Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Texte remanié de: Ph. D. thesis--McGill university, 1990. / Bibliogr. p. 335-364. Index.

My dissertation project, ‘Reimagining the Modern Hindu Self: Caste, Untouchability and Hindu Theology in Colonial South Asia, 1899-1948’ examines the interrelationship between modern forms of Hinduness and the narratives of Progressivism in the context of Maharashtra, a region in Western India. I present a thick description of the complex social world of Marathi intellectuals and cultural actors of the early twentieth century through various discursive/philosophical writings, journals, newspapers, pamphlets, personal correspondence, biographies, as well as a wide range of literary corpus of novels, plays and literary criticism in Marathi. My project hopes to demonstrate that a deeper engagement with the vernacular discourses would be enriching and productive for South Asian intellectual history. My methodology involved an exploration of the dialogic and transformational relationships between the centre and the peripheries of ‘Hinduness’ across disparate sites of discursive productions like non-Brahmin print publics, theological debates and literary culture. Through an examination of the ways in which the various peripheries of Hinduness – like Untouchables, the non-Brahmin, the non-Hindu and the women – had transformed the ideas of what constituted the core of modern Hinduness, I argue that the various narratives of Maharashtra’s progressivism and a complex phenomenon of modern Hinduness were deeply implicated in the production of each other in the first half of the twentieth century. My project identifies untouchables, women, anti-caste intellectuals, toilet cleaners, translators of Sanskrit texts and people who fasted unto death as crucial actors in this reimagination of modern Hindu self. Also, by providing a regionally specific history of Hindu ethic, my project challenges the Pan-Indian narrative of universal Hinduism that is privileged in the historiography of South Asia and enables me to argue that the ethical value of Hinduness was inherently political and the universal idea of Hinduness did not emerge through a singular genealogy. It is in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, that the contradiction between the ethical and political aspects of Hinduness became significant. My project is to write a long and complex history of this imperative moment that coincided with the dawn of independent India.

Among sociological studies in South Asia, frequent reference is made to caste as one of the greatest motivating factors in establishing, reinforcing, and creating social structure. This system of social hierarchy has, however, undergone drastic shifts and changes over the past decades (Dirks, 2001: 5) resulting in 'caste' as a term used to systematize concepts of social identity, community, and organization in India. The Brahmin caste, in particular, has undergone drastic changes as a result of social and political influence from without as well as from within, resulting in a conflict of identity (Bairy, 2010: 233).As a direct result of this conflict of caste identity, many individuals respond, act, and interact in ways that confirm, reject, or (re)establish their own individual identity within the greater scheme of their caste. The current study will examine specific ways in which Telugu Brahmins use linguistic markers to index socially acceptable, cultural ideologies. It will be explained how the use of lexical borrowings, markers of politeness and honorification, and emphatic aspiration index historical ideologies of Brahmin-ness. In indexing these ideologies, Brahmins identify with and associate their own actions in relation to traditional notions of those qualities assumed to be inherent in the Brahmin caste. Furthermore, meta-linguistic discourse will be examined, showing that recognition, acknowledgment of, and (mis)interpretation of a 'Brahmin register' is used to both mark intra-caste solidarity and reinforce social stereotypes about the caste.

n view of the volume of literature already written about the caste-system, it would seem that yet another entry should ha been unnecessary. Yet it was precisely because of this mighty flood of titles that the present investigation was undertaken. Not only were there many conflicting definitions of the term "caste" itself; there were, also, many conflicting opinions as to the antiquity of the caste-system. In many cases, the latter problem wa was functionally related to the former. A definition of caste had been formulated on the basis of contemporary social practice. Then, this definition was projected backwards into the dim reaches of historical antiquity by means of selectively picking over the Indo-Aryan literature to find passages which lent support to the contemporary definition. Prestol "Caste Through the Ages". Aside from the ethical considerations, or, rather, lack of them, involved in such a modus operandi, the results shed little light upon the social structure of ancient India. The Indo-Aryan literature contained many passages which, when taken out of conto the contemporary definition. Prestol "Caste Through the Ages". Aside from the ethical considerations, or, rather, lack of them, involved in such a modus operandi, the results shed little light upon the social structure of ancient India. The Indo-Aryan literature contained many passages which, when taken out of context, lent support to practically any proposition an investigator might have wished to have uphold. Therefore, the intent of this inquiry was to determine the structure of the Indo-Aryan society from its literature, without pre-conceived opinions as to the existence of any particular social institution

This dissertation approaches key questions in the study of colonial urban modernity through methods in the history of medicine and sciences. Through a comparative focus on the colonial cities of Bombay and Calcutta, I explore the new found interests of colonial urban planners, public health experts, and Indian social elites in the “unclaimed bodies” of the poor, which were considered both diseased and disposable, and attendant concerns with the scientific management of subaltern death. By exploring the converging logics yet the divergent outcomes of colonial state and native elite efforts to manage the death of the urban poor and indigent as an urban problem that required scientific solutions such as the gas crematorium or relegating mass burials for unclaimed bodies to the suburbs, this study in comparative urbanism demonstrates how the imperatives of colonial public health and political economy followed by a heightened period of native critique between the two world wars reconfigured global ideas of health and technologies. From the mid-nineteenth century, epidemics and famines had provided the occasion for British and Indian social elites to reconstitute social power and remake boundaries of caste and community in the context of urban migration and industrial labor. While famines happened in Western India, an emergent preoccupation with tropical diseases in Eastern India had reconfigured the meaning and the social experience of death for the urban poor. Working class bodies thus became the locus of the entangled knowledge-making of health, technology, and religion in regionally specific ways. In particular, modern technologies such as the gas and electric crematorium enabled the spatial reorganization of labor, caste, and community in the service of a colonial political economy: modern technologies for the efficient and hygienic disposal of the dead bodies of the indigent and impoverished were thus also solutions for managing the lives of the working castes and classes. The scientific management of subaltern death was not just the preoccupation of anatomists, doctors, and public health engineers but as well, of the British Parliament, international health organizations, Indian and British members of municipalities, missionaries, religious charity leaders, communal organizations, anti-caste leaders, and subaltern mortuary workers. Simultaneously, anti-colonial and subaltern politics transformed the effects of scientific knowledge and infrastructure in both Bombay and Calcutta, albeit differently in response to framing antagonisms of caste, capital, and community. Thus, despite the normalizing and homogenizing impetus of colonialism, health policies and attendant technologies reacted to and reflected the impact of local configurations of power and urban space. Putting the history and anthropology of death into conversation with the global history of medicine, science, and technology in the context of colonial and postcolonial South Asia allows us to understand how global technologies under imperialism engaged with local social meanings to bring about epistemic shifts in perceptions and practices of the body, while also altering spatial and social relations. The subcontinental history of the crematorium thus reflects the ongoing impact of discourses and infrastructures of public health and hygiene in redefining bodies marked by social distinctions of caste, class and religion in the colonial metropole through acts of spatial politics. The introduction of the crematorium in colonial India reproduced extant practices of social hierarchy and spatial segregation but it also became an enabling infrastructure through which anti-caste activists, Marxists and Socialists imagined scientific modernity and a future without segregation.

No description available.

Pigmentocracy or colorism refers to the practice of intraracial groups applying a preferential valuation to lighter skin, resulting in a system of contextual privileges and discriminations based on skin color. In India, this phenomenon is informed by numerous factors, including colonialism, the caste system, media, cultural practices, and patriarchy. The fundamental forces contributing to pigmentocracy are explored independently as well as in conjunction with each other in order to elucidate the multifaceted aspects of social organization in India, specifically, the larger effects of imperialism, capitalism, globalization, racism, and sexism as they relate to colorist ideology. Everyday practices and attitudes informed by caste, class, religion, language, region, and customs are also examined in relation to pigmentocracy. Although there are numerous mechanisms that contribute to the complexity of examining pigmentocracy, larger patterns also prevail that allow for a comprehensive understanding of how pigmentocratic notions influence and are influenced by multiple background and demographic conditions. Benefits for those who are on the lighter end of the skin color spectrum are recognized and leveraged in accordance with the systemic logic of being naturally superior. Conversely, often those on the darker end of the spectrum are perceived as inferior, thus perpetuating the superiority of whiteness. Pigmentocracy is detrimental psychologically, physically, and socioeconomically due to the ways in which darker skin is often viewed (by society, media, lighter individuals as well as darker people who subscribe to the belief that white is better) as less attractive, less valuable, less pure, and less clean. For those perceived to be darker, the consequences can include violence, marginalization, and discrimination in areas of employment, education, government, access to resources, psychological trauma, disparities in marital opportunities and conceived notions of beauty, and underrepresentation in media. / Ph. D.

Polymorphism is the existence of multiple phenotypes within a given species in a population. In social insects, worker polymorphism plays a key role in maximizing the effectiveness of the division of labor. Some ants have an extreme form of worker polymorphism where workers have a broad size range and multiple size modes. Pheidole ants, for example, consist of both highly polymorphic species as well as those with relatively low polymorphism. Here, we examined why different Pheidole species have different degrees of polymorphism and how polymorphism is produced. We thoroughly characterized the worker caste systems of P. spadonia, P. rhea, P. obtusospinosa, and P. tepicana. There were significant differences among the four species in size range, number of size modes, caste ratios, allometry, and caste biomass allocation. An examination of worker caste traits of P. spadonia, P. rhea, and P. obtusospinosa revealed that as head size increased for all three species: (1) mandibles became broader and less serrated, (2) head muscle volume increased, and (3) bite force increased. These traits of large supersoldiers are likely adapted for crushing while those of small minors are likely for cutting. Foraging experiments showed that P. spadonia, P. rhea, and P. obtusospinosa used their workforce in different ways for food processing outside the nest. For P. rhea, the frequency of supersoldiers involved in food processing increased as the processing level required increased. However, P. obtusospinosa supersoldiers were rarely found processing food outside the nest and P. spadonia soldiers assisted in processing dead prey but did not help at all in processing live prey. P. obtusospinosa and P. spadonia workers may be more involved with other colony tasks. This hypothesis was confirmed when field observations of P. obtusospinosa showed supersoldiers participating in head-blocking at their entrance to fend off invading army ants; no other castes exhibited this behavior. Lastly, we tested genetic influences on worker polymorphism. We found that as colony genetic diversity increased (via polyandry), the degree of polymorphism increased. We also showed evidence of paternal genes influences on the development of worker castes in the highly polymorphic P. rhea.

Cette thèse propose de détecter les mécanismes par lesquels la stratification d’une société se reflète sur le marché du travail. Nous étudions pour cela le cas de l’Inde, où les disparités liées au genre, à la religion et à la caste persistent malgré des changements structurels considérables. Un premier chapitre traite des liens entre l’exclusion du marché du travail et les disparités inter-groupes. Suite à une estimation de la probabilité de non-participation sur le marché du travail, l’analyse des conséquences de l’isolement forcé des femmes sur l’éducation des enfants permet d’observer dans quelle mesure le travail est un vecteur de réduction des inégalités genrées d’éducation. Un second chapitre s’intéresse aux trajectoires de mobilités occupationnelles et de revenu entre 2005 et 2011-12. Une description détaillée de ces trajectoires et l’estimation de ces déterminants suggèrent l’absence d’un phénomène de rattrapage des groupes désavantagés sur le moyen-terme. Un troisième chapitre aborde la question de la segmentation du marché du travail dans un contexte de prédominance de l’économie informelle. Les résultats montrent l’existence d’une ségrégation occupationnelle en fonction du genre. Le quatrième chapitre propose une comparaison paramétrique et nonparamétrique des décompositions de salaire. Les écarts de salaires ne sont pas liés à une discrimination salariale pure mais plutôt à un processus de sélection et de ségrégation occupationnelle dans le cas du genre. En ce qui concerne les groupes socio-religieux, la combinaison des écarts en termes d’éducation, de népotisme et de discrimination potentielle explique les fortes disparités salariales. / This thesis aims to analyze how the stratified nature of a society translates into horizontal inequalities in the labor market. We analyze the case of urban India, where disparities among gender, religion and caste groups persist despite the country’s significant structural change. The first chapter analyzes the links between labor market exclusion and group disadvantage. After estimating the likelihood of non-participation in the labor market, we address the specific case of secluded labor by detecting its impact on children’s education. We suggest that female labor market participation is not likely to lower the educational gap for future generations. The second chapter compares the paths of labor market mobility between 2005 and 2011-12 among gender and socio-religious groups. A detailed analysis of occupational and earnings mobility, followed by the estimation of their determinants, suggest that the group-specific mobility patterns may not reflect a process of “catching-up.” The third chapter proposes an analysis of labor market segmentation in the context of a predominantly informal labor market, showing that the household business sector is relatively homogenous and that the salaried sector is segmented along gender lines. A fourth chapter highlights the issue of potential discrimination by comparing parametric and semi-parametric wage gap decompositions, both suggesting that wage gaps are mostly due to selection and segregation effects in the case of gender. In the case of socio-religious groups, a combination of endowment differentials, nepotism and potential discrimination leads to substantial wage differentials.