in micro -ethnographic accounts and in many caste based mobilization.
Caste as a form of stratification is both historical and contemporary
reality. However history of theorization of caste started with the work of
British orientalist. The attempt to systematically theorise caste was made
by C. Bougle in his essay published in 1908 where he explained caste to
be not only hierarchically arranged hereditary groups distinct from each
other in some aspect but also interde pendent in other (Jodhka, 2010).
There are numerous accounts regarding the origin of caste given by
sociologists, anthropologists and other scholars but no particular account
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speculat ion (Blunt, 1931). However, there exist three broader perspectives
that is the religious -mystical, biological and socio -historical. Each of these
perspectives have been debated (Sharma 2005; Pruthi, 2004; Bayly 1999;
Blunt 1931). But these perspectives thr ow light in understanding the origin
of caste.
The term caste stems from the Spanish and Portuguese word
„casta‟ which means “race, lineage, or breed” (Mookherjee, 2012). The
Spanish used the term to mean a clan or lineage but the Portuguese used it
to explain the in -marrying hereditary Hindu social gr oups in India (Kadel,
2014). There is no universally accepted definition of caste. It means
different to different people depending upon situation. However, various
scholars have defined caste as:
Andre Beteille defined caste as „a small and named group o r persons
having features such as endogamy, hereditary membership and
particular life style associated with pursuit of certain type of
occupation and relatively distinct ritual status in a hierarchical system
which is based on concepts of purity and pollu tion‟.
Berreman elaborated on caste as a system based on birth ascribed
stratification with socio -cultural pluralism and hierarchical interaction.
Velassery described caste as an endogamous group with hereditary
based ethnic subdivision associated with the position of superior or
inferior rank of social esteem compared to such subdivisions.
Iravati Karve expressed that in caste based society large part of
individual‟s social and cultural activity is limited to their own group.
Thus caste is a hereditary endogamous group with common name,
common occupation, and common culture and relatively rigid in nature
forming a single homogeneous unit. Nevertheless caste has adapted few
new characteristics such as having formal organization, less rigid and
associated with politics.
The concept of caste is linked to two terms Varna and Jati. The
term Varna means colour and is found in Vedic and Sanskrit texts which
means fourfold social stratification in Hindu society linked with certain
occupations. It is interesting to note that the untouchables were not
mentioned in the earliest texts and till today there is disagreement
regarding the origin of the concept and phenomenon of untouchability.
The Varna model demonstrate singularity, uniformity and stability of the
socia l system (Garalyte, 2017). On the other hand Jati is a local system of
ranking which is heredity based endogamous groupings associated with
certain occupation and is interdependent. In Beteille views caste does not
act as a uniform system of social stratif ication instead it is a segmentation
of several orders. Thus Varna is a static Brahmanical textual model and
Jati is a dynamic social identities which exists at the ground level. The Jati
groups get further expanded into local hierarchical system closely
resembling Varna model.
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Check your progress:
1.What is Caste?
2. Explain the term varna and jati.
3.2 AMBEDKAR’S APPROACH TO THEORISING CASTE
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in his research paper titled „ Castes in
India, their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, 1916 which he read on
9th May in front of the Anthropology seminar of Dr. Goldenweigor while
pursuing his doctoral studies in New York at the Columbia University
expounded the framework, emergence, development and growth of caste
in India . He developed the theory of caste by tracing the creation and
development of caste in India that led to marginalization of low caste
people. The two principles that theorised Ambedkar‟s view on caste were
„graded inequality and naturalization‟ of caste sy stem (Gandee, 2015).
Caste in its classical form for Ambedkar deals with socio -cultural,
economic and political aspects of governance of Hindu society and it is
exclusive to Hindu society. The hierarchical structure of caste system is
grounded on exclusi on and inequality which functions due to multiplicity
of caste which stand against each other in terms of ritual purity. His views
presupposes the Dumontian model of caste where the untouchables are
permanently considered unclean and allows higher caste to uphold their
purity (Gandee, 2015).
Caste is endogamous restricting inter caste marriages and assigns
civil, economic, educational and cultural rights for each caste based on
heredity with no freedom to change the status.
For Ambedkar caste system is n ot only divisive but also
exploitative. Due to caste system the lower caste people were victimised
by the upper caste people. Caste stratification placed lower castes at the
bottom of the caste structure, left them to lead a meaningless life and be
slaves of the upper caste. Their basic rights denied and life made worst.
While concluding his presentation he also stressed on the need for right
approach to study Caste.
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Ambedkar while dealing with caste analyzed definitions given by various
thinkers:
a. Senart defined caste as closed corporation, hereditary in nature having
a traditional and independent organization including a chief and a
council. Meeting occasionally in assemblies of authority and coming
together in certain festivals. People are bound t ogether by common
occupations related particularly to sharing food, marriage alliance and
to the questions of ceremonial pollution. The members of the caste
groups are ruled by the exercise of jurisdiction the reach of which may
differs. The authority of t he community is felt through the sanctions of
penalties and exclusion from the group.
Ambedkar argues that Senart‟s characterization of caste on the idea of
pollution originates in priestly ceremonialism. The idea of pollution is
linked to the institution of Caste merely because the caste that is
placed higher in the caste strata is the priestly caste and the idea of
pollution associated with caste is only religious.
b. Nesfield explained caste as a class. In his opinion caste is like a class
of community that disowns any relation with other class and does not
allow intermarry and inter -dinning. In Ambedkar views Nesfield has
mistaken the effect for the cause. The absence of inter -dinning and
inter-marrying is due to exclusiveness.
c. In Sir Herbert Risley „s view caste is a collection of families or group
of families having common names, common descent from a mythical
ancestors, human or divine, engage in specific occupation, follow
same calling and forming a single homogenous community. In
Ambedkar‟s view Ris ley‟s definition does not make any new
contribution and therefore not even worth mentioning.
d. Dr. Ketkar definition highlights two characteristics of caste as a social
group :
a) membership by birth and
b. prohibition on inter caste marriage.
In the opi nion of Ambedkar prohibition on inter caste marriage
means restricting the membership only to those born in a particular group.
It focused on caste as a system and highlights only those features which
are essential for the existence of caste within the sys tem and excluded
other features as secondary. Thus Ambedkar was critical of all the above
concept of caste as it understood caste as a separate entity and not as a
group within, with certain relations to the system of castes as a whole
(Kannabiran, 2009).
Ambedkar presents an ethnological account of population of India.
He rejected racial theories to explain caste system in India. He maintains
that caste is a mix of Ayans, Dravidians, Mongolians and Scythians who
came to India centuries ago at different po int of time. He contend that
caste system did not emerge to prevent intermingling of people from
different groups nor did it was a mean to maintain purity of blood. In fact munotes.in
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intermingling of culture and blood took place long before the emergence
of caste sy stem in India. In his view Indian society was exogamous where
all the groups would maintain close contact with one another and
assimilate and amalgamate into a homogenous society.
Ambedkar argued that the high caste Hindu Social Reformers who
were crusadi ng against the practice of Sati, Widow Remarriage, Child
marriage and other social evils did not stressed on the need to abolish
caste system and Shastras. He questioned Hindu texts such as Manu Smriti
and Dharma Shastra and said that these texts are agai nst the interest of the
women and Dalits. He waged a war against discrimination of Dalits by his
writings such as in Mook Nayak, Equality Janta and Bahiskrit Bharat. He
fought for the rights of the Dalits, Women, and Peasants.
Ambedkar advocated for annihilation of caste and socialism within
the economic structure that would be based on the enlightenment of the
middle class and would include emancipation of land and industrial capital
(Teltumbe, 2013). He gave the slogan „educate, agitate and organize ‟.
By annihilation of caste he meant religious reforms and that was possible
only when:
a. All the religious texts such as Vedas, Shastras and Puranas are
abolished. And there remains only one religious text acceptable and
recognized by all Hindus.
b. Priesthood to be abolished. Only those who clear the exams conducted
by State should be the Priest. The priesthood should be provided by
State Law and it should not be hereditary.
c. Priest should be a government servant and the number of priest should
be les s.
d. Inter -caste marriage should be embraced and exogamous marriages
should replace endogamous.
e. Inter -dining system should be adopted. There should be no
discrimination on the basis of caste, class, and religion etc.,
f. He strongly believed that ideal religio n is based on liberty, equality
and fraternity. He emphasize on the education for the downtrodden.
Ambedkar‟s activism and political thought collectively played a
decisive role in building a negative identity a source of substantive rights
claims. In the words of Rao‟s (2009) “Ambedkar‟s critical engagement
with and creative transformation of, liberal democratic norms and
practices produced new idioms for untouchability as a form of historic
discrimination and enabled experimentation with a range of amelio rative
measures.”
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3.3 DUMONTIAN APPROACH TO THEORISING CASTE
The French anthropologist Louis Dumont was one of the most
influential writer on Caste. The centre of his debate has been India and the
West. From 1951 onward, he wrote and lectured on caste. In his opinion
caste was omnipresent and it was symbolic of India‟s cultural unity and
distinctiveness. The product of this scholastic resea rch endeavour was his
magnum opus Homo Hierarchicus, 1966.
Homo Hierarchicus is very widely discussed work on the caste and
it was translated in many languages but up till now it is not translated in to
any Indian language. His work gave new insight to t he study of caste and
social structure. The concepts of ideology and traditions are intrinsic parts
of his model.
Dumont asserts that hierarchy is the main characteristics of Indian
society and it makes Indian society to be different from the individuali stic
western societies. His study provided a holistic and universalistic narrative
on Indian social stratification system. His primary concern was attributes
of caste therefore his approach to understand caste is called as attributional
approach. He descri bed caste as a set of relationships based on economic,
political and kinship systems that is sustained by values which is religious
in nature. He asserted that caste is a special type of inequality, whose
essence has to be interpreted by the sociologist.
The starting point of Dumont‟s study is Bougle‟s definition of caste. In his
opinion caste is a pan India institution and caste groups are distinct and
connected to one another on the basis of:
Division of labour where each group has in theory or tradition a fixed
profession from which the members can deviate to certain limit.
Hierarchical ranking of the groups based on superiority of pure and
inferiority of the impure.
Separation in matters of marriage and contact.
On the basis of above definition of caste, the important characteristics of
caste are as follows:
India is made up of small territories and caste.
Every caste has a designated geographical area and
Marrying outside one‟s own caste is not permissible
Dumont analysis of caste is based on sing le principle – the
opposition of pure and impure. The core of this opposition is „hierarchy‟
that is superiority of the pure and inferiority of the impure and separation
of the pure from the impure (Madan, 1971). munotes.in
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In Dumont view two important norms that reg ulates caste
hierarchy are the dichotomy between purity and pollution and the
distinction between status and power. The dichotomy between purity and
pollution places Brahmins at the topmost position in the ritual hierarchy
and the untouchables at the botto m of it. For him the untouchables were
involved in impure tasks as a result some of them were attributed to
massive and permanent impurity. Similarly occupation, food, gods and
other aspects of Hindu life also falls in to the same hierarchical model of
purity and pollution for example birth and death. While in the context of
second norm he stress that hierarchy is of status and therefore is
independent of power for example Brahmins enjoy superior position
above the power holding Kshatriyas because ritually they are pure. Thus
Dumont see caste systems in terms of ideas and values which for him is
formal comprehensible rational system. Even economic system such as
Jajmani is based on religious values not on the principles of economics.
He also observed the si gnificant changes taking place in caste
system. He pointed that the traditional interdependence of caste has been
taken over by a “universe of impenetrable blocks, self -sufficient, essential,
and identical and in competition with one another which he terme d as
„substantialization of castes‟
According to him study of caste system is necessary to know India
and it is duty of general sociology to study caste. In his work Homo
Hierarchicus he developed a model of Indian Civilization based on a non -
competitive ritual hierarchical system. His theorization of caste is based
on classical literature and historical texts therefore he is considered as
cognitive -historical and Indological.
Dumont‟s accounts on caste had many admirer as well as critiques
(Gupta 2000; Srinivas 1996; Quigley 1993; Berreman 1991; Raheja 1988,
Chatterjee 1989; Dirks 1987, Appadurai 1986; Kolenda 1973; Marriott
1969). He was accused of providing Brahmanical (book) view of caste
presenting Varna model where he tried to fit diverse Jatis into the fourfold
system of division of society. His idea of purity and pollution is not
universal. In some tribal societies status is not derived from „purity‟ but
from „sacredness‟ . For some of his critique Dumont ignored the protest
movements in India which questioned the ideology of caste division.
In McKim Marriott opinion Dumont‟s Homo Hierarchicus is a
speculative sketch of a pair of model which is inspired by textual ideolog y
of social science and philosophical allusions. Berreman criticised
Dumont‟s separation between status and power. He asserted that status
and power can be two sides of the same coin. Despite these criticisms
Dumont‟s Homo Hierarchicus remains an outstandi ng work on Caste.
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3.4 POST DUMONTIAN APPROACHES TO THEORISING CASTE
In 1980s and 1990s, the anthropological study of caste went
through reconsideration in response to transformation in case studies
brought by the Dumont‟s Structuralist approach in 1960 s and 1970s.
Dumont approach was criticized on three grounds:
1. It hindered the comparative aim of Sociology and Anthropology.
2. It made the reality of caste stand for India.
3. It explicate caste as an idealistic and cultural construct without
material content so much that it created a myth of a single hierarchy
based purity and pollution on the line which all the caste in India could
be ostensibly arranged (Natrajan, 2005).
Briefly we will discuss the work of Dumont Critique such as
McKim Marriott, G.G Raheja, Quigley and Nicholas Dirks. Taking into
account the limitation of Dumont‟s dualism, McKim Marriott envisioned
the new ethno -sociological view of India. He emphasised on I ndian
society to be a unique system that necessitates conceptualizing various
categories in the milieu of its own ethno -history and culture.
McKim Marriot presented an interpretative understanding of caste
based on „coded bodily substance‟ notion to exami ne the Hindu caste
system which was different from the Dumontian model. His approach is
termed as ethno -sociological, transactional, interactional, and monistic and
based on substance codes. According to Marriott caste was built on
number of concepts relat ing to bodily substances and inter -personal
exchanges. He used interactional approach to study caste in Konduru
village of Andhra Pradesh where he discussed the matters such as who
willingly accepts water, food etc., from whom which was also a symbol of
relative status. Those who belonged to the lower status readily accepted
food from those who belonged to the higher status and vice -versa. The
Brahmins were not receiver of any lower forms of substance code from
lower status groups such as cooked food or wiv es etc. They accepted
substance code in a very specific form like piece of land as a gift, money,
grain and so on. The Brahmins hold highest rank due to their own divinity,
exclusive exchanges and through their gifts to other terrestrial men
engaging in c osmic knowledge in the form of substance transformative
ceremonies, advice and teaching. There are certain groups like Rajput and
their allies who follow maximizing strategy by trying to increase their
symmetrical exchange by means of land control, distrib ution of food and
also maximizing strategies of descent, diet etc., to gain greatest quality and
potency in substance, action and group substance code. While there were
other groups that used the minimizing strategy to decrease the number of
relationships in which to exchange cooked food were skilled artisans. For
example the Vaishya community who enjoyed productive power as they
grew grains, reared cattle and were traders. There were groups which were munotes.in
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in the category of receiving rather than giving relatio nships those were the
barbers and leather workers who accepted food as well as bodily substance
codes directly from their patrons belonging to different castes (Subhedi
2013).The most significant standpoint of these strategies is that it allows to
know the local caste ranking.
G.G Raheja, 1992 in her study The Poison in the Gift: Ritual
Prestation, and the Dominant Caste in a North Indian Village, Pahansu,
Uttar Pradesh challenged Dumont‟s concepts of hierarchy and purity of
caste as a religious phenomen on and presented a new interpretation of
caste. The village was a Gujar (land owning community) dominated where
98 per cent of the arable land was owned by them. According to Raheja
castes were interconnected to varying degree based on the contexts. The
hierarchical order was grounded on the principle of ritual purity as a result
the Brahman and the sweeper caste were placed at two extremes. This
ordering relates to the traditional conception of caste rank. The
relationships between various castes and Gujar dominance is formed by
dan prestations which is established through Jajmani system. Jajmani
system involve an ordering of mutuality in which the members belonging
to service castes get a share of the harvests for their services rendered and
loyalty to the ir parton caste i.e the Gujars who are also called as Jajman.
Even though Jajmani system is asymmetrical and associated with power
and economy it does not define hierarchical order of castes.
At the heart of the rituals in the village was the transfer of
inauspiciousness. She argues that scholars while studying caste were only
concerned about hierarchy and ranking and missed out on what actually is
caste all about. For Raheja though the inter -caste relationships seems to be
hierarchical but its main compon ent is inauspiciousness. In fact it is the
duty of certain caste to take dan (gift) and the linked inauspiciousness
from the donors. In this context the Brahmins, the Barbers and the
Sweepers for example are all equal recipients of inauspiciousness and the ir
rank vis -vis the donor is irrelevant. The Gujars feel proud of themselves
because they give dan and do not receive dan. The special castes such as
Brahmins and others give dan only to their married daughters. Raheja
assert that earlier work of the scho lars on Jajmani system has failed to
distinguish between these two types of prestation.
Raheja‟s rejection of Dumont bring her closer to the Hocartian
interpretation of Caste system which places primacy to the King. Raheja
brings to centre the „mutuality and centrality‟, by mutuality she means
inclusion of daughters and specialist caste who are referred as ours and by
centrality she means exclusion where the daughters and specialists caste
are treated as recipient of dan. Thus according to Raheja the Brahm ins are
not always considered having high rank and purity, in fact they are
regarded as dependent and polluted.
One of the strongest critique of Dumont has been Beteille who
advocated to take a much wider approach to understand Indian Society. He munotes.in
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stresse d on the need to study kinship, class and power along with caste.
For him structural aspects of caste such as economic and political has
remained untouched by the scholars which is essential to understand the
relationship between the upper caste and the lo wer caste, Jajman and the
Kamin etc. His work has contributed to the understanding of empirical
reality of caste rather than the cultural ideal type.
Quigley (1993) in Is a Theory of Caste Still Possible? Explains
caste having two important elements the k ingship and the kinship. In his
view caste is arrangement of political structure where kingship and
kinships are in opposite camps and the priest are the mediators. Thus for
Quigley caste is an outcome of “uneasy stalemate between the pull of
localized lin eage organization and the forces of political, ritual and
economic centralization encapsulated in monarchical institutions”. He is
critical of both the idealist and materialistic theory of caste as it considers
Brahmin as the highest caste. Many scholars a re confused between the two
concepts Varna and Jati therefore give supremacy to Brahmins in Caste
hierarchy. Quigley asserts that Brahmins are not homogeneous groups
they are divided into large number of groups and contest each other status.
In line with R aheja(1992) Quigley stress that Brahmins act as a purohit to
their Jajman and remove inauspiciousness, sin and evil of their jajman,
therefore, it is strange to believe that Brahmins are higher in rank than
their Patron. In Quigley‟s opinion caste is unden iably result of the
organization of rituals and other services centered around the king and
dominant lineage. Hence monarchy and not the priesthood was the central
institution. Unlike the view of Dumont which gave primacy to priesthood.
Dirks (1993) refuted the subordination of kingly power to
Brahminical ritual which in Dumont‟s view was a unique feature of Hindu
civilization. This in Dirks view was in fact the creation of colonial power
which reduced the indigenous king to merely a symbolic and of i nferior
status. The British redefined caste conceptually and administratively with
numerous local logics - mercantile, agrarian etc, and religious. Caste which
was earlier political was brought under one single umbrella - apolitical
especially Hindu and pan Indian social order. Dirk, thus challenged the
Dumont‟s theorization of caste by exhibiting that neither the Brahmins nor
the religious ideology but it was the kings or colonial institution and the
power which they enjoyed played an important role in struc turing the
principles of caste relations. He stressed that it was British colonialism
along with the reforms introduced by it turned Indian kinship institution
into a hallow crown depriving it of its earlier glory and powers. He termed
caste as explicitly colonial form of civil society.
Check your progress:
1. Explain G.G. Raheja‟s view on Caste.
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3. Discuss Dirks perspective on Caste.
3.5 SUMMARY
For better theoretical understanding of caste it is essential to
review the work of various scholars. Ambedkar provided a multi -layered
counter hegemonic view of caste. He was a crusader who fought for the
rights of the downtrodden, a leader of national em inence whose
contribution in the making of the Indian Constitution will always be
cherished. His most important work includes „Caste in India‟ and
„Annihilation of Caste‟. He was an anti -caste who believed that Varna of a
person should be based on one‟s me rit not on birth. His social philosophy
was based on liberty, equality and fraternity. Dumont on the other hand
stressed on Hierarchy -religious not political along with the concepts of
Purity and Pollution. The most illuminating criticisms of Dumont‟s
approach to theorising caste came from the ethnographers studying the
untouchables (Dalits) and the historians who were studying the
transformation of Indian society under the colonial rule.
3.6 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Present Dr. AMBERKAR views on Caste.
2. Discuss Loius Dumont‟s perspective on Caste
3. Explain the Post Dumotian Critique on Caste
3.7 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
1. Appadurai, Arjun, 1986, Center and Periphery in Anthropological
Theory, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol(28) Issue:2
2. Bayly, S, 1999, Caste, Society and Politics in India from the 18th
century to the Modern Age, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
3. Berreman, Gerald D, 1991, The Brahmanical View of Caste, in Gupta
(ed.), Social Stratification, Oxford University Press, New Delhi
4. Béteille, André, 1965, Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of
Stratification in Tanjore Village , University of California Press,
California
5. Beteille, Andre, 2012, Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of
Stratification in a Tanjo re Village, Oxford University Press, Delhi
6. Blunt, Edward, 1931, The Caste System of Northern India: With
Special Reference to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, London, munotes.in
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33
7. Chatterjee, P, 1989, Caste and Subaltern Consciouness, Centre for
studies in Socia l Science
8. Chatterjee, P, 1989, Caste and Subaltern Consciousness, in Subaltern
Studies VI: Writings on South Asian History and Society, Guha, R
(ed), Oxford University Press, Delhi
9. Dirks, Nicholas B, 1993, The Hollow Crown, The Ethnohistory of an
Indian Ki ngdom, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
10. Dirks, Nicholas B, 2001, Castes of Mind: Colonialism and Making of
Modern India, Princeton University Press, Princeton
11. Gandee, Sarah, 2015, Dr.Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Re -
Interpretation of Untouchability: Le gislating Against Caste Violence
in Rural India, 1930 -75, Retrospectives, Vol(4) Issue 1
12. Garalyte, Kristina, 2017, Theorizing Caste: Critical Literature Review,
TARPDALYKINIAI KULTŪROS TYRIMAI, SOVIJUS
13. Gupta and Kedia, 2004, Theoretical Trends in Post -Independence
Ethnographies of India, in Emerging Social Science Concerns:
Festschrift in Honour of Prof. Yogesh Atal, Concept Publishing Co.
New Delhi
14. Gupta, Dipankar (2000). Interrogating Caste: Understanding Hierarchy
and Difference in Indian Society. New De lhi: Penguin Books.
15. Jodhka, S.S, 2010, Emerging with Caste: Academic Discourses,
Identity Politics and State Policy, Working Paper Series, Vol(2) 2,
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi and UNICEF, India
16. Kadel Sharma, B, 2014, Caste: A Socio -politi cal Institution in Hindu
Society, Janapriya Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. III
17. Kannabiran, Kalpana, 2009, Sociology of Caste and the Crooked
Mirror: Recovering B.R Ambedkar Legacy, EPW
18. Kolenda, Pauline, 1973, Book Review:Homo Hierarchicus and
Religion, Politics and History in India, Journal of the Americam
Oriental Society, 93(1).
19. Lindt, Benjamin, 2013, Towards a Comprehensive model of Caste,
Contribution to Indian Sociology, Vol(47) No. 1.
20. Madan, T.N, 1971, On Understanding Caste, EPW, Vol(6), No. 34
21. Marriott, McKim, 1976, Hindu Transactions: Diversity without
Dualism, in Bruce Kapferer(ed) Transaction and Meaning: Direction
in the Anthropology of Exchange and Symbolic Behaviour,
Philadelphia: Institute for the study of Human Issues.
22. Marriott, M cKim, 1989, Constructing an Indian Ethnosociology,
contribution to Indian Sociology, Vol(23) Issue 1
23. Mookherjee, B. D, 2012, The Essence of Bhagavad Gita, Academic
Publishers, New Delhi munotes.in
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24. Mosko, Mark, 1994, Transformations of Dumont: The hierarchical, the
sacred and the profane in India and Ancient Hawaii, History and
Anthropology, Vol(7)
25. Nagla, B.K, 2008, Indian Sociological Thought, Rawat Publication
26. Natrajan, Balmurli, 2005, Caste, Class and Community in India: An
Ethnographic Approach, Ethnology, Vol(44) No:3
27. Pruthi, R.k, 2004, Indian Caste System, Discovery Publishing House,
New Delhi
28. Quigley, Declan, 1993, Is a Theory of Caste Still Possible?, The
Sociological Review, Vol (41) Issue:1
29. Quigley, Declan, 1993, Is a Theory of Caste Still Possible?, The
Sociological Review, Vol(41) Issue 1
30. Raheja, G.G, 1988, India: Caste, Kingship and Dominance
Reconsidered, Annual Review Anthropology, Vol(17)
31. Raheja, G.G, 1988, The Poison in the Gift: Ritual, Prestation and the
Dominant Caste in a North Indian Village, U niversity of Chicago
Press.
32. Rao, Annupama, 2009, The Caste Question: Dalits and Politics of
Modern India, University of California Press, Berkely, LosAngeles
and California.
33. Sharma, Arvind, 2005, Dr.B.R Ambedkar on the Aryan Invasion and
the Emergence of the caste System in India, Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, Vol(73) Issue 3.
34. Srinivas, M.N, 1996, Its Twentieth Century Avatar, Penguin Books,
New Delhi
35. Subedi, Ma dhusudan, 2013, Some Theoretical Considerations on
Caste, Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, Vol(7).
36. Teltumbe, Anand, 2013, Ambedkarites against Ambedkar, EPW,
Vol(48) Issue 19 .
*****
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4
GENDER AND CASTE (GAIL OMVEDT,
LEELA DUBE AND SHARMILA REGE)
CASTE TODAY: POWER, HIERARCHY,
DIFFERENCE AND IDENTITY (WORKS
OF BETEILLE, D. GUPTA AND ILAIAH)
Unit Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Anti-caste and Women‟s Struggles – Gail Omvedt
4.3 Gender Studies In India – Leela Dube
4.4 Dalit -Feminist Standpoint – Views of Sharmila Rege
4.5 Caste Today – Power, Hierarchy, Difference and Identity
4.6 Summary
4.7 Unit E nd Questions
4.8 References and Further Readings
4.0 OBJECTIVES
● To introduce students to the issues of caste and gender in the Indian
society
● To study the contribution of scholars such as Gail Omvedt, Leela Dube
and Sharmila Rege.
● To reflect upon the works of Andre Beteille, Dipankar Gupta and
Kancha Ilaiah in order to understand issues of hierar chy, power and
identity in the context of caste in India.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
While diversity and pluralism remain a defining feature of Indian
society, so is true about its inequalities and social discrimination. Caste
exclusion and discrimination is deeply engrained in the Indian psyche. An
equal damage has been done to the status of women, through centuries old
patriarchy in Indian society. The casteist Indian society, with its
inequitable gender approach and attitude poses a grave problem for the
socio -economic wellbeing of the Dalit women specifically.
This is not to deny that Dalits and women, in general, do no t suffer
in these exiting social setups. What implies here, however, is the fact that munotes.in
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Dalit women suffer „double marginalization‟ due to their caste and gender
statuses. Women from lower castes are exploited and discriminated in
more than one ways, thus pl acing them at the margins of the margins. In
fact, it would not be wrong to say that the unequal position of women has
interconnections with the caste system, from ancient times. Along with
social division of labour, caste in the Indian society, ensured se xual
division of labour as well.
As caste is infused into socio -political set up, the Indian society
becomes even more discriminatory and exclusivist. While we proclaim to
be democratic and liberal, caste politics and hierarchies continue to
dominate the social, political and economic asp ects of Indian society. The
political set up of the Indian society gives identity to caste associations, as
they continue to exhibit significance and relevance. Caste -based
hierarchies and identities still continue to govern Indians‟ way of thinking.
Within the sections of this unit, we will explore the intersectional
aspects of the unending oppression that particularly women from lower
castes face. And this will be done by exploring the work done by women
writers. We will also look upon the works from th e subalterns that
highlight the politics of representation, identity politics and discourses of
power.
4.2 ANTI -CASTE AND WOMEN’S STRUGGLES – GAIL OMVEDT
Gail Omvedt, an American by birth, is an Indian sociologist and
human rights activist. She has wor ked and published on topics that deal
with issues of Dalits, anti -caste movements, women‟s struggles, farmers‟
movements. Basically, Omvedt academically writes at the intersections of
caste, gender and class. The marginalized communities remain main focus
of her intellectual indulgence. Though her various critical works, Omvedt
presents a critique of the Brahmanical texts that aim at caste and gender
subjugation. Century -old prevalence of caste -based discrimination has
been due to the religious scriptures o f Hinduism, she opined.
In her one of the phenomenal works – Understanding Caste ,
Omvedt (2011) explores the historical issues of caste -based discrimination
and anti -caste struggles, where Brahmanism remains the backbone of the
Hindu tradition and thus c ontinues to influence the essence of Indian
tradition. This work also conducts an inquiry into the aspects of Hinduism
that emphasize patriarchy and thereby justify the inferior position of
women.
Omvedt argues how the India came to be identified largely as a
Hindu nation, and how Hinduism was identified as the religion of pan
India. The entire social, political and economic life came to be governed
by the Vedas and Upanishads , and all Hindu, Brahmanic scriptures. These munotes.in
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eventually led to the anti -caste st ruggles, Dalit politics that challenged the
hegemony and supremacy of the Brahmins. This also resulted in the birth
of religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism as counter forces to
deal with Brahmanical supremacy.
Omvedt ideologically agreed with the Ambedkar‟s thoughts and
actions. For Ambedkar, Brahmanism was responsible for most of the evils
affecting India and that Buddhism was its main potential alternative (G.
Omvedt, 2003). In fact, the anti -caste movements and struggles got
radically influe nced by Ambedkar and his logical inclination towards
Buddhism, a religion that radically started opposing Brahmanism in newer
ways.
In her publication, titled Seeking Begumpura: The Social Visions of
Anticaste Intellectuals , Omvedt (2008) outlines the socioeconomic
perspectives of leading anticaste intellectuals, spanning over five
centuries. During the modern era that these centuries witnessed, we also
see the exchange with Europe, colonization, rise of subaltern identities,
amongst others. These intel lectuals seem to have shaped and developed
the anticaste and women‟s movements to great heights.
Omvedt (1993) uses the framework of „historical materialism‟ of
Marxism and recommends its extension to „peasants, women, tribals,
Dalits and low castes, and oppressed nationalities‟, besides the industrial
factory workers. Omvedt also considers caste as synonymous with „race‟,
as both intend to subjugate groups of people on the basis of birth and
social hierarchy. Challenging the Brahmanic patriarchy thus, re mains the
core of Omvedt‟s writing.
Check Your Progress:
1.What has been Gail Omvedt‟s contribution to the study of Indian
society?
4.3 GENDER STUDIES IN INDIA – LEELA DUBE
Leela Dube, a feminist scholar, writer and anthropologist, is
renowned for her work on kinship, matriliny and gender. Dube explores
the idea of family structure, kinship, sexual relations and eventually caste
to show their effects, individually as well as together as a complex, on the
gender roles in the society (Dube, 1988). Her works focused on the idea
that gender differences are culturally located and produced, also projected
as being a natural biological outcome.
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Dube is also known for bringing gende r issues and women studies
into mainstream anthropology and sociology. Within the context of
kinship studies, Dube explored the process of socialization, especially of
girls, in a predominantly patriarchal setup. Being influenced from the
women‟s movements , Dube sought to understand the gender concerns not
merely to see the position of women, but also to challenge and change the
gender relations and outlooks. She attempted to make academics gender
sensitive.
Dube undertook an exemplary work for her doctor al dissertation,
on Gond women, from Nagpur University. Till then, women were
marginally represented in social research agenda and as such while
research on tribes dominated anthropological works, tribal women
remained least represented, which Dube sought to intervene with her
intensive fieldwork (Palriwala, 2012). Dube is known to have struggled a
long way to make gender issues equally important in the sociology as well
as anthropology, as women were not academically recognized as a
marginalized group and hence were never spoken or discussed about.
Leela Dube considered the usage of “man” as a generic term in
social sciences as a misleading, harmful and underrepresenting umbrella
term to subsume woman under it. According to Krishnaraj (2012a), Dube
devise d new analytical frameworks by bringing in folklore and symbolic
representations of women‟s position to show its ideological influence.
Dube gave a famous formulation – “seed and soil” – as a reproductive
symbolic devise, with which man‟s role in reproduct ion is given primacy
over that of a woman, who is regarded as a passive recipient ( ibid). Thus
patriarchy ensured sexual control over women, by justifying that men play
a superior role in this process.
In her autobiographical account, Dube (2000) acknowl edges the
impression that the figure of her own mother – as a complex of roles and
responsibilities, an embodiment of care and affection, which are also
expressed through the relational idiom of food. With her own self -
explorations, Dube sought to bring in the intricacies of women situations
and women -men relations, the context of matriliny and so on, in the
humanities and social sciences, thus challenging the whole idea of „value -
neutrality‟. Her constant touch with the ground reality is also what makes
Dube‟s contributions authentic and highly acceptable.
Check Your Progress:
1.How does Leela Dube explore the formulation “seed and soil” to suggest
the situation of women?
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4.4 DALIT -FEMINIST STANDPOINT – VIEWS OF SHARMILA REGE
Sharmila Rege has been a distinguished feminist sociologist,
having worked on the intersections of caste, class and gender. Rege
contributed influential research, as she also headed the Krantijyoti
Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre at the University of Pune. Her
work draw s attention for its underlying feminist debates about caste,
religion, gender, sexuality, women‟s movement and Dalit literature. Rege
insisted upon the narratives and local knowledge, and as such oral
traditions, particularly of the marginalized, showing d eep rooted
commitment for them.
In an attempt to highlight the importance of the politics of lived
experiences of caste in academics, Rege, though her book, Writing
Caste/Writing Gender — Narrating Dalit Women's Testimonies , presents
eight such narratives of Dalit women with special emphasis on their
misery, Dalit feminine movements and their apparent caste struggles that
together signify Dalit women‟s struggles within the larger anti -caste
movement (Rege, 2006). Whether caste or tribe, the eight narrative s show
the extent of abject poverty, discrimination and deprivation that
untouchable women experience within the Indian context.
Rege was a pioneer of Dalit -feminist standpoint as she emphasized
the social location of women in question, in order to unders tand how
caste/class interact with gender and results in their struggle for survival in
a caste dominated, hegemonic society. As Dhanagare (2013) puts it, Rege
firmly believed that gender studies and Dalit studies were organically
linked. She pursuantly cr iticized sociological research for being male
dominated and gender insensitive. For Rege, women‟s lifespan cannot be
generalized with that of men‟s and hence needed attention in a historical
context.
Rege, being a prolific writer and an activist, success fully brought
in the structural violence of caste and its linkages with sexuality and
labour into the feminist discourse (Devika et al. , 2013) in particular and
academics in general. Hence, Rege is claimed to have a Dalit -feminist
standpoint with aims of e mancipation and liberation as she explores the
category of „Dalit women‟ to understand how caste, gender , class,
sexuality construct each other.
Check Your Progress:
1. What was Sharmila Rege‟s contribution towards Dalit -feminist
perspective?
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4.5 CASTE TODAY – POWER, HIERARCHY, DIFFERENCE AND IDENTITY
Even after centuries of exploitation, decades of independence and
robust constitutional safeguards, Indian society even today is characterized
by hegemonic caste dominance in almost every aspect of social life, often
subtly. Although India appears to be a democratic, liberal and a modern
nation, yet the social relations are still governed by the ascriptive identities
such as caste and religion. Nevertheless, one cannot deny that there are
changes in the ways different communities interact, and that the
discrimination and exclusion are not as overtly practiced as earlier, caste
identities continue to remain present in the minds of the people, which are
now indiscriminately exploited for political correctness.
As caste is enduring even in post -independent In dia, one can note
many contemporary changes within this setup. Caste is not so much about
physical discrimination than it is about psychological exclusion. The
reservation policy that the Indian society implements, with the intention of
„positive discrimin ation‟ also works in favour of ensuring the continuity of
caste in the public domain. As a counter -force, there are consistent
outbursts that go against the whole of idea reservation policy and as such,
these to ensure its continuity.
Kancha Ilaiah, an pr olific writer, theorist and Dalit rights‟ activist
has been an spokesperson against the Hindu philosophy and caste
hegemony. As Ilaiah (1994b) conceptualizes the situation of caste in India,
believes that the Dalit -Bahujan school of thought in India does n ot
proclaim to abolish the entire caste system in one go. Even if majority
believe in this school of thought or favour anti -caste movements, yet an
ideological change cannot happen overnight. This is also because, being
truly plural and diverse, the caste -based Indian society is also full of
contradictions. Within a same caste group, there are contradictions making
it extremely difficult to grasp its situation.
And therefore, caste remains the bone of contention in the present
Indian society – socially, economically and politically. The acclaimed
Indian sociologist, Dipankar Gupta, has contributed tremendously on the
caste system in India. Gupta (2005) asserts th at caste continues to affect
us, although the dominant castes are no longer dominant in the same way
and that caste identities and caste politics are both legitimized, what has
changed drastically is the single, vertical overarching hierarchy of purity
and pollution, replaced by multiple hierarchies clashing in the open.
Caste is not just a system, it is an ideology that ensured division of
labour as well as division of sexuality only on the basis of hereditary and
hierarchy. This ideology, even today, pe rpetuates violence against the
lower castes, particularly the women within these communities. However,
despite all these road blocks, the marginalized today have more or less munotes.in
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come together, organized to form socio -political organizations and
asserted their identities and rights. The clutches of caste -based
identification is so strong that even after alleged mobilization , caste
discrimination continues.
Dipankar Gupta, through his research and writing, attempts to
suggest an alternative conceptual formulat ion on castes, in order to
overcome the problem, of irreconcilable malleability of castes and modern
social institutions, posed by many empirical studie s (Gupta, 1984). Andre
Beteille , another noted Indian sociologist and an ideologue on caste
system in In dia, attacks the stereotypical stigmas associated with lower
castes. Beteille too observes that as the hierarchies are embedded in the
psyche of the individuals, caste -based identification and discrimination
prevails.
In one of his articles, Béteille (20 02) re -examines the M. N.
Srinivas‟s 1960s examination of a casteless and classless society and the
risks associated with this due to the persistence of caste -laden mentalities.
Amongst other points, it has been stated that while the hierarchical
mentaliti es remain with the ordinary people, the intelligentsia in India can
be regarded as both Utopian and fatalistic in its orientation with reference
to equality and inequality. The existence of these two contradictory
positions within the same individuals make s it even more difficult to
address the issues of inequality in a more equitable way.
A strong need has been felt amongst the intellectuals to re -
conceptualize caste in today‟s scenario. K. L. Sharma, another noted
sociologist attempts to understand the change as well as the continuities in
the caste system, because on one hand caste remained dynamic due to its
inner inconsistencies and contradictions , on the other hand, it continues to
remain so due to its strong interaction with the economy, culture an d
polity (Sharma, 2012). Far from being only a social institution, caste today
has acquired a political character as it keeps people socially as well as
politically engaged.
Within the purview of political engagement, the role played by the
reservation p olicy remains significant. By way of giving a personal
account of what it really means to have access to education only due to
reservations, Kancha Ilaiah (1990) highlights the long -term impact of such
provisions at the individual as well as societal level s. Ilaiah (2006) also
asserts the need to understand that the reservation policy and nation
building are not antagonistic, in the context of upper castes‟ intolerance
towards sharing of government educational facilities with the historically
oppressed com munities.
Check Your Progress
1.State the contemporary perspective on the prevalence of caste today.
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2. What is „positive discrimination‟?
4.6 SUMMARY
As Chakravarti (2012) highlights, with reference to all the
women‟s narratives, that the caste stigma and associated poverty remains
the running theme in all the autobiographical writings, which include the
offending touch, association with dirt, unclean o ccupations and finally the
quality of being polluting like in the case of drawing water from common
village wells or inter -dining. There is a variety of violence that the women
from lower castes encounter due to their double marginalization. While
the lowe r castes suffer under the hegemonic caste system, the lower caste
women suffer the most and also the worst.
It is the post -independent India that saw a marked and structured
rise of the gender studies in India. Even the cases of Dalits and other
marginal ized groups raising their voices, asserting their identities are ever
increasing. Yet, caste and gender continue to remain a source of socio -
economic inequality. Today, caste identities are politicized more than
ever. In fact, caste becomes a source of pol itical mobilization. The inter -
mingling of caste and gender as well as caste and politics, has been more
harmful than the mere institution of caste itself. In combination, these
have created layers of marginalization, that are engrained rigidly in the
mind set of the communities.
4.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the views of Gail Omvedt on caste and gender subjugation in
India.
2. In what ways, did Leela Dube contribute to the feminist studies in the
anthropological and sociological research?
3. Elaborate on Rege ‟s research and writing with special emphasis on her
understanding of Dalit feminism.
4. Elaborate on how caste -based discrimination is continuing even today
in India.
5. Write a brief note on the views of Kancha Ilaiah and Dipankar Gupta
with referenc e to the caste in India today.
6. What are the contemporary embedded contradictions in the caste
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7. How has Andre Beteille contributed towards the contemporary
understanding of caste?
4.8 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
Beteille, A. (2012). The Peculiar Tenacity of Caste. Economic and
Political Weekly, 47 (13), 41 -48.
Béteille, A. (1992). Caste and Family: In Representations of Indian
Society. Anthropology Today, 8 (1), 13 -18. doi: 10.2307/3032808
Béteille, A. (2002). Hierarchical and Competitive Inequality.
Sociological Bulletin, 51 (1), 3 -27.
Chakravarti, U. M. A. (2012). IN HER OWN WRITE: Writing from a
Dalit Feminist Standpoint. India International Centre Quarterly,
39(3/4), 134 -145.
Devika, J. , John, M. E., Kannabiran, K., Sen, S., & Swaminathan, P.
(2013). Sharmila Rege (1964 -2013): Tribute to a Phule -Ambedkarite
Feminist Welder. Economic and Political Weekly, 48 (32), 22 -25.
Dhanagare, D. N. (2013). Sharmila Rege (1964 -2013): Pursuing
Knowled ge for Social Transformation. Economic and Political Weekly,
48(32), 25 -27.
Dube, L. (1988). On the Construction of Gender: Hindu Girls in
Patrilineal India. Economic and Political Weekly, 23 (18), WS11 -WS19.
Dube, L. (1994). Conflict and Compromise: Devo lution and Disposal of
Property in a Matrilineal Muslim Society. Economic and Political
Weekly, 29 (21), 1273 -1284.
Dube, L. (1995). Matriliny and Islam in Lakshadweep. India
International Centre Quarterly, 22 (2/3), 168 -180.
Dube, L. (1997). Women's Land Rights through Tables. Economic and
Political Weekly, 32 (4), 179 -180.
Dube, L. (2000). Doing Kinship and Gender: An Autobiographical
Account. Economic and Political Weekly, 35 (46), 4037 -4047.
Gupta, D. (1984). Continuous Hierarchies and Discrete Castes.
Economic and Political Weekly, 19 (46), 1955 -1958.
Gupta, D. (2002). Limits of Tolerance: Prospects of Secularism in India
after Gujarat. Economic and Political Weekly, 37 (46), 4615 -4620.
Gupta, D. (2005). Caste Today: the relevance of a phenomenological
approach. India International Centre Quarterly, 32 (1), 138 -153.
Ilaiah, K. (1990). Reservations: Experience as Framework of Debate.
Economic and Political Weekly, 25 (41), 2307 -2310.
Ilaiah, K. (1994a). BSP and Caste as Ideology. Economic and Political
Weekly, 29 (12), 668 -669.
Ilaiah, K. (1994b). Caste and Contradictions. Economic and Political
Weekly, 29 (43), 2835 -2836.
Ilaiah, K. (2006). Merit of Reservations. Economic and Political Weekly,
41(24), 2447 -2449. munotes.in
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Krishnaraj, M. (2012a). Distinguished Anthropologist with Feminist
Sensibilities. Economic and Political Weekly, 47 (26/27), 35 -37.
Krishnaraj, M. (2012b). Leela Dube. Economic and Political Weekly,
47(33), 5 -5.
Lobo, L. (2011). Post -Hindu India: A discou rse on Dalit -Bahujan, socio -
spiritual and scientific revolution. Sociological Bulletin, 60 (1), 149 -152.
Meena, G. (2005). A Sociology for the Marginalised. [Sociology of Gender:
The Challenge of Feminist Sociological Knowledge, Sharmila Rege].
Economic an d Political Weekly, 40 (18), 1824 -1826.
Omvedt, G. (1993). Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and
the Socialist Tradition in India . New York: M. E. Sharpe Incorporated.
Omvedt, G. (2002). Ambedkar and After: The Dalit Movement in India. In
G. Sha h (Ed.), Social Movements and the State . New Delhi: Sage
Publications.
Omvedt, G. (2003). Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and
Caste . New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Omvedt, G. (2003). Hinduism as Delhi Rule: Periyar and the National
Question. In B. Chakrabarty (Ed.), Communal Identity in India: Its
Construction and Articulation in the Twentieth Century (pp. 256 -264). New
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Omvedt, G. (2005). Capitalism and Globalisation, Dalits and Adivasis.
Economic and Political Weekl y, 40 (47), 4881 -4885. doi: 10.2307/4417415
Omvedt, G. (2008). Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anticaste
Intellectuals . New Delhi: Navayana Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Omvedt, G. (2011). Understanding Caste: From Buddha to Ambedkar and
Beyond . New Delhi: O rient Blackswan.
Palriwala, R. (2012). Remembering Leela Dube. Economic and Political
Weekly, 47 (26/27), 32 -35.
Rege, S. (1994). Ghettoising Gender. Economic and Political Weekly,
29(32), 2042 -2042.
Rege, S. (1998). Dalit Women Talk Differently: A Critique of 'Difference'
and Towards a Dalit Feminist Standpoint Position. Economic and Political
Weekly, 33 (44), WS39 -WS46.
Rege, S. (2002). Conceptualising Popular Culture: 'Lavani' and 'Powada' in
Mahara shtra. Economic and Political Weekly, 37 (11), 1038 -1047. doi:
10.2307/4411876
Rege, S. (2006). Writing Caste/Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women's
Testimonies . New Delhi: Zubaan Publications.
Rege, S. (2010). Education as "Trutiya Ratna": Towards Phule -
Ambedkarite Feminist Pedagogical Practice. Economic and Political
Weekly, 45 (44/45), 88 -98.
Sharma, K. L. (2012). Is there Today Caste System or there is only Caste in
India? Polish Sociological Review (178), 245 -263.
Tharu, S. (1996). A Critique of Hindut va-Brahminism. [Why I Am Not a
Hindu: A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political
Economy, Kancha Ilaiah]. Economic and Political Weekly, 31 (30), 2019 -
2021.
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5
NATION AS SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL
(PARTHA CHATTERJEE ), CRITIQUE OF
‘‘PROJECT HOMOGENIZATION ’’
(T. K. Oommen )
Unit Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Nation as Spiritual and Political
5.2.1 Two spheres
5.2.2 Nationalists and Colonizers
5.3 Critique of Project Homogenization
5.3.1 Hinduism
5.3.2 Critique
5.3.3 Strategies used
5.3.4 Problems with religious Nationalism
5.3.5 Ban
5.3.6 Census
5.4 Summary
5.5 Unit End Questions
5.6 References and Further Readings
5.0 OBJECTIVES
1. To learn about the process of homogenization.
2. To understand the impact of homogenization.
3. To learn about the complexity of the growth of nationalism within
the country.
4. To understand how it impacts the society at large .
5.1 INTRODUCTION
There are two major author’s work are being discussed in this unit.
The first is that of Partha Chatterjee and the second is that of T.K. Oomen.
5.2 NATION AS SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL In this section, Chatterjee views on Nationalism is being discussed
through the basis of his book titled, ‘Nation and its fragments’. Impact of munotes.in
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Nationalism has been discussed often in the present times in the academic
circles and in the social movements and in media . Earlier nationalism was
more seen amo ng Asia and Africa it has now widespread impact. It is
spread more issues like terrorism, racism etc. and with popular culture and
media. The earliest nationalism emerged because of the colonizers. In the
book he tries to break the myth of a uniform model of impact of
colonization and the construction of nationalism. Nationalism has been
discussed by several authors like Benderson who view it like a imagined
community.
5.2.1 Two spheres:
In his work Chatterjee criticizes the nationalism within the country.
There exist two realms through which the nationalist movement operated.
The Britishers were more focussed on the material realm. Where as the
nationalist movements used the spiritual rea lm as a tool to put forward.
The spiritual realm like culture, tradition, caste was seen as the point of
control for the nationalist’s groups. For the nationalist group the spiritual
realm was seen as more superior than the material realm. The nationalist
therefore tried to protect this with great spirit . There was a symbolic
nationalism according to Chatterjee.
The nationalist tried to bring a new culture which had roots with
the indigenous culture. They also bent the existing rules in family, culture,
literature for bringing more people together and to make them involved.
For Chatterjee a historic nationalism has to include both the spheres i .e.,
material and spiritual.
5.2.2 Nationalists and Colonizers :
According to Chatterjee colonial powers limited themselves to
administration as the colonisers saw the within layers of hierarchy
operating in caste etc. The nationalist rewrote the history after taking away
the vulgarity, objectification to bring people from different class tog ether.
This was majorly done thr ough the middle class educated Indians. He also
discusses the role of women in the nationalist movement.
According to him, the relationship between the modern state and a
peasantry is ambiguous and deals with tension. In Western Europe, the
institutionalization of a modern regime of power coincides with and follows
through a process of the extinction of the peasantry.
Chatterjee through his book tries to show how the anticolonialist
nationalists have recreated their own d omain of sovereignty within
colonial society before the beginning their political battle with the imperial
power. These nationalists divided the culture into material and spiritual
domains, and spiritual sphere, representing the religion, caste, women and
the family, and peasants. Chatterjee also points out that middle -class elites
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political contest, all the while "normalizing" the aspirations of the various
marginal groups that ty pify the spiritual sphere. He argues this with the
example of Bengal and the history, location and literature (3).
Check your progress
1. Discuss the views of Chatterjee on the spiritual and material realm
2. State how the changing patterns of the nationalist movement as
discussed by Chatterjee.
5.3 CRITIQUE OF PROJECT HOMOGENIZATION
The present section is based on the critiquing of the
homogenization process from the perspective/ writings of Prof. T.K.
Oomen a renowned Indian Sociologist. There are four hundred or so
tribal communities of India which claims that they are the original
inhabitants (Adivasis) of the land. This claim is not accepted by the Hindu
nationalists, who see Aryan Hindus as the original settlers and label the
tribal communities as the forest -dwellers (Vanvasis). The population of
India speaks languages belonging t o four families : Indo -Aryan (73%),
Dravidian (25%), Austro -Asiatic (1.5%), and Tibeto -Chinese (0.5%).
Dravidian languages which is mainly spoken in the four South Indian
states namely Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh. The
Dravidian movement h owever, opposed the Aryan domination and saw
itself distinct form the Aryan Hinduism. In the British census on India
religious categorizes like animism, tribal religions, primitive religious
were counted. This was nearly 2 -3% of the total population. Howev er,
after 1951 these were clubbed under the general religious group of
Hinduism. In a way, the distinct identity of tribal religion being eroded.
The Hindu advocacy of homogenization has been tried out in
different ways. In 1960s and 1970s the phrases used were ‘Indianization’
and now it is called ‘Hindutva’. Hindu nationalists insist that the
advocacy is disassociated from and devoid of any narrow religious context
and content but refers to a lifestyle common to the people of India as a
whole; hence, a Hindu is one who follows this life -style. If life -style
includes matter of dress, food, worship styles, art forms, marriage and
family patterns, there is very little common even to the Hindus of different
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communities of India. It cannot be denied that there exists a civilizational
unity with in the whole of India and that of South Asia too.
5.3.1 Hinduism :
One of the theory of usage of the term Hinduism is that it was
invented by the colonizers to refer to the inhabitants of the then India
across the river Sindhu. However, the terms have changed its meaning and
context altogether and is being used as particular religious collectivity ,
belief system and ritual practices. These concepts are problematic in itself.
As according to the Hindu doctrine of creation, the Brahmins emerged
from the mouth of the creator, Kshatriyas from the hands, Vaishyas from
the thighs and Shudras from the fee t. This chaturvarna (four color) scheme
does not even account for the untouchables, belonging to the fifth varna’.
So, how is it justifiable to use such concepts and claim ideas of religious
nationalism in pluralistic country like India, it is kind of unhe althy.
Homogenization in simple words means to make uniform in structure or
composition. Here the reference is made towards culture/ religious
homogenization.
Check your progress
1. What do you understand by the word homogenization project?
2. State the major families of languages?
5.3.2 Critique :
The process of cultural homogenization operates through religious
groups and developing values of religious nationalism. Religious
nationalism is nothing but imposing the life -style, practices of the majority
over the minority groups.
5.3.3 Strategies us ed:
This operates through simple strategies like the original vision of
the founding fathers which actually promotes brotherhood (relativism) is
revived and edited modified to suit to personal agendas and then spread
out. It itself has lots of problem, O omen points out ,
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‘Several strategies are invoked to manage this tension and
camouflage this contradiction: first, denying that caste system and
particularly untouchability are parts of traditional Hinduism and insisting
that these are latter day accretions resulting from praxiological aberrations
rather thanimperfect doctrines; second, conceding the need to scissor away
these negative accretions through gradual piecemeal reformism; third,
organizing reformist collective actions and mobilizations (e.g., intercaste
dining, collective worship) to fraternalize the deprived and sap them of
their protest orientation. However, given the fact that the constituency of
the Hindutva ideology is largely confined to the twice -born Hindus of the
Hindi belt, it h as failed to gain the confidence of the Dravidian Hindus, the
Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes,
together constituting the majority of the Indian population. Thus the Hindu
project of homogenization is bound to remain limited in its scope unless it
frontally grapples with the issue of institutionalized inequality within
Hinduism’. As it has limited scope for Dalits and Tribes development in a
way not leading to inclusive development.
5.3.4 Problems with religious nationalism :
Religious nationalism is problematic as it carries within itself the
seeds of religious fundamentalism. As we fundamentalism is a threat and a
big problem in it’s for the peaceful functioning of the democracy. It is not
only a problem for countries like India but also to different countries
where there are population with minority religion.
The Hindu nationalist project of homogenization is caught in a trap
of Hinduism's internal contradiction because homogenization implies not
only uniformity but also equality. The Hindutva version of homogeneity,
however, while appealing to the non-Hindu minorities to shed their
cultural identity, assimilate with the mainstream and become full -fledged
Indians, is either reluctant or else am bivalent, to grapple with the
institutionalized inequality within the Hindu social system as embodied in
the institution of caste. Religious diversity brings legal pluralism hence it
is healthy for a society at large.
Check your progress
1. Discuss the strategies used for homogenization project
2. State the ban and its impact on people according to you?
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5.3.5 Ban:
Let us look into the issue of Beef ban, what is sacred to one group
isn’t sacred to another. So, imposing it for all is problematic. For e.g.
Muslims, Christians consuming beef has been a common practice.
Brahmins in Bengals have been meat eaters. While Kashmiri pandits are
meat eaters too. So, having a uniform civil code rises in favour of the
conservatives than on the reforms of the religious communities who speak
of development.
5.3.6 Census :
Homogenization is a problem as it creates a hegemony through
which the minority religion lose their identity in the assimilation process.
Secondly, his assimilation and annihilation can create problem to the
diversity of the group. In a way, making lose the pluralistic and disturbing
the democracy. Thirdly it can give rise to intergroup inequality . Fourthly,
the concept of relativization where by the old is being revived is in itself
problematic.
For e.g. If we observe the Hindu culture has several practices
which is in human like sati, untouchability , specific diet patterns, dress
patterns etc in the name of religion. So, if religion is said to be revived that
the idea of old being beautiful, pure isn’t it itself being problematic. So,
this partial relativization in the name of religious texts can be seen as
fundamentalism. This can be a threat t o several indigenous practices. If
the indigenous practices vanishes then the cultural habits may vanish and
several new social movements could emerge. He argues that religious
nationalism and democratic polity cannot co -exist harmoniously,
particularly in a society characterized by religious diversity
5.4 SUMMARY
Thus, T.K. Oomen views the ideology of homogenization, as not
only aimed at the standardization of values, norms and practices, but it
also implies (a) the revival of obsolescent traditional values, norms and
practices that are not relevant to the present, and (b) the imposition of
those values on others, both "deviant" co-religionists and religious
minorities. This is so because the reference point of homogenization
advocated by religious nationalists invariably relates to the original vision
and practices of their rounding fathers, ignoring the context of the latter's
advocacy. On the other hand, Chatterjee views how the nationalist
movement was problematic with reference to the Bengal. He al so points
out how the nationalist movement tried to control through the spiritual
realm the Indian society.
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5.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the Partha Chatterjee’s view on Nationalism.
2. Explain the critique project homogenization.
5.6 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
1. Oommen, T. K. (1994). Religious nationalism and democratic
polity: the Indian case. Sociology of religion , 55(4), 455 -472.
2. “The Nation and Its Peasants.” The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and
Postcolonial Histories , by Partha Chatterjee, vol. 4, Princeton University
Press, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, 1993, pp. 158 –172.
3. https://www.powells.com/book/the -nation -and-its-fragments -
9780691019437
4.
https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/Chatterjee%20Whose%20Imagined%20C
ommunity.pdf
5.
http://epgp. inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000033SO/
P000302/M015384/ET/1495448878M23_ET.pdf
6. http://metalib.ie.edu/ayuda/PDFs_PIB/The -Nation -and-Its-Fragments -
Colonial -and-Post-Colonial -Histories.pdf (Full Ebook of Chatterjee)
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6
NATIONALISM SANS NATION (G.
ALOYSIUS), WOMAN AND NATIONALIST
DISCOURSE (VICTIM, MATA AND
SEVIKA) (TANIKA SARKAR AND
OTHERS )
Unit Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Nation and Nationalism
6.2.1 Meaning of Nation and Nationalism
6.2.2 Political Consciousness
6.2.3 Core Arguments
6.3 Women and Nationalist Discourse
6.3.1 History
6.3.2 Stories and Mythological figures influence
6.3.3 Core arguments
6.3.4 Feminists view
6.4 Summary
6.5 Unit End Questions
6.6 References and Further Readings
6.0 OBJECTIVES
To learn about the meaning of Nation and Nationalism.
To understand the historical relevance and its sociological effect on the
society.
To understand the multiple roles of women with respect to the
nationalist movement.
To explore the problems within these movements.
6.1 INTRODUCTION
The national movement has been an area which has been studied
by sociologists, historians specially. There are also schools like subaltern
school which question the national movement which locates how the
marginalized groups were used by the dominant groups for their own
interests and they didn’t receive the due recognition . This chapter is based
on the b ook Nation without Nationalism written by G. Aloysius 1997 by munotes.in
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Oxford University Press and the second section is focussed on the multiple
patterns of woman interaction with the mythological characters, politics
and practice.
6.2 NATION WITHOUT NATIONALISM
6.2.1 Meaning of Nation and Nationalism :
Aloysius views nation as a constructed category. The nation is the
feeling of a common bond between people that they share a common
cultural past and present. He also views it as an entity forming part of the
compound concept nation -state, or to a linguistic -ethnic community
struggling for its own statehood . It may refer to a relationship that exist or
presumed to exist between individuals and groups with either equality or
common cu ltural bond as the basis of common political consciousness.
Here the discussion of nation as a geographical location hasn’t been said.
On the other hand, in the book Imagined Communities: Reflections
on the origin and spread of Nationalism . Anderson, an imagined political
community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign ‖
(Anderson 1991: 6). Anderson explains each of the important words of
this definition. Nation is imagined because all the people who inhabit it do
not know each other and even in the smallest of the nations all the people
do not have face to face interaction. Still, they treat each person inhabiting
within the boundaries of the nation as a fellow national being (1991: 6).
6.2.2 Political Consciousness:
According to Aloysius, the common cultural bond of a nation acts
as a basis for a common political consciousness. It is here that the political
enters into the idea of nation. The political consciousness is understood as
awareness among people of the power relations which governs a group or
a society and this awareness leads to the assertion in th e power relation.
Aloysius views political consciousness as the perception of power
relations within society and of one ’s own (individual or group) position. It
also refers to an urgency to take collective action to strengthen or alter that
position.
Check Your Progress
1. Discuss the meaning of Nation and Nationalism
2. State the political consciousness associated with Nationalism.
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6.2.3 Core arguments :
Aloysius argues that in India nationalism existed and continues to
exist without a nation. He argues that: Nationalism may refer to the
doctrine or ideology of an aspiring class, or to the policy orientation of a
state or to a praiseworthy sen timent of attachment to one‘s own nation or
state. Nationalism may also refer here to a socio -political movement for
state-formation or any anti -imperialist movement or to the nation -building
activities , mobilization of a government or class. Moreover, for him i t is
this aspiring class or classes which initiate or lead the movement towards
the aspiration of the formation of the nationi. There are also certain groups
which denies such an existence which can be seen as hegemony of
knowledge and even creation of history and nationalism. Aloysius tries to
bring this perspective where he combines the politics and that of sociology
through historical sociology and looks from the view of the submerged
masses. It is a work on Sociology of nationalism and history in his book
Nation without Nationalism.
He analyse s the result of the interaction between traditional Indian
society and colonial rule, particularly from the point of view of the
restructuring of power relations within. The analysis addresses the
following questions like: What was the impact of the British on the
segmented and traditional Indian society? Were the changes brought about
during colonial rule conducive to the becoming of a society based on
social mobility and anonymity of membersh ip? Finally, what kind of
infrastructural foundation was laid for the rise of political consciousness
and articulation of nationalist thoughts and sentiments? Such questions are
raised through his work. He also makes an survey of literature and analyze
struggles of anti-caste, anti -feudal and pro -autonomy —which claim s to
create a national society which is homogeneous with respect to power.
A short survey of different schools of thought is also addressed in
his work, followed by a contextualization of the b irth and growth of the
anti-imperialist movement. He also discusses the dichotomous nature of
Indian political response to colonial rule and the mutual relationship
between what are seen as traditional but labelled as the national and
communal movements.
Here he traces the development of the ideologies of nationalism —
cultural and political —within the conflicting socio -political situation.
According to him, t he nationalist ideology was not monolithic and did not
go without contestation. Nationalism as an intellectual -cultural construct,
too, was diversified within the subcontinent. For him, c onstruction of the
past was differential, the contestation at present was polarized and the
visions of the future were divergent. He also points out that in the latter
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seen as an attempt to bring together the two streams of national and
nationalist (or national and communal as per established historiography)
awakenings. According to him i n the context of the new situation currently
developing in the country, this Gandhian legacy has assumed a new
significance, at least among the ruling circles and the established
academia.
Check Your Progress
1. Discuss the questions raised b y Aloysius in his work.
He also discusses about the n ationalist mobilization which is a
combination of both vertical and horizontal political mobilizations within
society. It is both integrative as well as disruptive. One of the attempts to
grasp the nature of this mobilizat ion at the theoretical level through
Antonio Gramsci. In the last chapter of his book, he proposes to situate the
Indian national synthesis within the Gramscian notion of the ‘National -
popular’ and ‘Hegemony’, and examine s whether nationalism has indeed
invented the nation or not.
Let us now look into the second section of the unit on Women and
National Discourse
6.3 WOMEN AND NATIONALIST DISCOURSE
(VICTIM, MATA AND SEVIKA) TANIKA SARKAR AND
OTHERS
6.3.1 History :
The role of female into the nationalist movement can be seen more
popularly with the foundation of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti and
Lakshmibai Kelkar (Dr. Hedgevar - founder). The membership estimates
are 200,000. Some members join only during that of the celebration of
festivals. The members come from various caste groups however the
dominant castes are often seen as occupying the leadership roles. Sadhvi
Rithambara and Uma Bharati are two women ascetics who rose to
prominence in the movement during the Ram Ja nmabhoomi campaign. P.
K. Vijayan argues that this is particularly so since the late 1980s, the same
period during which women's violent participation in Hindu nationalism
started to gain visibilityii.
Durga Vahini is the young women’s wing of a dominant party
which began in the early 1990s. As the aim of the group is to be more
active and action based hence the age group of the members are restricted
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popular. At times it also lands up into activism and turns out to be
aggressive. Often the activities of Durga Vahini are rarely in the limelight
than the other groups. Durga Vahini is the counterpart of the male version
group i.e., Bajrang Dal named after the god Hanuman. It is interesting to
observe the role of religion and politics and ideology and story which
merges together.
6.3.2 S tories and Mythological figures influence :
The role and image of goddess is often used to in the nationalist
movements like that of the figure of Kali, who is angry, forgiving. She
stands up for her own rights and for her subjects crushing the evil and
bringing the good. Another popular goddess is that of Sita who is seen as
a symbol of purity and chastity. Someone who doesn’t question th e
tradition but follows it and it is she who belongs the carrier of the tradition
too. We can observe in all these characters as figures, statues and stories
and being used in speeches even today in political campaigns. These
historical stories act as a ro le model, benchmark on which women are
expected to operate. The ideal woman hood symbols are also propagated
through that of publications like Gita press books.
Check Your Progress
1.State the popular mythological themes used with respect to women and
nationalist movements.
2.Discuss the popular history of the development of Women and the
nationalist movement
6.3.3 Core Arguments:
A Hindu woman is seen as to perform her duties with dedication,
affection and respect such ideas are also circulated through that of the
movements. The iconography of the goddess are also used with the
national movements like several goddess are seen as armed and like a
warrior figure. However, there are other goddess like Saraswati, Lakshmi
who are blessing givers, knowledge givers or connect with economic
aspects. So, there exists a dichotomy in the role of women as savior, as
protector and follower. Even today, the r ecitation of the Devi munotes.in
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Mahatmya occupies a central place in Durga Puja as well as daily liturgy,
and its hymns continue to be familiar to vast numbers of Hindusiii.
‘“All our goddesses are armed”: religion, resistance and revenge in
the life of a militant Hindu nationalist woman’iv The language also plays a
major role in the movements like with Durga Vahini's language when
discussing the need to transform Hindu society: ‘History is the proof that
whenever there have been problems for
country, dharma and sanskruti (culture), women have come to the
forefront to fight it out. They have also transferred this quality to their
children who have grown up to become ideal heroes and have brought the
country . In this context, it can be observed that all three temples that that
have been campaigned to be built are dedicated to gods rather than
goddesses; Ram in Ayodhya, Krishna in Mathura, and Shiva in Kashi.
6.3.4 Feminists view :
Several Feminists argue for the primacy of women's identity and
solidarity present s us with a dilemma of the rise of women's militancy in the
Hindu Right. It can be observed that the role of the Sevika Samiti and the
Durga Vahini in creating the militant cadre of women, contends that gender
identity is not primordially but is invented, crea ted, resisted and subverted at
the fulcrum of multiple identities. The entire practice, is both discursive and
material through the imagery of Bharat Mata, the valiant historical figures and
subservient mythical wives at the same time all allow women to be come
avenging angels in moments of crisis. When these moments ebb away, they
return to the mode of nurturing mothers and obedient wivesv.
Check your progress
1. Discuss the feminist views on the role of women and politics with
respect to the nationalist movements.
6.4 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the role of women in Nationalist Discourse
2. Explain the meaning of Nation and Nationalism from Aloy sius
perspectives.
6.4 SUMMARY
The first section of the chapter was focused on understanding the
nation and the nationalistic movement from the perspective of that of munotes.in
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Aloysius from his Nation without Nationalism. The second section
focusses on understanding the women’s role with is ironical where
sometimes they are expected to be warrior and sometimes just be a
follower and do one’s duty. There are religious symbols and stories are
also used to convey this idea into the lives of women.
6.6 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
ihttp://dspace.hmlibrary.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1173/9/
09_Nation%2C%20Nationalism%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20th
e%20National%20Subject.pdf
ii P. K. Vijayan, ‘Developing powers: modernisation and the masculine
hegemony of Hindu nationalism’, in Ra dhika Chopra, Caroline Osella
and Fillippo Osella (eds), South Asian Masculinities: Context of
Change, Sites of Continuity (New Delhi: Women Unlimited, 2004), p
380
iii Thomas B. Coburn, ‘Devi: the Great Goddess’, in John Stratton
Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff (eds), Devi: Goddesses of
India (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998), pp 31 –32.
iv in Kamla Bhasin, Ritu Menon and Nighat Said Khan (eds), Against
All Odds: Essays on Women, Religion and Development from India
and Pakistan (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 19 94), pp 111 –156.
v Manisha Sethi. (2002). Avenging Angels and Nurturing Mothers:
Women in Hindu Nationalism. Economic and Political Weekly, 37(16),
1545 -1552.
Anja Kovacs (2004) You don't understand, we are at war!
Refashioning Durga in the service of Hindu
nationalism, Contemporary South Asia, 13:4, 373-
388, DOI: 10.1080/09584930500070597
Kumar U. Book reviews and notices : G. ALOYSIUS, Nationalism
without a nation in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. xii +
265 pp. Bibliography, index. Rs. 695 (hardback). Contributions to
Indian Sociology . 2004;38(1 -2):261 -263.
doi:10.1177/006996670403800111
Tanika Sarkar, ‘The woman as communal subject: Rashtrasevika
Samiti and Ram Janmabhoomi movement’, Economic and Political
Weekly , 31 August 1991, pp 2057 –2062.
Tanika Sarkar and Urvashi Butalia (eds), Women and the Hindu Right:
A Collection of Essays (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1995).
***** munotes.in
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7
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING
STATE -MARKET RELATIONS AND
TRADITIONAL HIERARCHIES IN
GLOBALIZING SOCIETY
Unit Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 State -Market Relations and its Social Consequences
7.3 Globalization and Traditional Hierarchies
7.4 Summary
7.5 Unit End Questions
7.6 References and Further Readings
7.0 OBJECTIVES
To understand the nature of State -market relations within the context
of globalization.
To see its social consequences on indicators such as education, health
and employment.
To understand the impact of globalization on the traditional
hierarchies, marginalities and identities.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Globalization, as an on -going process, has affected all the nations
in the wor ld. Globalization can thus be seen as a unifying or assimilating
force that connects every nation to the world economy. Simply put,
through globalization different nations, economies, States, cultures and so
on come together and integrate into common whole . Obviously,
globalization was the result of the industrial revolution, with increasing
sophistication in modes of communication and transportation.
Industrial revolution gave rise to the capitalist mode of production
and the entire world this gradually got transformed into a market. The role
of the government thus altered vis -à-vis with its interaction with the world
economy. Another catalyst in the process of globalization were the events
of colonization and its climax into the emergence of independence
struggles in the colonies. Thereafter, all the emerging politically munotes.in
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independent economies began to have their own unique experience within
the globalized economy of the world.
Within its wake, globalization has, directly or indirectly influenced
social t ransactions as well as social relations. Indicators of development
such as health, employment, poverty reduction, education and so on, all
are dependent on the nature and extent of transactions that that country is
having with the world economy. The major cause of dominance of world
economy is due to the ‘interdependence’ of states and nations. This
phenomenon make certain states authoritative and certain others as
submissive.
Additionally, globalization also affects the traditional hierarchies
thereby in fluencing the intersecting identities and marginalities. Since
globalization has accorded fast space, there has been a rise in
individualistic attitudes. Many other traditional hierarchies such as caste -
based identities have also changed dramatically, if n ot withered away
completely. Even the gender hierarchies and interactions have changed
tremendously, although patriarchy still sets rules for most of the cultures.
Therefore, globalization can be seen as much more that the process
of modernization itself. The idea of a global world economy has
dramatically and strongly influenced each and every nation, society as
well as individual. The global exchange, not only of products and ideas,
but also of social problems, diseases, terrorism, and so on have thus
resulted in the positive as well negative impact of this phenomenon. In
fact, the existence of hybrid identities is possible due to the phenomenon
of globalization. There has been, thus, an indiscriminate development of
global identities.
Let us now elabor ate on various issues vis -à-vis globalization,
particularly with reference to the above stated objectives.
7.2 STATE -MARKET RELATIONS AND ITS SOCIAL
CONSEQUENCES
The impact of globalization is aptly stated by Jain (1995), as she
looks at its irreversible trend, amounting to the revolution in
communication technology, diffusion of power, explosion of information
hence making the world inevitably an interdependent one. When applied
to the Indian context, the New Economic Policy of 1991 opened th e doors
to economic liberalization, thus expediting the process of globalization.
Being a plural state, the Indian society interacted uniquely with the world
markets. Thus, different sections of the society were influenced in varied
ways.
Dasgupta (2005) outlines the Structural Adjustment Package
introduced in 1991, sarcastically described as the LPG model because of munotes.in
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its incorporation of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation as
essential components. Besides the dominance of markets – liberalizati on
and closing of major public sector economic activities, the NEP -1991
rested on the core idea of globalization where more trade was considered
beneficial to all, although some may gain more than others, but it was
asserted that all would gain eventually.
The goal of a free market economy was thus cherished. Buying and
selling of goods and commodities was supposed to be governed by larger
forces of the market – that is demand and supply, and not by traditional
structures. But it was obvious that the pre -existing inequalities were likely
to surface in the new economic order. Hence, the drastic changes within
the Indian society also became inevitable and irreversible. Indian
structural frameworks of its economy as well as its society were both
altered by th e complex process of globalization. All the sectors of the
Indian economy were affected due to globalization.
Within the context of contemporary globalization in the Indian
context, that is the globalization trajectories evident in Indian society and
econ omy as of the last two decades of the twentieth century, the most
visible feature of this phenomenon has been what Pawan Verma (1999)
calls the emergence of the ‘great Indian middle class,’ characterized above
all by its symbiotic relationship to the expan ding operation of international
market -factors within the arena of a state -determined national business
sector (Gupta et al. , 2010). The change in living standards mainly due to
the high capacity for consumables brought about drastic changes in this
newly formed middle class.
The modernity that came along this was unparalleled in history of
Indian society. The rural -urban divide increased, occupational mobility
became possible even for the lower castes, use of globally known brands’
products became rampan t, with a steady growth in ICTs – information,
communication and technologies. All these undoubtedly resulted in mass
mobilization of income, power and ideas and goods. As industries grew,
agricultural production sank with more and more migration towards u rban
areas. The urban society, in the post -liberalization period, had its own set
of issues and problems.
Naidu (2006) highlights that along with the economic impact,
economic reforms without a human face, have also affected the social and
cultural life of the people in several countries including India. And as it
became evident, India a predominantly agricultural society, suffered
tremendous drawbacks. This was particularly evident amongst the agrarian
sections – the rural India – where globalization bec ame a cause of
increasing poverty. Agriculture and rural poor thus steadily suffered a
setback. Thus, with technology came new employment opportunities, but
it also led to reduction in employment due increased mechanization.
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With reference to the increase in poverty and interconnected
reduction in employment, Mazumdar et al. (2008) throw some light on the
grave situation in the following words: “The Task Force on Employment
Opportunities appointed by the Planning Commission reported a sharp
decline in the labor -force growth rates between the 1980s (1983 to 1993 –
1994) and the 1990s (1993 –1994 to 1999 –2000). Its estimates from the
NSS showed that the growth rate fell from 2.05 percent per annum to 1.03
(GOI July 2001). Taken in conjunction with the increase i n measured rates
of open unemployment, this slow -down has been widely interpreted to
have been the result of ‘discouragement’ of potential workers from
entering the labor force” (p. 49).
Within the sphere of women and employment, Gupta et al. (2010)
highlight how in Kerala, the lack of availability of employment
opportunities along with a long history of migration has contributed to the
specific situation of large -scale recruitment of women to processing units.
Further there has been steady migration of m en and women to cities in
India as also the Gulf countries from very early on legitimized and paved
the way for further migration as and when job opportunities arose.
While India’s economy has grown sharply since globalization,
agriculture has not grown resulting in a rising population in rural areas and
also the rural labour force (Mujalde et al. , 2018). As the average land
holding size decreases, so does the productivity. This has resulted in mass
migration towards urban areas. To easy access of goods a nd services, the
cost of living has gone up considerably. As a consequence of reduced
employment, increase in standard and cost of living, relative as well as
absolute poverty both kept deepening in the Indian society.
It should be noted that there remai ned a huge gap between the
purchasing power of the rural people as against their urban counterparts.
As informal waged labour demand increased in urban areas, the cities
started becoming over -populated due to rural to urban migration trends.
This event ha s led to growth in water scarcity, pollution, unhygienic living
conditions, abject poverty, child labour, etc. in the densely populated city
areas designated as slums. Once overcrowded, these areas too experience
high rates of unemployment. Whether rural a reas or urban ones,
globalization seem to have favoured certain prosperous regions at the cost
of others.
The field of education has also been tremendously affected by the
process of globalization. There is no doubt that the literacy rate increased
in the post -liberal decades. The availability of and access to Western
education thus increased incredibly. The i nformation technology brought
in by globalization has facilitated education as well as posed different
challenges for the same. With globalization and liberalization, we witness
opening up of newer learning programmes, e -learning options, distance
educatio n offered by premiere institutions, and so on. The market has
since become highly competitive and because of which , education is also munotes.in
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becoming increasingly market -driven. A growing part of international
student community will become market -driven rather t han state -driven or
aid-oriented (Scott 1998).
Education, just as health sector (will be explained in the following
section), has undergone commodification – as educational institutions
become a booming industry. As Spring (2008) articulates, research on
globalization and education involves the study of intertwined worldwide
discourses, processes and institutions affecting local educational practices
and policies. As such, globalization brought about following changes in
the sphere of education:
1. New course s were introduced to match the international standards as
well as markets.
2. Accreditation to educational institutions for the purpose running
courses and programmes.
3. English largely became a medium of instruction. In fact, importance of
several foreign lang uages also rose.
4. Distant learning and online learning both became feasible.
5. Indian students could easily pursue courses of their choice in a foreign
university and vice versa.
6. Skill specializations increased.
7. The increasing and strong networks amongst th e students of different
universities, even across the borders, became steadily a characteristic
of this IT -driven age.
8. With ever -increasing dissemination of information and data,
particularly academics, copyrights and intellectual property rights
became a necessity.
And this list can go on. In the Indian context, globalization of
education has resulted in something peculiar, which can also be apparent
in other growing economies. Education, while considered as the most
important medium for empowerment and e radication of poverty, is also
facilitating the widening of the gap between the two sections of the Indian
society. This is partly because India allows elite and foreign institutions to
offer lucrative degrees with training, that guarantee the best of jobs in
India as well as in other countries. The individuals who reach our for this
are most likely belonging to the affluent sections of the society.
In fact, this practice of becoming demand -oriented in a job market,
has led to the mushrooming of coaching classes. This coaching class
phenomenon aims at making the students clear the most desirable
competitive exams and make them ‘market -ready’. It also makes, cracking
these exams, relatively possible and also easy. A number of
advertisements are made availab le which make the consumer grave for its
possession – in this case, joining the coaching classes for achieving the
best of jobs. This has resulted in a unending race for applying for these
competitive exams and occupying seats for elite courses. munotes.in
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All this further adds to discrepancies and psychological stress,
along with financial burden, for the students. The whole idea of learning
for the sake of learning is rarely visible. However, as Madhok et al. (2011)
have highlighted in their study in Kolkata, globa lization has significantly
changed the demand for higher education, both amongst the men and
women. Likewise, technology -related fields attract more students and
more and more women are getting into such courses. With education in
general and higher educat ion in particular, it is increasingly possible for
women empower themselves and attain gender equality.
Globalization specifically introduced changes in the language used
in education. The positionality of English has changed in the Three
Language Formul a (TLF), India’s language in education policy, that is
English becomes the medium of instruction right from nursery mainly due
to increasing demand of this language (Vaish, 2008). Thus the growing
importance of English was the straight outcome of the socio -economic
processes of globalization.
As mentioned above, the health sector in India is also heavily
commercialized and that the public health remains a grossly neglected
sector. Deaton et al. (2004) posits the arguments from the economists that
the inco me is the primary determinant of health, especially for the poorer
countries; and that through the social forces such as education and
policies, transmission of health -related knowledge should be attainable
objective. Globalization has not been able to ens ure good health and life
expectancy in specifically poorer nations as compared to the rich
countries.
As a section of economists favor the positive link between the
income and health, it is then possible to see a poverty reduction induced
by employment and income generation due to globalization. However, so
many diseases are known to have spread to globalization that ensures ease
of trav el, for instance covid -19 that spread globally from China in no time.
Such an event can be very dangerous for socio -economic wellbeing of
every country its likely to affect.
Babones et al. (2010), through their research, state that
globalization poses la rge-scale but widely -diffused threats to population
health that is difficult to quantify and equally difficult to address.
Globalization can project positive effects if its benefits are in the public
hands, but if these are privately held, globalization th en can have great
negative consequences. As diseases travel fast in the globalized world, so
does the medicinal alternatives. The availability of quality treatment is not
within the reach of common people. However, the rich people can travel to
any part of the world to get the best possible treatment. This is aptly
visible in our government -run hospitals where patients are waiting for
months to get treated particularly for diseases such as cancer.
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It has been repeatedly researched that the physical and ec onomic
burden of diseases affect people of the developing nations more
significantly than the developed ones and hence there exists a huge
disparity in the health conditions experienced in the developed and
developing countries (Fidler, 1999). Hence the co nsistently deteriorating
health of the people of developing or poor countries in the post -
globalization period remains a major concern. The rich, in the affluent,
developed nations are thus benefitting at the cost of the poor, marginalized
sections of the society.
Take for instance, the medical tourism as a manifestation of
globalization. Driven by high health -care costs, long waiting periods, or
lack of access to new therapies in developed countries, most medical
tourists (largely from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe)
seek care in Asia and Latin America. Although individual patient risks
may be offset by credentialing and sophistication in some destination
country facilities, lack of benefits to poorer citizens in developing
countries offeri ng medical tourism remains a generic equity issue
(Hopkins et al. , 2010).
Check Your Progress:
1. What are the adverse effects of globalization on employment?
2. State the positive impact of globalization on the education.
7.3 GLOBALIZATION AND TRADITIONAL
HIERARCHIES
India is a vast country – culturally and geographically. While
colonialism left its footprints, experienced even after years of
independence, post -colonization period remains heavily affected by the
processes of globalization. Further, India was unique in its own way for
having strongly held traditional identities and hierarchies. Just as
colonization interfered with these identities, globalization have drastically
altered the ways in which these identities are manifest and are perceived.
Habib (2015) look s at the works of those literary figures who have
engaged with and looked at globalization as ‘neo -colonialism’. In order to
address this issue, we need to understand that globalization is also a by -munotes.in
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product of capitalism, just like the need to colonize was felt. With
colonization came the Western modernity and similarly globalization open
the doors to unending information explosion. Various traditional
institutions, social structures and identities got affected in the process –
sometimes positively and some times negatively.
While in some cases, hierarchies and identities suffered as loss, in
some other instances, these became more rigid and assertive.
Globalization has brought multiple hierarchies and identities in close
contact. Never before in the histor y of mankind, were the humans so
closely connected. The speed required to connect to another part of the
world, has reduced drastically thus influencing the way in with we think
about and construct the category of ‘others’. Global identities are thus
getting localized.
Whether traditionally or in a modern society, religion plays an
important and all -decisive role. As religion gives a meaning to one’s
existence, globalization creates uncertainty about future. Within this
context, religion has adapted strang ely. In India and elsewhere, there are
particular connotations about particular religions based on the global
events whether real, imagined or politically created. Take for instance,
Islamic fundamentalism that creates a different picture particularly afte r
9/11 episode.
Even before colonial rule in India, religion and caste remained
very significant to the extent that concepts such as purity and pollution
very deeply entrenched in religion and caste. However, with modernity
that entered with the colonize rs, our understanding of the religious ‘other’
changed. Particularly the existing antagonism between Christianity
(colonizers’ religion) and Islam (religion of some of those colonized)
resulted in varied transactions between the two.
Religious communalis m has been a common issue particularly in
post-colonial Indian society. Not just Hindu -Muslim enmity, globalization
has shaped and reshaped Hindu -Christian issues as well. As Bauman
(2013) analyzes, with reference to the varied processes of globalization,
Hindu -Christian violence, where the curious alliance is shown of largely
upper caste, anti -minority Hindu nationalists with lower -status groups. As
it goes on to suggest, identity politics, driven by the proxy association of
Christianity with the impact o f globalization, can be seen the core reason
for this enmity.
Brar et al. (2008), through their meta -analysis show how the
majoritarian religious intolerance displayed by Hindutva revivalists cannot
be understood until we explore their anxieties about the pollution of a pure
culture and civilization called India. Postmodernist minds thrive on
imagined harmonious communities, which always dotted India before the
imposition of alien modernity. And therefore, in order to understand the
politics of identity, i n the Indian context, one must understand the munotes.in
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territorial aspect as well as the idea of imagination of identities.
Globalization shook that unshakeable belief in nationalism ( Ibid).
Globalization also seems to have brought about drastic changes in
terms o f gender and work. While patriarchal values continue to govern the
society, women did become a part of the work force, in different
capacities. However, the structuring and restructuring of the economy
didn’t seem to help women achieve equality. Privatizat ion and
liberalization are known to have generated huge employment opportunities
for women, but the male bias in the workforce, continued in different
forms, becoming more apparent at the higher ranks and positions.
Although feminization of workforce was somewhat inevitable
particularly after economic liberalization India, the overall neo -liberal
economy isn’t very gender sensitive. Within this setup, the women from
lower classes and lower castes suffer the most. In that sense, globalization
facilitated t heir marginalization even further, rendering them little or no
bargaining power. In fact, because of this prevalence, many women were
employed as their labour is considered cheap as also they remained
unorganized.
Channa (2004) argues that the colonial r ule projected western
science as the ultimate source of knowledge and western values as
supreme. Stereotypes of oppressed non -western women had their
counterpart in the male, rational western culture, coming to their rescue,
both metaphorically and literal ly. Unfortunately, these stereotypes became
so entrenched in the psyche of post -colonial nation builders that they and
even third -world feminist activists confuse development with
"westernization." The fallacy of such an assumption becomes clear when
one t akes a glance at the realities of everyday life where crimes against
women and poverty and marginalization of the masses is exploding in the
most urban metropolises with the highest exposure to modernization and
globalization. Rational thought points to gl obalization, with its emphasis
on material values, consumerism and "trashing" of traditional knowledge.
Globalization has eroded the traditional resource base as well as the
knowledge and power associated with it.
The situation of Scheduled Castes is equ ally appalling under the
context of globalization. Jwala (2009) looks the situation of Dalits on the
three most predominant dimensions – food security, inflation and
employment, and summarizes that there exist a huge gap between the rich
and the poor, spec ifically the Dalits. Capitalism by nature is exploitative in
character. The Scheduled Castes are exploited in different ways in this
new economic setup, which make the rich capitalists richer and richer.
But, one can also look at the situation differently . It is
globalization that has mainly given the feasibility to some of the
individuals of these marginalized sections to study specialized courses
(sometimes abroad) and excel in the business entrepreneur undertakings. munotes.in
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These and alike constitute the ‘crea my layer’ today amongst their
neglected and marginalized lot. This group of individuals is highly mobile,
enterprising and progressive. The credit of having achieved all this goes to
capitalism and globalization that have together broken the shackles of
tradition and feudalism.
Mukherji (2015), in her ToI article recollects the Marx's view of
capitalism as smashing feudalism and goes on to say how at a panel
discussion on Dalit entrepreneurship, moderated by acclaimed scholar and
India expert Robin Jeffre y, liberal economist Swaminathan Aiyer spoke of
the rise of Dalit millionaires without props or government subsidies. "The
Economic Times ran a series of 11 articles on Dalit capitalism," says
Aiyer, who spoke of the manner in which capitalism had helped e rode the
caste system and had gone on to produce dollar millionaires. Dalits turning
entrepreneurs against all odds without any outside help is a miracle of
sorts, says Chandrabhan Prasad, political commentator and mentor to the
Dalit India Chamber of Comm erce and Industry
However, caste still remains and manifests itself in different ways
even in today’s globalized India. Jodhka (2017) also suggests that the
mobility of SCs up and down the social ladder is undeniable. However
while some have fought all the odds to become economically successful,
may others from SCs are suffering even in the corporate hiring or getting
equal oppor tunities. Even in today’s times of digital and information age,
with ever increasing need for digital and online teaching aids (particularly
due to pandemic), it is the STs and SCs children who are suffering the
brunt of digital divide. This is because the y are not well equipped in terms
of facilities and knowledge to match their footsteps with others. They are
thus left behind. But nevertheless, there remains huge scope for their
empowerment.
Check Your Progress:
1. What are the effects of globalization on various traditional hierarchies?
2. State the positive impact of globalization on Dalit empowerment.
7.4 SUMMARY
Globalization does indeed create differences, even as it
homogenizes —but not in the positive form of encouraging genuine munotes.in
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creative diversity. Rather, globalization creates far deeper and more
pervasive inequalities across regions of the world, within countries, across
classes and income groups. These inequalities encompass gaps in wealth,
income, access to productive employme nt, opportunities and a whole
range of other material and social conditions (Gupta et al., 2010).
While the private institutions of education pose a challenge for the
public ones, the prospect of ever increasing institutions, higher education
particularl y, can bridge some gap between the haves and have -nots. With
the situation, foreign universities, being allowed to set up campuses on the
Indian soil (as proposed by new NEP, 2020) can give a huge setback to the
public universities and so which are not dri ven by profits. Academically,
India cannot perform better if education remains just a business or
commercial activity. The aim of education due to the mediation of
globalization, should be, among other things, to eradicate poverty,
promote scientific tempe r, ensure gender sensitivity and equality in all
spheres of life.
The most under -researched area of study vis -à-vis the adverse
effects of globalization, is the public health, particularly in the developing
countries. While on one hand we see rapid disse mination of medicines,
these are scarcely available for the poor people, but the privatized
hospitals provide them easily for their affluent clientele. Not just that , the
health related knowledge and information is also not spread evenly in the
rural area s. Such people and those who live under abject poverty, still do
not have a clear understanding of ailments and diseases that require
medical attention. And this is despite living in an information age.
Globalization works alongside patriarchy and contin ues to
discriminated against the women workforce. As women as socially
conditioned about their alleged positions in the society, they rarely
exercise their bargaining power or collective force to attain equality in
terms of wages and so on. Thus, globaliza tion has only resulted in
exploitation of women workers, further marginalizing them than their
male counterparts.
Caste hierarchies have undergone considerable change since
liberalization in India. Certain restrictions have been destroyed and certain
others replaced by more latent ones. Globalization has given a number of
opportunities to the SCs and STs in terms of joining the workforce and
becoming aware of world situation. This is mainly possible as many of
them are today connected to some of the socia l media and are becoming
increasingly aware of their rights. Yet they are still neglected and
exploited in newer ways in this new system of economic revolution.
7.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. How has the global market influenced the job creation in India? munotes.in
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2. What is medical tourism?
3. How have women benefitted due to increasing education in the
globalization context?
4. What positive and negative consequences of globalization in sphere of
education and health?
5. How has patriarchy and globalization interacted in India?
6. What has been the nature of interaction between the SCs/STs and
economic liberalization?
7.6 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
Babones, S. J., & Babcicky, P. (2010). THE GLOBALIZATION
CHALLENGE TO POPULATION HEALTH. International Review of
Modern Sociology , 36(2), 101 -120.
Balaram, P. (2008). Higher Education: Globalization and Expansion.
Current Science, 94 (10), 1229 -1230.
Bauman, C. M. (2013). Hindu -Christian Conflict in India:
Globalization, Conversion, and the Coterminal Castes and Tribes. The
Journal of Asian Studies, 72 (3), 633 -653.
Brar, B., Kumar, A., & Ram, R. (Eds.). (2008). Globalization and the
Politics of Identity in India . New Delhi: Pearson Education.
Channa, S. M. (2004). Globalization And Modernity In India: A
Gendered Critique. Urban Ant hropology and Studies of Cultural
Systems and World Economic Development, 33 (1), 37 -71.
Dasgupta, B. (2005). Globalization: India's Adjustment Experience .
New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Deaton, A., Jack, W., & Burtless , G. (2004). Health in an Age of
Globalization [with Comments and Discussion]. Brookings Trade
Forum , 83-130.
Fidler, D. P. (1999). Neither Science nor Shamans: Globalization of
Markets and Health in the Developing World. Indiana Journal of
Global Legal S tudies, 7 (1), 191 -224.
Gupta, S., Basu, T., & Chattarji, S. (Eds.). (2010). Globalization in
India: Contents and Discontents . New Delhi: Pearson Education.
Habib, M. (2015). Globalization and Literature. Language in India,
15(9), 14 -21.
Hopkins, L., Labo nté, R., Runnels, V., & Packer, C. (2010). Medical
tourism today: What is the state of existing knowledge? Journal of
Public Health Policy, 31 (2), 185 -198.
Jain, B. M. (1995). Globalisation and India Challenges and
Opportunities. Indian Journal of Asian A ffairs, 8/9 (1/2), 71 -79.
Jodhka, S. S. (2017). Caste in Contemporary India . New York: Taylor
& Francis. munotes.in
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Jwala, K. (2009). GLOBALIZATION AND THE DALITS. The
Indian Journal of Political Science, 70 (3), 919 -924.
Madhok, B., & Raj, S. J. (2011). GLOBALIZATIO N, HIGHER
EDUCATION, AND WOMEN IN URBAN INDIA: A
DEVELOPMENT ETHICS APPROACH. Journal of Third World
Studies, 28 (1), 141 -154. doi: 10.2307/45194764
Mazumdar, D., & Sarkar, S. (2008). Globalization, Labor Markets and
Inequality in India . New Delhi: Routledg e.
Mujalde, S., & Vani, A. (2018). Impact of Globalisation on Poverty,
Inequality and Employment in India. International Journal of Trend in
Scientific Research and Development, 2 (3), 1849 -1858.
Mukherji, A. (2015). Dalits turning entrepreneurs against al l odds!,
The Times of India .
Naidu, Y. G. (2006). GLOBALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON
INDIAN SOCIETY. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 67 (1),
65-76.
Spring, J. (2008). Research on Globalization and Education. Review of
Educational Research, 78 (2), 33 0-363.
Tripathi, P. M., & Tiwari, S. K. (2008). SOCIO -ECONOMIC
CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION. The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 69 (4), 717 -725.
Vaish, V. (2008). Biliteracy and Globalization: English Language
Education in India . UK: Multilingual Mat ters Limited.
*****
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8
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS AND
TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, IDENTITY
POLITICS
Unit Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Tribes - Economic Transformations, Marginalization and its
Struggles
8.3 Identity Politics in India
8.4 Summary
8.5 Unit End Questions
8.6 References and Further Readings
8.0 OBJECTIVES
● To understand how the economic transformations taking place globally
affect the tribes locally.
● To understand the forms and extent of tribes’ marg inalization and
exploitation.
● To explore tribal struggles and movements for equality.
● To understand the nature of identity politics in India.
● To understand how religion, region and class homogenize and
fragment identities.
8.1 INTRODUCTION
India, being a culturally diverse country, has a huge population of
tribes. Tribes, also popularly known referred to as Adivasis, commonly
translated as ‘original inhabitants’, are often customarily referred to after
discussing Scheduled Castes, however th ey should be looked upon as
being situated outside the caste system. However, just like the caste
situation in India, the tribal people also continue to remain as
marginalized, exploited and face massive socio -economic discrimination.
Further, as the issue of their marginalization gets more and more
politicized, their became center -stage for policies and discussions amongst
the administrators and academics.
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Due to consistent exploitation, the tribes have lost their hitherto
held forests and hills rights, their unique cultural practices, and so on as
there is continuous attempt to assimilate them, while also keeping them
intentionally away from their own entitlements. However, decades of
social and economic exploitation has not only resulted in their povert y and
marginalization, it has also led to massive mobilization, protests and rise
in demands for their equal rights to citizenship.
Even with reference to their identity and identification, there is
massive politics and chaos. As there is no clarity and s tandard
understanding for the process of their identification, their get exploited
even more. Further, due to the complex processes of modernity,
globalization and economic transformation, tribes are also changing from
within as a community. This change is also mediated by the transforming
society within which they are located.
While talking about caste and tribe, as also religion and language,
we come across the phenomenon of identity politics. The term identity
politics can be understood as the assertion by a group of persons, with
some common identifying trait, by politically channelizing their demands.
The common underlying traits or factors of identification can be religious,
regional, caste, tribe, class. While identity politics more than often has a
negative connotation but still should be subjectively understood and
evaluated for its significance and scope for bringing the into focus the
hitherto exploited communities.
Through the interrelated sub -sections that follow hereafter, we will
try to unde rstand the transforming situation of the tribes in India. The
larger market forces, which are also driven by capitalist/exploitative
ideologies tremendously influence these marginalized sections of our
society. The resultant identity politics thus also bec ome an issue worth
discussion.
8.2 TRIBES - ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS,
MARGINALIZATION AND ITS STRUGGLES
All human societies transform and with industrialization,
modernization and globalization, continuous economic transformation of
human societies is i nevitable. Kamat (1981) highlights the social change
among the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the post -independence
period, mainly due to the advance of education. Through modern
education in an independent India, they became capable of joining n ew
occupations, ideologically became inclined towards liberal and egalitarian
values and thus facilitated their acceleration for economic change.
Within the context of colonial transformation of the tribal society,
there are two sets of assumptions gove rning the historical writings on the
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prevailing conceptual framework whereby tribal communities were treated
as isolates, savages, and primitive and as such overlooked historical
processes; second, this assumption postulated that the tribes were a sub -
system of the Hindu system and that they were being absorbed into the
economic organization of the caste (Singh, 1978). Thus, the historical bias
prevailed which interfered with the und erstanding of the tribals and its
transformation in the Indian society.
As globally economies transform, societies continue to push
certain communities to the margins, thus ensuring their social exclusion.
Marginalization and social exclusion are universa l which means, more or
less, all societies practice it – knowingly or unknowingly. From an
economic point of view, equal opportunities and access are denied, by
certain hegemonic sections of a society, to some of the socio -economically
backward communitie s, thus maintaining the status quo. Hierarchical
differences are ensued due to such systemic and systematic exploitation of
the latter for centuries.
And just like the lower castes’ communities, the tribes in India also
have been socially and economicall y kept excluded. According to the
World Bank Report of 2011, with reference the tribes, it states that during
and after the period of rapid economic growth, different social groups
transformed themselves in different ways in response to new opportunities
however as the report shows the outcomes among Adivasis are among the
worst, despite considerable variation across places of residence and tribal
groupings, when compared to that of Scheduled Castes.
There have been many attempts to understand the means, aims and
its consequences of tribal exclusion and inclusion in the context of the
development paradigm of tribal development. Sonowal (2008) attempts to
highlight – first, the problems faced by the tri bal people from both
inclusion into and exclusion from the dominant development paradigm of
the country; second, tribal societies have experienced religious and other
cultural inclusion into the so -called universal or dominant culture and
consequently face d the problem of identity crisis and third, exclusion from
infrastructure, health and education has led them to a situation where they
find it difficult to cope with the outside world.
Within the context of issues of tribal inclusion and exclusion, some
of the major problems concern their health, forest land rights and related
land alienation, literacy rates, their forceful assimilation into the
mainstream Hindu culture and religion, and so on. Although, along with
the other sections of the society, triba ls have also been passing through a
phase of economic transformation. Because of modern technology, tribals
are not as isolated as they were previously. While this is true for their
physical isolation, their socio -economic isolation more or less remains a
point of contestation.
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In pre -Independence India, a British anthropologist turned tribal
activist, Verrier Elwin, contributed heavily to the tribal understanding. In
his famous work Philosophy for Nefa , first published in 1960, we see a
well-meaning forw ard written by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister of India, regarding the supposed goal of tribal development in
India. Elwin’s subjective and rich ethnographic material on the lives of the
various tribal communities with more realistic atti tudes towards tribal
development.
Christoph von Fürer -Haimendorf quotes Jawaharlal Nehru’s formulation
of the five principles for the policy to be pursued vis -a-vis the tribals, also
popularly known as Jawaharlal Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel:
(1) People sho uld develop along the lines of their own genius, and the
imposition of alien values should be avoided.
(2) Tribal rights in land and forest should be respected
(3) Teams of tribals should be trained in the work of administration and
development.
(4) Tribal areas should not be over administered or overwhelmed with a
multiplicity of schemes.
(5) results should be judged not by statistics or the amount of money
spent, but by the human character that is evolved.
The Indian government’s policy for the tribal development is expected
to be guided by Nehru’s formulation. Thus, while globalization and
economic transformations have led to increased awareness of the tribal
issues, these have also resulted in their furthe r marginalization. However,
it remains a responsibility of the democratic government as well as the
intellectuals at all levels to initiate equal development amongst these
socio -economically isolated communities. By and large, the measures
adopted to make them socially as well as economically inclusive are
insufficient and lack political will.
Within the context of various encounters between the post -colonial
state and tribal communities, Suan (2011) traces how the encounter
between the state and disparat e tribal groups in India’s north -east or
elsewhere not only affirms the state’s monopoly of material and symbolic
power but also opens up a complex and shifting discursive space. Due to
unequal state arrangements, tribes tend to face structural discriminat ion at
the hands of larger society. Hence, marginalization remains a complex
phenomenon due to various developmental and historical factors.
Further, within the context of studying the tribals with the
perspective of the caste society, Xaxa (1999), with his meta -analysis of
the various anthropologists’ and sociologists’ tribal studies, opines, among
other things, that the nature of tribal people's interaction with the caste
members of society is governed more by consideration of market and
economic interdependence than by purity -pollution ones. Thus forced
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understand the social interactions that the tribes are likely to have, the
contexts and situations they are in, etc. can make tribes appear more akin
to the caste communities.
James et al. (1979) highlight how, in post -independent India, the
Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, constituted to
safeguard their interests, was himself deprived of necessary o fficial status
as well as the facilities and personnel to ensure strict implementation of
the measures. However, despite its shortcomings in implementation, one
cannot deny that the affirmative action and positive discrimination have
more or less corrected the past discrimination and increased the
marginalized communities’ representation in previously excluded areas
(Chhetri, 2012).
In fact, at the time of Independence, India used protective law to
address fears that its tribal majority regions would be ma rginalized vis -a-
vis the larger, more developed states of the new nation and as such the
‘Sixth Schedule’ was written into the Indian Constitution to ensure rights
of self -government for the tribal majorities in North Eastern Himalayas
(Søreide, 2013). It was therefore vital to ensure that the voices of tribal
people were taken into account while framing the Constitution for the new
nation.
As it is apparent, land remains a major concern, historically and
economically, amongst the tribals. Claims for land and forest rights often
result in struggles and rebellious outcomes in their regions. For instance,
the history of land relations in tribal Andhra Pradesh and central India,
showcase the recurrence of struggles against the transfer of farmland in
the valle ys to non -tribal farmers and moneylenders and against the
government’s claim to own forest land (Oskarsson, 2018).
Sahoo (2007) explores the politics of resistance in Orissa to show
how the collective resistance by different groups and communities in the ir
defense of community, livelihood and identity should be viewed as a
response to the hegemonic and homogenizing project of modernity and
capitalist development. The process of economic development has its own
dynamics particularly for the tribals resulti ng in more exclusion, in spite of
the affirmative action proclaimed for them. Take for example the case of
Orissa, where thousands of tribals experienced large scale displacement
due to industrial and huge dam projects (Debaranjan, 1999).
Check Your Prog ress:
1.What has been the situation of tribals in the post -independent India?
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2. Elaborate on tribal struggles.
8.3 IDENTITY POLITICS IN INDIA
In the current era of identity politics where the demand for
‘recognition’ has almost become more important than that for
‘redistribution’, minorities no longer allow any kind of deliberate
discourteous act or disapproval to their group identity. This can be seen as
a welcome change, a tribute to democracy’s power to empower the
excluded. And yet many regard it as unwelcomed change, which may turn
out to infringe upon their rights and privileges, which have been long
cherished. Let us now embark on a journey to see how we can look at
these contemporary realities - identity politics and hybr id identities.
In today’s globalized scenario, religion and nationalism have
indeed become the most effective tools for anyone to assert his/her (and
‘their’ as well) identity and at the same time resort to the same religious
identity in order to take rec ourse. In other words, both are linked to chosen
traumas and chosen glories (Kinnvall, 2004). Consider, for example, the
Babri demolition incident and the Hindu -Muslim riots thereafter. The
‘muslim’ identity, from that day, has changed dramatically. On one hand,
the muslims see, or to be more precise, ‘identify’ themselves as being
oppressed, discriminated against, marginalized, etc. On the other hand,
others (non -muslims) see or ‘identify’ them, i.e. the Muslims, as being
violent, fundamentalist, extremist s, etc. This view about the Muslims has
also been generalized world over, especially after 9/11 attacks.
The whole debate surrounding the issue of ‘conversion’ also has
lots to do with the politics of ‘identity’. Notwithstanding the impact of
other politi cal factors, conversion from a particular religion to another
theoretically obliterates an individual’s pre -conversion ascriptive identities
(Jayaram, 2004). However, the converted individual is then put in a
dilemma, he although makes attempts to carry ou t the new identities, but
at the same time is also lead by his ascriptive identities, which he may or
may not forget throughout his life. In such a case, they are never accepted
again within their own faith, and at the same time, are always considered
as ‘outsiders’ by the converting religion.
Although we have multiple identities, most of the time, they are
more of a subtle nature and get aroused only when they are invoked.
Therefore, the limited resources lead to competition for political
mobilization th us invoking identities and sub identities ( ibid). In other
words, under certain conditions, some identities become more vocal and
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A lot is also spoken about the rise of social movements, which is
driven by invoking certain identities. For example, Bernstein (2005)
accounts for the relationship between social movements and organizing
around certain identities, in a globalized context. Consider, for example,
the various Dalit liberation movements, whereby their marginalized
identities are strongly invoked, in order to get political recourse.
In a country like India, political parties play an important role in
expressing, constructing and mobilizing religious political identities. It is
this political organization that makes the fact of pluralism concrete for
democratic purposes (Rosenblum, 2003). But as we all know, religion and
politics is deadly combination. The offshoots of such a c ombination can
have a devastating impact on the cultural plurality and diversity of India.
Similarly, political parties that are formed on the basis of
‘regional’ identities can prove to be equally dangerous. Parties like Shiv
Sena of Maharashtra, Akali i n Punjab, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh,
are all illustrations of this kind. Recognition and affiliations to such
identities can result in a very hostile attitude towards other regions and its
people.
To top it up, we also have the phenomenon of ‘cast e’, which is
unique to Indian polity. Caste cuts across religions. Caste, by itself, is a
very complex issue. Therefore, the ‘caste’ identities which are generated
in course of one’s life are also very complexly intertwined with other
identities. We can ex amine the famous examples of Dalits converting to
Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity or Islam. However, they are never
practically able to forget their original caste identities, which are indeed,
time and again, invoked by significant others . Caste, therefo re, survives
conversion (Jayaram 2004).
To worsen the case further, we have political parties based on caste
identities. Here, the individual’s caste identity becomes the major source
of political participation. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) is an ap t
example of such caste -party politics.
To consider one such very contemporary example is to make a
mention of the 2012 fight for chief minister’s post in Uttarakhand. The
whole issue whether Vijay Bahugunna (a Brahmin) or Harish Rawat (a
Rajput) will become the next CM of the state, had taken strong caste
overtones and was indeed painted as the Rajput versus Brahmin fight. It
was reported that since the state’s demography had changed and the
Rajputs are today a clear majority, had indeed, added to the group’s sense
of deprivation (Network, 2012).
The politics of scarcity has its own impact on the politics of caste
identity. This can be seen now in the form of competition among various
caste groups to be designated as ‘backward’ ( ibid). If such backward ness
is granted upon them, they then become entitled to various benefits that munotes.in
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fall under protective discrimination. The recent turmoil in Jaipur,
Rajasthan, where Gujar community demanded such a status, is an example
of this aspect of identity politics.
This can also be looked at from another perspective. When
‘indigenous’ identities are attacked by encroaching ‘foreign’ powers (or
modern culture), there are strong attempts made by the former, to
maintain, preserve and revitalize their identities (Spencer , 1994). This is
usually done by taking recourse to their age old culture and reviving their
glorious past, i.e. before the advent of so -called encroaching culture.
People are time and again reminded of their belonging to ‘this’ particular
group and theref ore should behave and act according to their long
cherished identities. And any kind of deviance from which, is not just ‘not
accepted’, but also publicly criticized and ridiculed.
It is often held that conceptualizations like multiculturalism and
secular ism have a tendency of freezing group boundaries and creating
homogeneous and monolithic religious categories. However, this is a mere
overlooking that these conceptualizations do. It should, therefore, be clear
that the various communities in India do not fall within any particular
homogeneous categories with fixed clear -cut boundaries that can define
them. Obviously, there is a lot of overlapping within and between
communities and there are further marked differences in various cultural
practices between regions, ethnic, linguistic and/or caste groups (Deb,
2002).
A lot of concerns about attitudes and policies towards the
established minorities are governed by two contrasting ideological
positions, one of which is, as we have already seen, multiculturali sm the
view that these groups should maintain their heritage cultures as much as
possible while establishing them -selves in other cultures; the other one
being assimilation, the belief that cultural minorities should give up their
so-called "heritage" cult ures and take on the majority’s way of life
(Lambert et al., 1990). These scholars drew the conclusion from their
research that some members of ethnic minority groups are developing full
biculturalism and bilingualism, rather than choosing between heritage and
adopted cultures. They resort to two cultural identities rather than
relinquishing one for another.
Check Your Progress:
1.What is identity politics in the Indian context?
2. Elaborate on regional identity politics.
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8.4 SUMMARY
To summarize this, one can say that tribal communities have
suffered more than ever in the post -modern decades. As the economic
transformations took place and the world started becoming a global
village, nations became development -driven. And as a result, the
marginalized communities, such as and dominantly, the tribes, were
systematically kept away from participating in the economic development
as well as claiming its benefits. Not only this, they were made unsuitable
for the land on which they toiled for decades.
And all this in the name of development and progress. But the
question remains, how inclusive is this development? While any
development -related projects are intended for the entire population of that
region, it is usually benefitting only a few sections of the society. Tribals
and other backward marginalized people suffer in the name of
development. In order resolve such tensions, we do have some robust
constitutional provisions intended to safeguard their rights, but again its
implementation re mains a question mark.
Within the context of culturally diverse and plural Indian society,
one cannot deny the existence of hybrid identities. Multiple identities
coexisting that often lead to conflict in identities form the background on
which politics of identity thrive and flourish. In the Indian context,
identities get fragmented on the caste, religion, region, language, tribe and
class. The intersections of these identities and probable conflict of
interests results in identity politics. It remains a huge unresolved task with
our society to do away with such politics.
8.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the situation of the tribals with special reference to the
economic transformations in the post -independent India.
2. What are the various forms of tribal marginalization?
3. Tribal struggles in post -Independent India. Explain.
4. What are hybrid identities?
5. How do linguistic identities mingle with politics? What is the result of
this?
6. How religious identities highlight the politics of identities in the Indian
context?
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8.6 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
Bernstein, M. (2005). Identity Politics. Annual Review of Sociology,
31(ArticleType: research -article / Full publication date: 2005 /
Copyright © 2005 Annual Reviews), 47 -74.
Chhetri, D. P. (2012). POLITIC S OF SOCIAL INCLUSION AND
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: CASE OF INDIA. The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 73 (4), 587 -600.
Deb, K. (2002). Introduction. In K. Deb (Ed.), Mapping
Multiculturalism (pp. 13 -67). Jaipur: Rawat Pub lications.
Debaranjan, S. (1999). Struggles against Sanctuaries. Economic and
Political Weekly, 34 (12), 667 -668.
James, P. A., & Reddy, G. S. (1979). Commissioner for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Economic and Political Weekly, 14 (26),
1100 -1104.
Jayaram, N. (2004). Identity: A Semantic Exploration in India's
Society and Culture. In M. Mamdani (Ed.), Identity (pp. 127 -148).
New York: Other Press.
Kamat, A. R. (1981). Education and Social Change Amongst the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled T ribes. Economic and Political
Weekly, 16 (31), 1279 -1284.
Kinnvall, C. (2004). Globalization and Rel igious Nationalism: Self,
Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security. Political
Psychology, 25 (5), 741 -767.
Lambert, W. E., Moghaddam, F. M., Sorin, J., & Sorin, S. (1990).
Assimilation vs. Multiculturalism: Views from a Community in
France. Retrieved 09/03/2012, from Sringer
http://www.jstor.org/stable/684395
Network, T. N. (2012, March 14,). Revolt in Uttarakhand as Rawat
denied CM post, The Times of India, p. 1.
Oskarsson, P. (2018). Adivasi Land Rights and Dispossession
Landlock (Vol. 14, pp. 29 -50): ANU Press.
Pramila, B. (2014). A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIO -
ECONOMIC STATUS OF TRIBAL WOMEN IN TAMIL NADU.
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 75 , 1232 -1240.
Report, T. W. B. (2011). Poverty and Social Exclusion in India. USA.
Rosenblum, N. L. (2003). Religious Par ties, Religious Political
Identity, and the Cold Shoulder of Liberal Democratic Thought.
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 6 (1), 23 -53.
Sahoo, S. (2007). THE POLITICS OF TRIBAL RESISTANCE IN
ORISSA. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 68 (2), 391 -402. munotes.in
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Singh, K. S. (1978). Colonial Transformation of Tribal Society in
Middle India. Economic and Political Weekly, 13 (30), 1221 -1232.
Sonowal, C. J. (2008). Indian Tribes and Issue of Social Inclusion and
Exclusion. Studies of Tribes and Tribals, 6 (2), 123 -134.
Søreide, K. N. (2013). Tribal marginalization in India: Social
exclusion and protective law. CMI Brief, 12 (4), 4.
Spencer, M. E. (1994). Multiculturalism, "Political Correctness," and
the Politics of Identity. Sociological Forum, 9 (4), 547 -567.
Suan, H. K. K. (2011). Rethinking 'tribe' identities: The politics of
recognition among the Zo in North -East India. Contributions to Indian
Sociology, 45 (2), 157 -187.
Thresiamma, V. G. (2011). MAKING OF THE INDIAN
CONSTITUTION AND DEBATE ON THE ISSU E OF TRIBAL
DEVELOPMENT. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 72 (1),
179-189.
Xaxa, V. (1999). Transformation of Tribes in India: Terms of
Discourse. Economic and Political Weekly, 34 (24), 1519 -1524. doi:
10.2307/4408077
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MODEL QUESTION PAPER
PAPER 2
COMPETING PERSPECTIVE ON INDIAN
SOCIETY
Total Marks : 60 Duration : 2 Hours
N.B:
1) Attempt All Questions
2) All Questions carry equal marks
Q1. Explain the various approaches used in the study of
Sociology 15 marks
Or
What is Indigenization? Discuss it in the context of India 15 marks
Q2. Explain Dr. Ambedkar’s view on caste 15 marks
Or
Explain the views of Gail Omvedt on caste and gender
subjugation in India. 15 marks
Q3. Explain Partha Chatterjee’s View on Nationalism 15 marks
Or
Explain the role of women in Nationalist Discourse 15 marks
Q4. What is Medical Tourism? 15 marks
Or
Explain Tribal struggles in Independent India 15 marks
*****
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