Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Fringes of Society

The Fringes of Society
India's complex society includes some unique members--sadhus (holy men) and hijras (transvestite-eunuchs). Such people have voluntarily stepped outside the usual bonds of kinship and caste to join with others in castelike groups based upon personal--yet culturally shaped--inclinations.
In India of the 1990s, several hundred thousand Hindu and Jain sadhus and a few thousand holy women (sadhvis ) live an ascetic life. They have chosen to wear ocher robes, or perhaps no clothing at all, to daub their skin with holy ash, to pray and meditate, and to wander from place to place, depending on the charity of others. Most have given up affiliation with their caste and kin and have undergone a funeral ceremony for themselves, followed by a ritual rebirth into their new ascetic life. They come from all walks of life, and range from illiterate villagers to well-educated professionals. In their new lives as renunciants, they are devoted to spiritual concerns, yet each is affiliated with an ascetic order or subsect demanding strict adherence to rules of dress, itinerancy, diet, worship, and ritual pollution. Within each order, hierarchical concerns are exhibited in the subservience novitiates display to revered gurus (see The Tradition of the Enlightened Master, ch. 3). Further, at pilgrimage sites, different orders take precedence in accordance with an accepted hierarchy. Thus, although sadhus have foresworn many of the trappings of ordinary life, they have not given up the hierarchy and interdependence so pervasive in Indian society.
The most extreme sadhus, the aghoris , turn normal rules of conduct completely upside down. Rajesh and Ramesh Bedi, who have studied sadhus for decades, estimate that there may be fewer than fifteen aghoris in contemporary India. In the quest for great spiritual attainment, the aghori lives alone, like Lord Shiva, at cremation grounds, supping from a human skull bowl. He eats food provided only by low-ranking Sweepers and prostitutes, and in moments of religious fervor devours his own bodily wastes and pieces of human flesh torn from burning corpses. In violating the most basic taboos of the ordinary Hindu householder, the aghori sadhu graphically reminds himself and others of the correct rules of social behavior.
Hijras are males who have become "neither man nor woman," transsexual transvestites who are usually castrated and are attributed with certain ritual powers of blessing. As described by anthropologist Serena Nanda, they are distinct from ordinary male homosexuals (known as zenana , woman, or anmarad , un-man), who retain their identity as males and continue to live in ordinary society. Most hijras derive from a middle- or lower-status Hindu or Muslim background and have experienced male impotency or effeminacy. A few originally had ambiguous or hermaphroditic sexual organs. An estimated 50,000 hijras live throughout India, predominantly in cities of the north. They are united in the worship of the Hindu goddess Bahuchara Mata.
Hijras voluntarily leave their families of birth, renounce male sexuality, and assume a female identity, name, and dress. A hijra undergoes a surgical emasculation in which he is transformed from an impotent male into a potentially powerful new person. Like Shiva--attributed with breaking off his phallus and throwing it to earth, thereby extending his sexual power to the universe (recognized in Hindu worship of the lingam)--the emasculated hijra has the power to bless others with fertility (see Shiva, ch. 3). Groups of hijras go about together, dancing and singing at the homes of new baby boys, blessing them with virility and the ability to continue the family line. Hijras are also attributed with the power to bring rain in times of drought. Hijras receive alms and respect for their powers, yet they are also ridiculed and abused because of their unusual sexual condition and because some act as male prostitutes.
The hijra community functions much like a caste. They have communal households; newly formed fictive kinship bonds, marriage-like arrangements; and seven nationwide "houses," or symbolic descent groups, with regional and national leaders, and a council. There is a hierarchy of gurus and disciples, with expulsion from the community a possible punishment for failure to obey group rules. Thus, although living on the margins of society, hijras are empowered by their special relationship with their goddess and each other and occupy an accepted and meaningful place in India's social world.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Ecological Niche


The Ecological Niche
of humans is that we are the top carnivores despite some of our race that choose to be herbivores. we are at the top of the trophic level and so we eat everythin in the lower trophic levels.

Humans also have fundamental and realized niches. Like other species, the fundamental niche of humans is bounded by their biological tolerance of extremes of environmental conditions.
However, unlike other species humans have developed an extraordinary ability to utilize technology to mitigate extremes of environmental conditions, allowing survival in otherwise inhospitable places. In this sense, humans have utilized technological innovations to greatly expand the boundaries of their realized niche. Humans can now sustain themselves in Antarctica, on mountain tops, in the driest deserts, in phenomenal densities in cities, and even in spacecraft.
Humans have also expanded the dimensions of their realized niche by managing the intensity of their interactions with other species. Humans control their own competitors, predators, parasites, and diseases, thereby reducing the constraints that these biological stressors exert on the realized, human niche. Humans also manage the ecological constraints of their mutualistic plants and animals such as agricultural cows, pigs, chickens, and plant crops.
The phenomenal expansion of their realized niche has allowed a great increase in the abundance of humans. For most of their evolutionary history, humans engaged in a hunting and gathering lifestyle, and their global population was probably a few million individuals. The first significant expansions of the realized human niche involved the domestication of fire and the development of primitive tools and agricultural methods, all of which allowed populations to increase. During the past several centuries of extraordinary technological development, populations of humans have grown especially quickly, and in 1995 almost six billion people were alive on Earth. This growth has been accomplished through expansion of the realized niche of industrial humans.
However, it must be understood that the remarkable technological expansions of the realized niche of humans require large and continual subsidies of energy, food, and other resources. These are needed in order to maintain the colonization of difficult environments and to continue the control of constraining ecological influences. If access to these resources is somehow diminished, then the ability of humans to colonize and manage their environment is diminished as well, or it collapses.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Sanskritization

Sanskritization

Prof M.N Srinivas introduced the term sanskritization to Indian Sociology. The term refers to a process whereby people of lower castes collectively try to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs to acquire higher status. It indicates a process of cultural mobility that is taking place in the traditional social system of India.M.N Srinivas in his study of the Coorg in Karnataka found that lower castes in order to raise their position in the caste hierarchy adopted some customs and practices of the Brahmins and gave up some of their own which were considered to be impure by the higher castes. For example they gave up meat eating, drinking liquor and animal sacrifice to their deities. They imitiated Brahmins in matters of dress, food and rituals. By this they could claim higher positions in the hierarchy of castes within a generation. The reference group in this process is not always Brahmins but may be the dominant caste of the locality.Sanskritization has occurred usually in groups who have enjoyed political and economic power but were not ranked high in ritual ranking. According to Yogendra Singh the process of sanskritization is an endogenous source of social change .Mackim Marriot observes that sanskritic rites are often added on to non-sanskritic rites without replacing them. Harold Gould writes, often the motive force behind sanskritisation is not of cultural imitation per se but an expression of challenge and revolt against the socioeconomic deprivations.

Purity and Pollution

Purity and Pollution

The notions of purity and pollution are critical for defining and understanding caste hierarchy. According to these concepts, Brahmins hold the highest rank and Shudras the lowest in the caste hierarchy. The Varna System represents a social stratification which includes four varnas namely- Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras.The Shudras were allocated the lowest rank of social ladder and their responsibilities included service of the three Varnas. The superior castes tried to maintain their ceremonial purity
Dumont holds the notion of purity and pollution interlinked with the caste system and untouchability.The hierarchy of caste is decided according to the degree of purity and pollution. It plays a very crucial role in maintaining the required distance between different castes. But the pollution distance varies from caste to caste and from place to place.
Dipankar Gupta observes that the notion of purity and pollution as Dumont observed is integrally linked with the institution of untouchability .But unlike untouchability the notion of purity and pollution is also a historical accretion. Over time this notion freed itself from its specific and original task of separating untouchables from the others and began to be operative at different planes of the caste system.
The concept of purity and pollution plays a very crucial role in maintaining the required distance between different castes. But the pollution distance varies from caste to caste and from place to place.

Dominant caste

Dominant caste
This concept given by M.N Srinivas holds that a caste is dominant when it is numerically higher than the other castes. In the Mysore village he described the peasant Okkalinga composed of nearly half of the population made up of nineteenth jati group. The Okkalinga were the biggest land owner. The chief criteria of domination of a caste are
1.     Economic strength
2.     Political power
3.     Ritual purity
4.     Numerical strength
The dominant caste also wields economic and political power over the other caste groups. It also enjoys a high ritual status in the local caste hierarchy. The dominant caste may not be ritually high but enjoy high status because of wealth, political power and numerical strength. The presence of educated persons and high occupation rate also play an important role in deciding its dominance over other caste groupings. Sometimes a single clan of dominant caste controls a number of villages in areas. The dominant caste settle dispute between persons belonging to their own and other jati.The power of the dominant caste is supported by a norm discouraging village from seeking justice from area,govt official, court or police located outside the village. The members of the dominant caste particularly those from the wealthy and powerful families are representative of this village in dealing with the officials.

Caste System


Caste System
Caste is closely connected with the Hindu philosophy and religion, custom and tradition .It is believed to have had a divine origin and sanction. It is deeply rooted social institution in India. There are more than 2800 castes and sub-castes with all their peculiarities. The term caste is derived from the Spanish word caste meaning breed or lineage. The word caste also signifies race or kind. The Sanskrit word for caste is varna which means colour.The caste stratification of the Indian society had its origin in the chaturvarna system. According to this doctrine the Hindu society was divided into four main varnas - Brahmins, Kashtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.The Varna system prevalent during the Vedic period was mainly based on division of labour and occupation. The caste system owns its origin to the Varna system. Ghurye says any attempt to define caste is bound to fail because of the complexity of the phenomenon.
According to Risely caste is a collection of families bearing a common name claiming a common descent from a mythical ancestor professing to follow the same hereditary calling and regarded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community. According to Maclver and Page when status is wholly predetermined so that men are born to their lot without any hope of changing it, then the class takes the extreme form of caste. Cooley says that when a class is somewhat strictly hereditary we may call it caste.M.N Srinivas sees caste as a segmentary system. Every caste for him divided into sub castes which are the units of endogamy whose members follow a common occupation, social and ritual life and common culture and whose members are governed by the same authoritative body viz the panchayat.According to Bailey caste groups are united into a system through two principles of segregation and hierarchy. For Dumont caste is not a form of stratification but as a special form of inequality. The major attributes of caste are the hierarchy, the separation and the division of labour.Weber sees caste as the enhancement and transformation of social distance into religious or strictly a magical principle. For Adrian Mayer caste hierarchy is not just determined by economic and political factors although these are important.
·         Main features of caste system
·         Caste system hierarchically divides the society. A sense of highness and lowness or superiority and inferiority is associated with this gradation or ranking. The Brahmins are placed at the top of the hierarchy and are regarded as pure or supreme. The degraded caste or the untouchables have occupied the other end of the hierarchy. The status of an individual is determined by his birth and not by selection nor by accomplishments. Each caste has its own customs, traditions practices and rituals.It has its own informal rules, regulations and procedures. The caste panchayats or the caste councils regulate the conduct of members. The caste system has imposed certain restrictions on the food habitats of the members these differ from caste to caste. In North India Brahmin would accept pakka food only from some castes lower than his own.
·         But he would not accept kachcha food prepared with the use of water at the hands of no other caste except his own. As a matter of rule and practice no individual would accept kachcha food prepared by an inferior casteman.The caste system put restriction on the range of social relations also. The idea of pollution means a touch of lower caste man would pollute or defile a man of higher caste. Even his shadow is considered enough to pollute a higher caste man. The lower caste people suffered from certain socio-religious disabilities. The impure castes are made to live on the outskirts of the city and they are not allowed to draw water from the public wells. In earlier times entrance to temples and other places of religious importance were forbidden to them. Educational facilities, legal rights and political representation were denied to them for a very long time. If the lower castes suffer from certain disabilities some higher caste like the Brahmins enjoy certain privileges like conducting prayers in the temples etc.There is gradation of occupations also. Some occupations are considered superior and sacred while certain others degrading and inferior. For a long time occupations were very much associated with the caste system. Each caste had its own specific occupations which were almost hereditary. There was no scope for individual talent, aptitude, enterprise or abilities. The caste system imposes restrictions on marriage also. Caste is an endogamous group. Each caste is subdivided into certain sub castes which are again endogamous.Intercaste marriages are still looked down upon in the traditional Indian society.

Functions of the caste system

The caste system is credited to ensure the continuity of the traditional social organization of India. It has accommodated multiple communities including invading tribes in the Indian society. The knowledge and skills of the occupations have passed down from one generation to the next. Through subsystems like Jajmani system the caste system promoted interdependent interaction between various castes and communities with in a village. The rituals and traditions promoted cooperation and unity between members of the different castes.

The dysfunctions

Caste system promoted untouchability and discrimination against certain members of the society. It hindered both horizontal and vertical social mobility forcing an individual to carry on the traditional occupation against his or her will and capacity. The status of women was affected and they were relegated to the background. The caste system divided the society into mutually hostile and conflicting groups and subgroups.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Chenchu Tribe




Chenchu TribeChenchu tribes occupy a major position in the list of the tribes of India and are scattered in different parts of India especially in Orissa. Chenchu tribes are also known by the names of Chenswar, Choncharu, Chenchwar and Chenchukoolam. Apart from Orissa, these tribes are also found in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

A myth is popular amongst the Chenchu tribes regarding their origination. Lord Mallikarjuna, a personification of
Lord Shiva fell in love with a Chenchu girl called `Chenchu Laxmi` and got married later. They are believed to be the ancestors of the Chenchu tribes of the later period. In ancient scriptures like Puranas, temple records and Chronicles, the mention has been made about these couple.

It is obvious that following the norm of the maximum of Indian tribes of the hilly provinces, these Chenchu tribes too have developed expertise in hunting as well as food gathering. Instances are not rare when one can find a group of Chenchu tribes set on a venture in the dense forest region for gathering food materials or just to hunt wild animals. The common preys are animals like boar and deer.

However, due to the stringent laws of forest conversation, these Chenchu tribes have to remain contented with tiny animals namely lizards, rabbits and wild birds. Bows, arrows, small knife are the usual weapons that these Chenchu tribes always carry with them, especially when they go out for hunting. However, these Chenchu tribes have not taken up the occupation of farming. Moreover, they also collect and sell foods and jungle products like beedi leaf, fruits, honey, tubers, roots, green leaves, gum, tamarind, mohua flower etc. Chenchu meal is quite simple comprising of gruel prepared from jowar or maize, and also boiled or cooked jungle tubers. They blend tamarind fruit with tamarind ash. Moreover the people of these tribal communities have learnt various small arts and craftsmanship.

Interestingly, these ably built Chenchu tribes have kept intact all their traditional customs and remained unaffected of the modern influences. Although few of the children of the Chenchu tribes have been sent to schools, these Chenchu tribes are yet to find place in the `mainstream` educational system.

In the midst of the nature`s bounty, the village of the Chenchu reflects the culture and traditional exuberance. Penta is the name of a village of a Chenchu tribe. Each penta comprises of quite a few huts that are separated from each and other and are then clubbed together on the basis of the structure of kinship. For example, the close relatives reside in close proximity, while the distant relatives stay far away.

The Chenchu tribes of India speak in a language of the same name and this language belongs to the
Dravidian language group. This language is also known by the name of Chenchwar, Chenswar, Chenchucoolam, or Choncharu. Apart from this language they also converse in Telugu.

The physical characteristics of the Chenchus include flat nose, short height, long head with well defined eyebrows. Their faces are broad and hair is curly. Generally the elderly person the Chenchu village has been bestowed upon the power of maintaining the social harmony and integrity of the people of the village or any individual family. He is called `Peddamanishi`.

Being a huge exogamous group, these Chenchu tribes are sub divided into several clans. Just like a traditional Hindu, these Chenchu tribes too follow the system of gotras, which constitutes the bloodline and descent of member of clan. There are twenty-six gotras found among the Chenchu tribes, each clan being identified by their gotra name. Marriage forms a significant institution in the Chenchu tribal society. It is called `Pelli`, and usually held through negotiation of elders or also as per the choice of the couples.

The way the marriage ceremony is being held is also very unique following all the conventional rites in the presence of village elders and people. However the Chenchu tribes are not permitted to marry any one within the gotra or clan but they can marry members from other Chenchu clans. After marriage, the Chenchu wife becomes a part of the gotra of her husband. Only on special cases like infidelity, divorce is being granted to a Chenchu tribe. Widow re-marriages are also prevalent amongst the Chenchu tribes.

Apart from these, Chenchu tribes have got a treasure house of festivals and societal rituals, thus highlighting various aspects of their culture amongst various deities that are being worshipped, Lord Eshwara, better known as `Lingamayya`, and Shakti or `Maisamma` or `Peddamma` are significant. Worship of these deities is usually held in the months of July and Augusts or `Sravan`. Bhagaban taru, Garelamai Sama, Potsamma, Gangamma are their deities whom they revere. They also worship
Hindu gods like Lord Hanuman.

Due to the conservative nature of these Chenchu tribes, most of these Chenchu tribes are yet to adapt to the modern trends of the modern day world. Still today these Chenchu tribes have retained their original life style and habitation.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Ethnicity


Ethnicity
The word ethnicity comes from the word ethnic which means race. An ethnic community does not strictly have a racial connotation. A community can be distinct from others in many ways: Their racial stock or origin being one of them. A community may distinguish itself from others by way of a particular or distinctive culture, language, religion or a combination of these. These features lead ethnic communities to conflict with other communities with whom they come in contact.

The problem of Ethnicity

Ethnic activity and separatism came in a big way in the post colonial 20th century. Many countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, and SriLanka etc were deeply affected by the ethnic problem. The ethnic activity also affected even the developed west like Welsh and Scots, Basques in Spain etc.Even the egalitarian melting pot America also faced Black ethnic activity. The erstwhile Soviet Union has been facing ethnic crisis for so long with Croatia, Slovaks, and Chehnya in conflict. The ethnicity has become a worldwide phenomenon.
The problem of ethnicity and nation building has been widely discussed over the past few decades. The phenomenon of ethnicity has intrinsic component of the socio-political realities of multi-ethnic or plural –cultural societies like in India.
In India with its variety of pluralities in terms of language, race, religion and so on ethnic conflict has become a part of the political scenario. The processes of development and change have generated conditions for ethnic conflict as the fruits of these development processes have been distributed unevenly.

Definition of ethnicity
The term ethnicity has been defined in broader sense to signify self-consciousness of a group of people united or closely related by shared experience such as language, religious belief, common heritage etc. While race usually denotes the attributes of a group, ethnic identity signifies creative response of a group who consider themselves marginalized in society.
The identity of a group is defined vis a vis another community and how this identity becomes psychologically and socially important for a member or members of a community.

Ethnicity: Perspectives
Ethnicity has become an important field of study for social scientist. There are some scholars who see the ethnic problem in terms of assimilation and integration where in an ethnic group is absorbed into the mainstream group or a dominant ethnic group: an assimilation of this kind in effect is homogenization to create a nation state. To diffuse tension and to protect the dominated group it is also suggested to co-opt the marginalized group.
According to Geertz ethnicity is a natural bond between people immutable or primordial. Thus the formation of political identity is seen by them as stemming from this loyalty. For Berge there is no difference between class interest and ethnic interest. For him ethnicity is another alternative avenue for mobility.
According to Dipankar Gupta the manifestation of ethnicity in Indian politics is not so much an outcome of popular grass root passions as it is creation of vested political interests. He uses the term conspiracy to ethnic politics in India to draw attention to the deliberate and calculated

Main characteristics of Ethnicity

Ethnicity relates to ascriptive identities like caste, language, religion, region etc.Inequality in terms of sharing power between two ethnic groups’ results into conflict.
The ethnicity is socially mobilized and territorially confined. It has numerically sufficient population and is a pool of symbols depicting distinctiveness. It has a reference group in relation to which /whom a sense of relative deprivation is aggregated.
Ethnicity causes ethnic movements after being left out of the developmental process or even being a victim of uneven development.
Ethnicity is manifested in Indian politics not merely due to grass root discontent but is also a creation of vested political interest.
Ethnic groups that use ethnicity to make demands in the political arena for alteration in their status, in their economic well being etc are engaged very often in a form of interest group politics.
The focus of interests of an ethnic group is to get some benefits for itself. The group often uses ethnic criterion like religion, language or caste to mobilize itself to give identity to itself which separates it from other group or groups. Thus delineation of boundary of an ethnic group of community is an important aspect of ethnicity. The nature of identity shifts along with shifts along with changing circumstances and calls for change in boundary or a change in identification.

Ethnicity and Plurality

India has a cultural, economic and social heterogeneity. The complex ethnic plurality is visible with ethnic groups varying in size, culture and consciousness and no clear demarcation is present between different groups. The system is highly segmented and heterogeneous. However emergence of ethnicity all around primarily on cultural grounds has put the boundary of nation state under severe stress. Usually the quest for larger identity is emphasized as it also serves some political purposes.
But at the same time, this emphasis on a large identity like nation ignores the reality of plural identities and their possible interplay and thus reverts back to the nation where religion, language etc become static categories of ethnic attributes.