Reading notes
It’s better to skim each text than get stuck on a difficult page. Try skimming the whole selection
in 5 minutes. Notice section headings, bold words, or highlighted quotations to get a sense of
the story the author is telling. Then when you read the entire piece, you’ll already know where
the argument is going. To ensure your comprehension, answer the following questions:
• what are the main concepts this author is using?
• what is the point of this article—what is the author trying to explain?
• how convincing is the argument?
• how does it relate to the others we have covered?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Tribal Law and Justice: A Report on the Santal by W.G. Archer
1984, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi
The Muria and their Ghotul ---Verrier Elwin
1991, OUP, Delhi
The subject of this book is the ghotul, the village dormitory, the bothie, the bachelors' hall. The Muria Gothul is an institution, tracing its origin to LINGO PEN, a famous cult-hero of the Gond, of which all the unmarried boys and girls of the tribe must be members. (page ix)Murias belongs to the Bastar state of Madhya Pradesh.
The subject of this book is the ghotul, the village dormitory, the bothie, the bachelors' hall. The Muria Gothul is an institution, tracing its origin to LINGO PEN, a famous cult-hero of the Gond, of which all the unmarried boys and girls of the tribe must be members. (page ix)Murias belongs to the Bastar state of Madhya Pradesh.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tribal Identity and the Modern World-- Suresh Sharma
1994, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
5. The World of Shifting Cultivation
Abujhamad: Penda as Living Tradition
The author cites a case in Abujhamad which contradicts popular notion that shifting cultivation is inefficient and wasteful practice.
"Last year (1984), the rains over Abujhamad were poor. The administration notified Abujhamad to be a drought-affected area. Still, the Madias (local people) managed a reasonable kosra (kosra seed is the staple crop of the penda) harvest from their pendas. There was no mass hunger. No one died because of malnutrition. Abujhamad is one of the few areas in the country entirely unblemished by destitutes condemned to beg and linger between life and death." (p. 143)
Attitudes towards Shifting Cultivation:
Shifting cultivation has been condemned as inefficient, inherently wasteful and a threat to the rapidly diminishing area under forest cover. This condemnation represents an almost unanimous consensus. Colonial Land revenue settlements and forest laws were consciously intended to curb and in swift stages eradicate shifting cultivation. Forsyth thought shifting cultivation could not be seriously considered as a form of cultivation at all. The forest regulations (1867) sought to completely prohibit the practice of shifting cultivation in the Central Provinces. Its unhindered prevalence prior to colonial rule was seen as clear proof of the ignorance and indifference of 'native rulers' to forests as a productive resource. (p. 143)
Baden Powell--"clarified that the freedom to 'slash and burn' at will could no longer be allowed. He conceded that the task was indeed a difficult one, and certain to arouse the resentment of adversely affected 'local interest'". (p. 143)
The only time when the National Commission on Agriculture (1976) took note of shifting cultivation was during its appraisal of the state and management of forests. Quite clearly the commission did not think that shifting cultivation could not merit consideration as a particular form of cultivation and land use. In fact it was only noticed as a wasteful practice that depleted timber and other marketable forest resources.(p. 143)
B.D. Sharma (a District Administrator in Bastar) is emphatic that for the inhabitants of Abujhamad, shifting cultivation has been a 'traditional pursuit' and as such, it would be unfair and unrealistic to insist that they abandon it in a short period. The best course would be to 'slowly induce the community to meet is field requirements from settled cultivation and other needs from horticulture and cattle rearing.' (p. 144)
Shifting cultivation is indeed inefficient and wasteful in the sense that crop yields per acre are considerably lower when compared to settled cultivation. For basi sustenance it requires a larger area per person. But a threat to the forest it has never been. That momentous fact is irrefutably affirmed in a simple historical detail perversely disregarded: forests have survived best in regions of shifting cultivation. (p. 144)
J. P. Mills observed that in the north-east the prevalence of slash and burn cultivation had not cause soil erosion or any visible damage to the forest cover. (p. 145)
J.P. Mills, 'A brief note on agriculture in the Dirang Dzong Area', Man in India, March 1946, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 8-11
Anthropological studies in recent years have come to be accented quite firmly in terms of 'sympathetic consideration' and 'harmonising', as far as possible, of the interests and feelings of tribal communities with the requirements of the modern age. (p. 145)
The author concludes by saying ---
Shifting cultivation, in affirming the fleeting nature of the human presence on earth, does not seek to degrade or reduce the stature of Man. In fact, it is intensely alive to a deep concern with the survival and fate of the human species. It seeks for human life an almost timeless span of survival. But it does so by elaborating human activity as a homologue to nature. To clarify the significance of its achievement as also the possibilities which inhere in it, one fact would suffice. Communities that lived on shifting cultivation have never known mass hunger and famine. (pp. 165-166)
5. The World of Shifting Cultivation
Abujhamad: Penda as Living Tradition
The author cites a case in Abujhamad which contradicts popular notion that shifting cultivation is inefficient and wasteful practice.
"Last year (1984), the rains over Abujhamad were poor. The administration notified Abujhamad to be a drought-affected area. Still, the Madias (local people) managed a reasonable kosra (kosra seed is the staple crop of the penda) harvest from their pendas. There was no mass hunger. No one died because of malnutrition. Abujhamad is one of the few areas in the country entirely unblemished by destitutes condemned to beg and linger between life and death." (p. 143)
Attitudes towards Shifting Cultivation:
Shifting cultivation has been condemned as inefficient, inherently wasteful and a threat to the rapidly diminishing area under forest cover. This condemnation represents an almost unanimous consensus. Colonial Land revenue settlements and forest laws were consciously intended to curb and in swift stages eradicate shifting cultivation. Forsyth thought shifting cultivation could not be seriously considered as a form of cultivation at all. The forest regulations (1867) sought to completely prohibit the practice of shifting cultivation in the Central Provinces. Its unhindered prevalence prior to colonial rule was seen as clear proof of the ignorance and indifference of 'native rulers' to forests as a productive resource. (p. 143)
Baden Powell--"clarified that the freedom to 'slash and burn' at will could no longer be allowed. He conceded that the task was indeed a difficult one, and certain to arouse the resentment of adversely affected 'local interest'". (p. 143)
The only time when the National Commission on Agriculture (1976) took note of shifting cultivation was during its appraisal of the state and management of forests. Quite clearly the commission did not think that shifting cultivation could not merit consideration as a particular form of cultivation and land use. In fact it was only noticed as a wasteful practice that depleted timber and other marketable forest resources.(p. 143)
B.D. Sharma (a District Administrator in Bastar) is emphatic that for the inhabitants of Abujhamad, shifting cultivation has been a 'traditional pursuit' and as such, it would be unfair and unrealistic to insist that they abandon it in a short period. The best course would be to 'slowly induce the community to meet is field requirements from settled cultivation and other needs from horticulture and cattle rearing.' (p. 144)
Shifting cultivation is indeed inefficient and wasteful in the sense that crop yields per acre are considerably lower when compared to settled cultivation. For basi sustenance it requires a larger area per person. But a threat to the forest it has never been. That momentous fact is irrefutably affirmed in a simple historical detail perversely disregarded: forests have survived best in regions of shifting cultivation. (p. 144)
J. P. Mills observed that in the north-east the prevalence of slash and burn cultivation had not cause soil erosion or any visible damage to the forest cover. (p. 145)
J.P. Mills, 'A brief note on agriculture in the Dirang Dzong Area', Man in India, March 1946, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 8-11
Anthropological studies in recent years have come to be accented quite firmly in terms of 'sympathetic consideration' and 'harmonising', as far as possible, of the interests and feelings of tribal communities with the requirements of the modern age. (p. 145)
The author concludes by saying ---
Shifting cultivation, in affirming the fleeting nature of the human presence on earth, does not seek to degrade or reduce the stature of Man. In fact, it is intensely alive to a deep concern with the survival and fate of the human species. It seeks for human life an almost timeless span of survival. But it does so by elaborating human activity as a homologue to nature. To clarify the significance of its achievement as also the possibilities which inhere in it, one fact would suffice. Communities that lived on shifting cultivation have never known mass hunger and famine. (pp. 165-166)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Hour of the Fox: Tropical Forests, the World Bank and Indigenous People in Central India
Robert S. Anderson & Walter Huber, 1988, Vistaar Publications, New Delhi
Saturday, March 26, 2011
MEDIA AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
SOCIAL MEDIA & BUILDING INCLUSIVITY: WHO'S ON FIRST, HABERMAS OR FOUCAULT
Prof. Daniel Drache (Prof. Pol. sci & acting director, robarts centre for canadian studies, york university, canada)
The compulsion to share with others is a central imperative of modern life. Today new technologies can liberate us from the confines of categories like the tribe or create new digital ones.
Who is at the bottom of the liberal theory. SHould we consider the new information technology a revolution?
FRANKFURT SCHOOL--refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory.
HABERMAS--PEOPLE NEED THE public space for use and not exchange value.
Changes in relationsip today is facilitated by the social net-working sites.
Sites like facebook has the largest depository of our private world. There are no more curtain to our personal lives.
GIDDENS Notions of Reflexivity
direct and indirect discrimination which comes in the way of interpersonal relationships.
Prof. Daniel Drache (Prof. Pol. sci & acting director, robarts centre for canadian studies, york university, canada)
The compulsion to share with others is a central imperative of modern life. Today new technologies can liberate us from the confines of categories like the tribe or create new digital ones.
Who is at the bottom of the liberal theory. SHould we consider the new information technology a revolution?
FRANKFURT SCHOOL--refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory.
HABERMAS--PEOPLE NEED THE public space for use and not exchange value.
Changes in relationsip today is facilitated by the social net-working sites.
Sites like facebook has the largest depository of our private world. There are no more curtain to our personal lives.
GIDDENS Notions of Reflexivity
direct and indirect discrimination which comes in the way of interpersonal relationships.
GENDER AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
FEMINISM AND THE EXCLUSION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
BY DR. KRISHNA MENON (READER, DEPT. OF POL. SCIENCE, LADY SHRI RAM COLLEGE, DU, DELHI)
Third world feminism complains about being excluded from the mainstream feminist debate.
The term, 'feminism's' is more popular in its plural term because of the recognition that women today differ in terms of experiences and also faced different forms of exclusion.
Her presentation focus on the struggle against the pursuit of a perfect body by women.Her point is that if we construct the our politics based on the idea of an able bodied citizen, then it will be inadequate.
A disabled women is like an aberration or a structured subjectivity. Feminist also excluded women with disability in their debate and in this way feminist stabilised the idea of a perfect normal body and the permanence of an able bodied citizen.Nobody is permanently able. We are moving to the other spectrum which is portrayed by a person in a wheelchair.
KIMBERLE CRENSHAW INTERSECTIONALITY
Intersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberle Crenshaw (1989). Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations" (McCall 2005). The theory suggests—and seeks to examine how—various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender, race, class, disability, and other axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequality. Intersectionality holds that the classical conceptualizations of oppression within society, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and religion-based bigotry, do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate, creating a system of oppression that reflects the "intersection" of multiple forms of discrimination.
Zoya Hasan
Caste based reservation--focusing on inclusivity is good but if this is not based on the idea of egalitarianism, it vaporised into mere cosmetic gesture.
Disabled women are asexual because it is not expected for them to have sexual desire because they are considered 'damaged goods.' They are rendered 'sexless' with no option of motherhood or marriage. They have been forced to occupy the shadowy existence of the Indian society. Both disability discourse and feminist discourse are oblivious to each other in that feminist discourse in each narration of the women experience do not accommodate the experiences of the disabled woman.
QUESTION ASKED
CAN WE SAY THAT THE TERM 'DIFFERENTLY ABLED' IS CLOSE TO 'INCLUSION'?
There seem to be an element of patronizing in using the term though it is meant for empowering. Eg. you can't see but you can hear, so you are still fortunate. This is a 'designed apartheid.'
fLAVIA AGNES
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE?? NO LONGER RELEVANT TODAY
IS FEMINISM REALLY ABOUT INDIVIDUAL CHOICE OR EXPRESSION??
BY DR. KRISHNA MENON (READER, DEPT. OF POL. SCIENCE, LADY SHRI RAM COLLEGE, DU, DELHI)
Third world feminism complains about being excluded from the mainstream feminist debate.
The term, 'feminism's' is more popular in its plural term because of the recognition that women today differ in terms of experiences and also faced different forms of exclusion.
Her presentation focus on the struggle against the pursuit of a perfect body by women.Her point is that if we construct the our politics based on the idea of an able bodied citizen, then it will be inadequate.
A disabled women is like an aberration or a structured subjectivity. Feminist also excluded women with disability in their debate and in this way feminist stabilised the idea of a perfect normal body and the permanence of an able bodied citizen.Nobody is permanently able. We are moving to the other spectrum which is portrayed by a person in a wheelchair.
KIMBERLE CRENSHAW INTERSECTIONALITY
Intersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberle Crenshaw (1989). Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations" (McCall 2005). The theory suggests—and seeks to examine how—various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender, race, class, disability, and other axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequality. Intersectionality holds that the classical conceptualizations of oppression within society, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and religion-based bigotry, do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate, creating a system of oppression that reflects the "intersection" of multiple forms of discrimination.
Zoya Hasan
Caste based reservation--focusing on inclusivity is good but if this is not based on the idea of egalitarianism, it vaporised into mere cosmetic gesture.
Disabled women are asexual because it is not expected for them to have sexual desire because they are considered 'damaged goods.' They are rendered 'sexless' with no option of motherhood or marriage. They have been forced to occupy the shadowy existence of the Indian society. Both disability discourse and feminist discourse are oblivious to each other in that feminist discourse in each narration of the women experience do not accommodate the experiences of the disabled woman.
QUESTION ASKED
CAN WE SAY THAT THE TERM 'DIFFERENTLY ABLED' IS CLOSE TO 'INCLUSION'?
There seem to be an element of patronizing in using the term though it is meant for empowering. Eg. you can't see but you can hear, so you are still fortunate. This is a 'designed apartheid.'
fLAVIA AGNES
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE?? NO LONGER RELEVANT TODAY
IS FEMINISM REALLY ABOUT INDIVIDUAL CHOICE OR EXPRESSION??
Historical Exclusion and Inclusion of forest dwelling indigenous comunities: The Case of India
by Mr. Vijay Bhaskar
Notions/understanding of forest in Indian society
1. residence of demons
2. place of seclusion from the materialistic life
3. place of punishment
Changing face of forest through the ages...
it became a resource and commercialization started because of which there were laws of restrictions imposed in the tribal people's access to forest which had been for them their basis of living and identity.
1927--The Indian Forest Act
it is still the basis for all forest laws in post colonial india.
Notions/understanding of forest in Indian society
1. residence of demons
2. place of seclusion from the materialistic life
3. place of punishment
Changing face of forest through the ages...
it became a resource and commercialization started because of which there were laws of restrictions imposed in the tribal people's access to forest which had been for them their basis of living and identity.
1927--The Indian Forest Act
it is still the basis for all forest laws in post colonial india.
DR. Patrik Oskarsson
The Modest Benefits of Exclusion: Bauxite Mining and Livelihoods in Tribal ANdhra Pradesh
poskar@gmail.com
zweland.net
poskar@gmail.com
zweland.net
Samir Kumar Das comments
Alienation is self-absorbed in which the hostility faced is termed inward mode and leads to cases like suicide. Violence also sometimes empowers.
Marginal Visibility, subliminal voices: Youth in the context of Armed Conflict in Assam
MS. Triveni Goswami Vernal
important points:--
1. Brain drain due to lack of educational and livelihood opportunities.
2. Role of the state in perpetuating the marginalisation of youth.
(a) Armed men settlement in educational institutions have a repercussion in the education of young children.
(b) only 5% of the youth return to the NEI after completing their studies.
3. grim scenerio of the present--
(a) insurgency measures taken which are ineffective.
(b) emergence of SULFA (Surrendered groups of the United Liberation Front of Assam), designated camps--conflicts not really resolved.
(c) Disgruntled youth identify themselves with SULFA even if they do not directly joined them.
4. The way forward:--
(a) investment in education
(b) removal of armed forces that have laid siege on educational institutions.
conclusion:
Whatever effort the government made have been half-hazard and it would do good to involve the youth in the process of nation-building.
important points:--
1. Brain drain due to lack of educational and livelihood opportunities.
2. Role of the state in perpetuating the marginalisation of youth.
(a) Armed men settlement in educational institutions have a repercussion in the education of young children.
(b) only 5% of the youth return to the NEI after completing their studies.
3. grim scenerio of the present--
(a) insurgency measures taken which are ineffective.
(b) emergence of SULFA (Surrendered groups of the United Liberation Front of Assam), designated camps--conflicts not really resolved.
(c) Disgruntled youth identify themselves with SULFA even if they do not directly joined them.
4. The way forward:--
(a) investment in education
(b) removal of armed forces that have laid siege on educational institutions.
conclusion:
Whatever effort the government made have been half-hazard and it would do good to involve the youth in the process of nation-building.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Social Exclusion: Meaning and Perspectives (23rd-25th March, 2011)
SESSION 5
THEME: Multiple Marginalizations: Youth from historically disadvantaged sites
Mr. Vijay Burgula (Yugantar) & Mr. Kumarswamy (Osmania University)
Youth from Marginalised regions: A case study of Telangana
The important Telangana event was in 1948 whereas the presenter focus on 1952 onwards.
Mr. Raoof Mir presented the paper 'Caught in the space between: HYderabad's Muslim youth and experiences of alienation
His paper focus on the 'insider' versus 'outsider' perspective. The Muslim youth feels that the development and infrastructure in Hyderabad city is something they are not a part of. He talks about the WAHHABI IDEOLOGY in ISLAM. This is the first I was introduced to the term. WAHHABISM is a religious movement or a branch of Sunni Islam which is considered to be EXTREMIST and HERETICAL by many Sunni and Shi'a such as the Islamic Supreme Council of America. It was developed by the 18th century Muslim theologian Muhammad Ibn Abn al-Wahhab. He advocated purging Islam of impurities. The primary Wahhabi doctrine is TAWHID.
Because of the bad name met by Islamism today, the youth are twice marginalised--first by the people from other religion as they are considered a threat to security of community wherever they go. There is also exclusion of youth
within the community.There is restriction of social mobility of youth. ANother aspects of alienation face by the Muslim youth is from people inside their own community. This is especially so for the detained or arrested youth to whom the community's attitude changes. This population is growing at a great rate as the muslim youth are easily arrested on mere suspicion. They are excommunicated by the society and they have a problem of getting their sisters' married as they are stimatised in the society. There is a paradox in the actual result of an experience in jail from the label of a 'hero' to one that is 'ostrasized.'
Regarding the Religious community influences...there were three issues that were important--
1. homogenising discourses versus heterogeneous experiences.
2. cultural practices on everyday practices
3. popular assumptions on Wahhabi influence on youth.
THEME: Multiple Marginalizations: Youth from historically disadvantaged sites
Mr. Vijay Burgula (Yugantar) & Mr. Kumarswamy (Osmania University)
Youth from Marginalised regions: A case study of Telangana
The important Telangana event was in 1948 whereas the presenter focus on 1952 onwards.
Mr. Raoof Mir presented the paper 'Caught in the space between: HYderabad's Muslim youth and experiences of alienation
His paper focus on the 'insider' versus 'outsider' perspective. The Muslim youth feels that the development and infrastructure in Hyderabad city is something they are not a part of. He talks about the WAHHABI IDEOLOGY in ISLAM. This is the first I was introduced to the term. WAHHABISM is a religious movement or a branch of Sunni Islam which is considered to be EXTREMIST and HERETICAL by many Sunni and Shi'a such as the Islamic Supreme Council of America. It was developed by the 18th century Muslim theologian Muhammad Ibn Abn al-Wahhab. He advocated purging Islam of impurities. The primary Wahhabi doctrine is TAWHID.
Because of the bad name met by Islamism today, the youth are twice marginalised--first by the people from other religion as they are considered a threat to security of community wherever they go. There is also exclusion of youth
within the community.There is restriction of social mobility of youth. ANother aspects of alienation face by the Muslim youth is from people inside their own community. This is especially so for the detained or arrested youth to whom the community's attitude changes. This population is growing at a great rate as the muslim youth are easily arrested on mere suspicion. They are excommunicated by the society and they have a problem of getting their sisters' married as they are stimatised in the society. There is a paradox in the actual result of an experience in jail from the label of a 'hero' to one that is 'ostrasized.'
Regarding the Religious community influences...there were three issues that were important--
1. homogenising discourses versus heterogeneous experiences.
2. cultural practices on everyday practices
3. popular assumptions on Wahhabi influence on youth.
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