No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1991.

La thèse constitue une analyse physique, sociale et économique du paysage de deux villages himalayens de l’Inde (Uttarakhand) : Darkot et Sharmoli, par rapport au bourg voisin de Munsiyari qui jouit de fonctions administratives, commerciales et touristiques. Sharmoli est plus proche de Munsiyari, tandis que Darkot est distant de 7 km, et à une altitude plus basse. 173 ménages furent enquêtés. Les villages sont peuplés de Bhotias (classés Scheduled Tribes mais hindous de haute caste), Thakurs (haute caste) et ex-intouchables (Scheduled Castes). Les Bhotias pratiquaient le commerce avec le Tibet, et les autres castes étaient en position de dominés, mais à partir de 1962, avec l’arrêt du commerce et le transfert des terres des Bhotias aux Thakurs leurs anciens métayers, nombre de changements sont apparus dans la vie physique, sociale et économique des deux villages. Darkot est un village très ancien où les structures de caste, de religion et les hiérarchies demeurent très visibles dans les espaces publics comme privés, tandis que Sharmoli, construit il y a 4 ou 5 décennies, est moins marqué. Les habitants des deux villages adoptent de nouveaux types de maisons, avec de nouveaux matériaux de construction et un changement d’utilisation des pièces. Mais l’utilisation du sol à Sharmoli est marquée par le tourisme, au contraire de Darkot. L’agriculture dépasse le seuil de subsistance dans les deux cas. La majorité des hommes des deux villages est engagée dans les services (commerce) mais très peu comme fonctionnaires. L’âge moyen des actifs dans les villages dépasse 40 ans, ce qui signale l’émigration des jeunes vers les villes et la présence d’un grand nombre de retraités, notamment à Darkot. Le revenu par tête dépasse le seuil de pauvreté (3 $ par jour), mais pourrait être supérieur si les qualifications étaient supérieures et les opportunités dans les villages plus abondantes. Les femmes, notamment Bhotia, travaillent souvent dans l’artisanat, et les chambres d’hôte sont devenues une bonne source de revenu pour des ménages de Sharmoli. Globalement, le système clientéliste entre les Bhotias et les deux autres castes a disparu. Mais le paysage social de Darkot témoigne de plus d’orthodoxie dans l’espace public, puisque la religion, le temple, la caste jouent un rôle important en comparaison avec Sharmoli où dominent des fêtes modernes et profanes. La situation des femmes n’est pas très bonne dans aucun des villages, et des factions existent, notamment entre Bhotias et Thakurs. Au final, Darkot comme Sharmoli montrent les caractéristiques de la tradition et de la modernité, à travers l’analyse socio-économique des espaces privés et publics. / The thesis revolves around the physical, social and economic analysis of the landscape of two Himalayan villages in Uttarakhand, India: of Darkot and Sharmoli with respect to the core Munsiyari which exhibits administrative, market and tourism functions. Sharmoli is located near the core while Darkot is situated at a distance of 7 kms. and at a lower height than Sharmoli. The villages are inhabited by Bhotias (scheduled tribe as well as high-caste Hindus), Thakurs (high-caste Hindus) and lower-caste (scheduled castes) people. Around 173 families belonging to different castes are surveyed in the two villages. Bhotias used to practice trade with Tibet and the other two castes were their subordinates, but after 1962 with the stoppage of trade and transfer of Bhotias’ land to the tiller Thakurs, a lot of changes have come about in the physical, social and economic life of both the villages. The analysis of the landscape of Darkot and Sharmoli shows that Darkot is a very old village with the presence of elements of caste, religion, hierarchy etc. in its settlement pattern of private and public spaces, while Sharmoli has been constructed in the last 4-5 decades with a lower degree of influence of social and physical factors. The inhabitants of both the villages are adopting modern-design and new types of houses with contemporary construction materials while the uses of rooms are changing as per need. Land in the Sharmoli is used more for tourism-related activities which are absent in case of Darkot, while agriculture is far from subsistence level in both the villages. Majority of the male inhabitants of both the villages are engaged in service sector activities such as labour, business, private jobs etc. while very few are in government services. The average age of the earner in both the villages is beyond 40 years which shows the out-migration of young people to the towns and cities along with the presence of a large number of pensioners, esp. in Darkot. Though the villagers are not poor with regard to per-capita income, yet their earnings are lower (i.e. around $3 per day) because of poor educational qualifications and skills, along with lack of good opportunities in the villages. Women (esp. of Bhotia caste) are engaged in handicrafts while home-stays have come up as a new and good source of income for the families in Sharmoli. Overall, the patron-client relationship between Bhotias and the other two castes in economic terms has been loosened. The social landscape of Darkot depicts more orthodoxy in public space as religion, temple, caste play an important role in Darkot in comparison to Sharmoli where modern cultural and secular festivals dominate the landscape. The situation of women is not very good in both the villages while the caste factions (esp. among Bhotias and Thakurs) are clearly visible. Hence, both Darkot and Sharmoli depict characteristics of tradition and modernity depending upon the social and economic analysis of private and public spaces.

La thèse porte sur les transformations des politiques électorales dans l’état de l’Uttar Pradesh, Inde, dans la période suivant une phase de cristallisation et de politisation des identités de castes et religieuses. La thèse considère l’évolution d’un certain nombre d’indicateurs de la vie politique de cet état pour faire état de changements profonds des ressorts de la mobilisation politique. Au cours de la période considérée, il est observé que les formes mobilisation horizontale de la caste se sont estompées au profit de transactions locales entre groupes et individus inscrits dans des contextes socio-économiques différenciés. Cette localisation des politiques de caste a conduit la caste à s’encastrer davantage dans le champ politique mais de manière moins transversale qu’auparavant. En d’autres termes, les partis politiques ne parviennent ni ne souhaitent plus mobiliser leurs électeurs en usant registre de la caste horizontalement, par-delà le niveau local, mais font de la caste un élément central de le stratégies au niveau des circonscriptions. L’argument principal de la thèse consiste à dire que l’encastrement local de la caste s’effectue en lien étroit avec le contexte socioéconomique d’inscription. Une prosopographie des candidats et élus aux élections régionales de 2007 et 2012 révèle que les candidats sélectionnés par les principaux partis politiques tendent non seulement a l’être fonction de leur appartenance de caste ou de communauté religieuse mais également en fonction de leur ancrage dans les tissus économiques locaux. Une ethnographie politique confirme l’existence d’un processus d’intégration des élites politiques, sociales et économiques au travers des processus démocratiques. En d’autres termes, le profil des candidats et des élus tend à être socialement hétérogène mais économiquement homogène, ce qui contredit trahit en partie le caractère émancipatoire des mouvements politiques dits de basses castes. / This dissertation focuses on the transformations of electoral politics in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, afte period of crystallization and politicization of caste and religious-based identities. The dissertation studies evolution of a number of political indicators to reveal profound changes in the ways parties and candidates mobi voters. It is observed notably that the horizontal forms of caste-based mobilization that characterized much of politics of the state have receded in favour of local arrangements between parties, candidates and local social grou This leads the caste variable to become more deeply embedded into the political sphere, but locally.The main argument of this dissertation is the local embeddedness of caste took place in deep connection with th local economical context. The prosopography of candidates and elected representatives of the state assembly in 2 and 2012 reveals that parties tend to not only choose their candidates according to their ascriptive identity, but a following their inscription in local dominating economic networks. A political ethnography conducted across state confirms the existence of a process of integration or congruence of political, social and economic elites. Th the social composition of the state assembly tends to be both heterogeneous in terms of caste and homogeneou terms of economic background. This questions the emancipatory character or potential of caste-based mobilizat and representation.

This report is the outcome of a case study conducted in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2016. The purpose of the study is to investigate in the consequences of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, from the perspective of women within socioeconomically vulnerable groups. The caste system is still practiced nearly all over Nepal and women are still facing multiple forms of discrimination. A woman belonging to the Dalits, which is the group considered to be at the bottom of the hierarchy and below the castes, have no right to control land, housing or money and are exposed to violence and forced sexual labour. The aim of the study is to shed light over how already existing discrimination leads to further examples of discrimination in the aftermath of a natural disaster and the “class-consciousness” of natural disasters. People within a society are living under different conditions and these conditions lead to different consequences when facing a natural disaster. The components of these conditions are often intertwined with each other and should therefore not be examined separately, which is why an intersectional perspective is used for this study. Furthermore, standpoint theory is used as well, to look at these issues from the viewpoint of the marginalized people of the society. Interviews were made with 6 different respondents, who are working for NGOs in and outside of Kathmandu and who through their work are coming on contact with the issues mentioned. My findings show several examples of post-earthquake consequences for women which can be linked to the strong patriarchy, the use of caste system and mistreatment from the government.

The research examines a government educational outreach initiative for the children of migrant brick kiln workers in Western India. Through interviews with government officials, parent and para-teacher surveys, and participant observation, the researcher was able to compare the pilot initiative in Bhilwara district, Rajasthan with one in Gandhinagar district, Gujarat. The research highlights some of the impediments faced with planning education for migrant children and provides recommendations for the future of the program in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Indian diaspora is woven around castes, languages, dialects, religions- a young nation boasting of an ancient civilization in which inequalities are deeply ingrained in its culture and traditions. Although vital government interventions have succeeded in increasing the literacy rate of women in both urban and rural areas general household characteristics such as income, caste, occupation and education attainments of parents still continue to determine access, attendance, completion and learning outcomes of girls and women from severely disadvantaged communities. The critical issue investigated in the comparative case study is why and how established hegemonic roles changed because of the catalytic role of adult literacy. The research was conducted in Bhilwara District, Rajasthan and Howrah District, West Bengal, India where literacy has played an intrinsic role in transforming the lives of the rural and marginalized women. In Indian society social norms often prevent women from exercising their free choice and from taking full and equal advantage of opportunities for individual development, contribution and reward. So assessing empowerment/transformation would mean identifying the constraints to empowerment, how women’s agency has developed and finally looking if ‘agency’ was able to address the constraints to women’s access to adult literacy. This would also entail seeking answers to questions such as ‘How is transformation represented in their narratives? What was the impact of literacy upon their lives?

This thesis demonstrates the intersection of caste, doctrine, religious authority and monasticism in the Swaminarayan sampradāy, a Hindu devotional tradition founded by Sahajānand Svāmī. Religious traditions affected indirectly or minimally by colonialism or the nationalist struggle have seldom been rigorously studied. This thesis brings attention to the Swaminarayan sampradāy to highlight how pervasive societal discourses like that of caste and internal doctrinal developments, impacted religious developments concerning authority, hierarchy, and power. The reification of a doctrine and the creation of a theological office, coupled with the deification of a monk, Guṇātītānand Svāmī, and his low-caste disciple Prāgjī manifested a fractious environment in which theology, authority and ideas about monasticism came to be contested. Theological ideas drove Prāgjī’s developing community, who adapted their devotion to Prāgjī as a result of stifling institutional politics and a modernizing Gujarat. Prāgjī’s incessant preaching, distinct theological beliefs and own budding community, which adored him, changed the course of Swaminarayan Hinduism in western India.

Comments and Discussions : Emiko USUI (臼井恵美子)

Hovedopgave. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

“Speaking Subalterns” examines the literatures of two marginalized groups,African Americans in the United States and Dalits in India. The project demonstrates how two disparate societies, USA and India, are constituted by comparable hegemonic socioeconomic-cultural and political structures of oppression that define and delimit the identities of the subalterns in the respective societies. The superstructures of race in USA and caste in India inform, deform, and complicate the identities of the marginalized along lines of gender, class, and family structure. Effectively, a type of domestic colonialism, exercised by the respective national elitists, silence and exploit the subaltern women and emasculate the men. This repression from above disrupts the respective family structures in the societies, traumatizes the children, and confuses the relationships between all the members of the families. While African American women, children, and men negotiate their national identities in USA, Dalits, the former Untouchables, attempt to realize their national identities guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. While successful resistance to oppression informs the literatures written by these historically marginalized peoples, thereby giving voice to the silenced subalterns, I argue that it is equally important to be attentive to the simultaneous silencing that has not ended. Moreover, we must be skeptical about the power seemingly achieved by the subalterns in articulating their claims to legitimate rights because re-presentation of subaltern resistance by the elite intellectualsand by subalterns themselves becomes a critical inquiry. Thus, while some subaltern women claim agency through representation, their narratives may not be exempt from hegemonic control. Others are thoroughly misrepresented by elitists. While some subaltern mothers undertake outlaw mothering by defying normative patriarchal motherhood, responsible representation can re-cover these tales which are silenced when these mothers succumb to their children and community’s disparagement. While some subaltern children may survive disastrous experiences, others may be traumatized into silence. Representation bears witness to these traumatic silences and the silencing processes. While historically emasculated subaltern men may vent and represent their rightful frustration and wrath against the oppressors, they may be simultaneously silencing their own doubly-oppressed women.