The thesis explores the theme of 'literacy and subalterneity' in two linked contexts; colonial Bengal and contemporary Bangladesh. It draws both from my ethnographic field research in the rural north-west of Bangladesh and from archive-based research, and in doing so provides a critical historical perspective which reflexively informs my representations of the colonial past and the ethnographic present. The thesis begins by presenting a theoretical framework for the study. In doing so it draws from two contrasting academic fields - contemporary ethnographic writing on literacy (informed by anthropological theory and research), and the historically focussed studies presented in the journal 'Subaltern Studies: Writings on South Asian History and Society' and associated writing. I argue that these two academic fields present radically contrasting views of literacy. Whereas ethnographic writing tends to emphasise the cultural diversity of social uses and meanings of literacy, I argue that the 'subaltern studies' writing has largely presented literacy as a singular and repressive phenomenon in its representations of literacy in colonial India. The first part of the thesis locates the study in Bengal, and sets out the theoretical framework of the study including an extensive discussion of literacy, subalterneity, representational power and commodity fetishism. The research data used in the first part is developed from close readings of nineteenth century archive material and Indian census reports. The second part of the thesis expands on these themes in relation to my own ethnographic research in Bangladesh. In doing so I reflexively link the historical themes developed in the first part of the thesis to the context of contemporary ethnographic research. As a result of this reflexive historical and contemporary analysis I develop new perspectives on literacy and ethnographic research, gender and power, religious practice and economic development.

This thesis examines the debate between African Traditional Religion (ATR) and sustainable rural development among the Nankani of Northern Ghana. The question as to whether or not ATR has an impact on the continent’s development has risen to the fore as economic crisis deepens in relation to the global context. The study interrogates the concept ‘sustainable rural development’, and the current emphasis on gender as a fundamental part of development, from the religio-cultural perspective of the Nankani. With indigenous epistemological underpinnings, the thesis examines the subject from the perspective of a ‘native researcher’, within the much polarized “insider/outsider” debate of contemporary discourses on theory and method. Discussed in seven chapters, the study is structured into three parts. The first three chapters constitute the introductory part consisting of the outline, an ethnographic account of the Nankani and methodology. The second part, also of three chapters, discusses the issues of sustainable development, gender and the issues of research reflexivity. Moving beyond the classical descriptive principles of the phenomenology of religion, the core methodological tool, the section examines the internal dynamics underlying rural African community living as a contribution to the process of understanding. The third part, consisting of a single chapter, concludes the thesis with discussions on the outstanding issues as a means to ‘mending the broken pieces’. Even though the African religio-cultural worldview is a major determinant in terms of sustainable rural development, the thesis contends that the inability of the parties to consider the other’s viewpoint is an outstanding factor.

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The study is divided into four parts. The first provides a brief ethnography of the South Kanara areca-nut belt, the second a detailed account of the region's health ideologies, the third a portrayal of the region's pluralistic medical cultures, and the fourth an examination of the villagers' use of these medical cultures. The subjects of disease, etiology, the ontological role of illness, the language of disease, techniques of curing, and patient-practitioner relationships are investigated. Disease is considered to be a sign as well as a symptom of social and physiological imbalance. Three themes pervade the study: the nature of power, the ideal of balance, and the formal significance of acculturation. A conceptualization of power as unstable and transmutable underlies the Hindu ideal of balance; and it in turn has influenced the distinct but interrelated Brahman and non-Brahman cultures. This ideal underlies the structural principles of hot-cold, the tridosha, and the doctrine of multiple disease causality. The conjunction of the hot-cold principles and the doctrine of multiple causality facilitate the interaction of distinct strata of society and foster a complementary relationship between pluralistic medical cultures. The entrance of a new medical culture or paradigm into the villagers' universe is depicted as analogous to the entry of a new deity to the village pantheon. The appearance of a new deity or paradigm does not result in a loss of faith in existing practices or structural principles. It is rather incorporated into the established universe. It is either relegated to a particular domain or assimilated as a homologous expression of an already existing source of power or knowledge. The villagers' conceptual universe evolves as an aggregate of ideas organized by basic structural principles. Health planners are encouraged to recognize these principles and incorporate new ideas within the existing cognitive universe, emphasizing a unity of the traditional and modern.

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The Konds of the Crises highlands have been known to the western world only since 1835. This study briefly gives their background then summarises the history of their conquest by the East India Company's troops, the latter's discovery and eventual abolition of their regular practices of human sacrifice and female infanticide, their administration of the Konds and the arrival of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1910. Two extensive chapters describe Kond religion. Comparison is made between groups of rituals recorded in the mid-eighteenth century, the early twentieth and the author's collection in the mid-twentieth century. (Accounts of rituals not in the text are classified under four heads and given in an extensive Appendix). Particularly are all available accounts of the human/now-buffalo sacrifice discussed. The Konds' unconscious concentration on maintaining their identity is seen to be linked closely with their manipulation of mystical power in ways interned constantly to restore or renew their own strength and well-being as a people superior to all 'outsiders'. The study focusses particularly upon the Goomsur hill-tracts, where the Konds not only accepted the enforced substitution of an animal victim, but concluded that the power of the human-blood-demanding Earth Goddess had been eclipsed by that of Bura, God of Light. Their adoption of this belief caused them to set a whole series of changes in motion. Against this traditional background, the first Christians were baptized in 1914, and the Church grew slowly - not among Konds but among Pans, trader-artisan groups who perform all the tasks from which pride of race excludes the Konds. A sudden decision to become Christian was made by large groups of Konds in and after 1956. Their movement into the Church is described, a Church led by their former servants, the new Pan professional class. Suggestions are made regarding the significance of the Konds' bronze lineage emblems, kept entirely secret until then, but now cast out. From the Konds' brief known history, their ritual practices and their ability to make corporate decisions, their possible pre-history is pieced together. Their strong determination to retain their identity as Bonds is seen as the reason-for, not against, their entry into the Church.

Entering the twentieth-first century, post-Mao China continues its considerable transformation. The central theme of this research lies in the examination of social networking through a case study of Shanghai Expo 2010. It is an analysis of the forms of networking in the formation of Shanghai as a global city. The overall question is: To what extent will China be able to enter the global network economy whilst maintaining its emphasis on hierarchical decision-making and central control? This concerns the role of the social in the preparation of Shanghai Expo 2010, with a particular focus on creative networks. The notion of creative networks, which was a starting point for this thesis, is theoretically understood as creative people who are specialists in rather privileged contexts involved with the new economy. The analysis of creative networks is framed in a dialectic relationship between agents (the researcher) and the structure within which they act. Ultimately, however, this thesis problematises the notion of creative networks as they are generally understood in Western urban cultures, providing a reflexive perspective with a focus on people and subjectivities, practices of networking, and socially embeddedness. In addition to an analysis of documents and histories, the main methodology is ethnographic. The aim was to gain access to the creative networks related to Expo 2010. But this proved extremely difficult. Due to access problems, I aim to develop an argument about two rather different networking logics: on the one hand the Western oriented 'creative networks' and, on the other hand, the specific Chinese guanxi. Creative networks show a more open social system comprised of open, inclusive, reflexive and fluid networks. Guanxi represents a closed social system that is conditioned by traditionally hierarchical networks of family and the state. The research ultimately demonstrates how these two types of networking work differently.