Sociology Paper 2 - Topic B1: Village Studies in India

Village as a Socio-Cultural Unit

  • Considered a socio-cultural unit for centuries, with sustainability and exclusivity of historical, colonial, and social importance.
  • Mentioned in Vedas:
    • Pur (o Pur)
    • Gram (o Gram)
    • Van (Jungle) (o Van)
  • Puranic texts indicate a potential hierarchy:
    • Pur: Elites
    • Gram: Commoners
    • Van: Tribes
    • Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Gram leader pays taxes to Pur king for protection.
  • Historical accounts (7th-12th century) describe different village types:
    • One caste, one village
    • One caste, many villages
    • Many castes, one village
    • Many castes, many villages
  • Interlinkage between caste and villages greatly established.
  • Entry of Islam and Christianity led to multi-ethnic and multi-tasked villages.
  • Colonial rule involved systematic study with an ethnocentric viewpoint (people refusing to modernize, White man’s burden).
  • Sir Henry Maine:
    • Indian villages have no historic parallel in the West.
    • Villages are self-sufficient, little republics.
    • Rulers come and go, villages remain self-sufficient forever.
  • Metcalfe and Munro endorsed this view.

Colonial and Anti-Colonial Views

  • Colonial scholars developed an ethnocentric understanding (WH Sumner/Eurocentric):
    • Despite poverty, backwardness, orthodoxy, commitment to classical religion, diseases, natural disasters, Indians refused to change (White Man’s Burden).
  • Anti-colonial/Opposite view:
    • O’Malley and Grigson: Early colonial scholars had a pre-conceived notion about Indian villages and weren't able to observe vibrant village life.
    • Observed struggle for power, resolution of economic conflicts, and integration through caste and culture.
  • Karl Marx:
    • Gave Asiatic Mode of Production (MOP). Indian primitive communism with common labor and fruit but taxes to kings.
    • Believed British land tenure system demolished political and economic autonomy, transforming classless India to feudal and then capitalistic.

Contemporary Ideas of Villages

  • Andre Beteille:
    • 'The village was not merely a place where people lived; it had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilisation'.

General Features of Indian Villages

  • Identified by Indian village studies (SUDIR):
    • Self-sufficiency busted (AB)
    • Unity present
    • Diversity (inside & outside village) (SC Dubey)
    • Identity (source of identity) (MNS)
    • Reciprocity (Jajmani) (W.H. Wiser)

Village Characteristics

  • Important source of identity to its residents.
  • Reciprocity (Interdependence) implied that though village social organization was hierarchical, it was the ‘interdependence’ among different caste groups that characterised the underlying spirit of the Indian village.

The Caste System

  • Caste was a concrete structure that guided social relationships; hierarchy was its ideology.
  • SC Dube: Hindus all over India accepted this classification (Caste homogenized).
  • Majumdar: Caste divisions determined and decided all social relations. (caste = closed), varna ≠ caste.
  • Srinivas:
    • At the local level, caste was ‘radically different from that expressed in the varna scheme.
    • Mutual rank was uncertain, and mobility was possible in caste.
  • Dube’s 6 factors that contributed towards the status differentiation in the village community of Shamirpet:
    • Religion and caste
    • Landownership
    • Wealth
    • Position in government service and village organisation (legal rational)
    • Age (traditional)
    • Distinctive personality traits (charismatic)
  • Attempts to claim higher ritual status through Sanskritisation wasn't simple, requiring negotiation within the local power structure.

Sanskritisation

  • Mobility through secular status first, then ritual status:
    • First acquire secular status (land, wealth, govt. service), then you’ll get ritual status.
  • Caste system worked within the Jajmani system, binding different castes in enduring relationships.

Land and Class

  • Land relations reflected hierarchy similar to the caste system.
  • Srinivas:
    • Twin hierarchy - Land or Higher caste
    • Overlap between the twin hierarchies of caste and land.
  • Lewis:
    • Primacy of Land
    • Some underlined the primacy of land over all other factors in determining social hierarchy in the village.

Gender Differences

  • Village studies were not completely “gender blind”.
  • Accounts of man-woman relations were largely based on data collected from male informants.
  • Most anthropologists were males, making it difficult to participate in the “private” life of the village people.
  • Adrian C. Mayer:
    • Village well provided a meeting place for all women of non-Harijan castes, and the opportunity for gossip.
  • Twin Division of Labor (DoL):
    • Caste, Gender.
  • SC Dube:
    • After caste, gender was the most important factor that governed the division of labour in the village.
    • Masculine and feminine pursuits were clearly distinguished.
  • Srinivas:
    • Male work > Female work
    • Male Controlling female Sexuality
    • Two sets of occupations were not only separated but also seen as unequal.
    • The dominant ‘male view’ thought of women as being ‘incapable of understanding what went on outside the domestic wall’.
    • Men also had a near complete control over women ’s sexuality.
    • Polygyny and concubinage (Cohabitation without being legally married) were both evidence.

Contrasting Views on Village India

  • Dipankar Gupta:
    • Differs (EPW, 2005).
    • Depressing view of villages - Hopeless Disenchantment
    • “The village is shrinking as a sociological reality, though it still exists as space. Nowhere else does one find the level of hopeless disenchantment as one does in the rural regions of India. In urban slums there is squalor, there is filth and crime, but there is hope and the excitement that tomorrow might be quite different from today.
    • Rarely would a villager today want to be a farmer if given an opportunity elsewhere.
    • Indeed, there are few rural institutions that have not been mauled severely from within. The joint family is disappearing, the rural caste hierarchy is losing its tenacity, and the much romanticised harmony of village life is now exposed for the sham it perhaps always was.
  • Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s analysis of the Indian village:
    • The village was a cesspool of degradation, corruption and worse.
    • Village India was able to carry on because there was little option for most people, rich or poor outside the confines of the rural space.
    • Village cesspool of degradation, corruption & worse.

Why Study Villages Now

  • Apart from industrialization, one the main agenda for the new political regimes was the transformation of the “backward” and stagnant agrarian economy.
  • Development
    • Planning
    • Implementing
    • Monitoring

Methods Used

  • Use of “participant observation”, a method of data collection that anthropologists in the West had developed while doing studies of tribal communities.
  • The “participant observation” method was seen as a method that understood social life from within, in terms of the values and meanings attributed to it by the people themselves.
  • The method of participant observation also provided continuity between the earlier tradition of anthropology when it studied the tribal communities and its later preoccupation with the village.

Approaches in Village Study

  • MNS > structural functionalism
  • SC Dubey > Inter disciplinary
  • MC Marriot > Culturology
  • AR Desai > Marxian
  • Andre Beteille > Weberian

Sociological Approaches to Study Villages

  • Influenced by American Anthropological tradition of ROBERT REDFIELD and British Social Anthro tradition of AR RADCLIFFE BROWN.
  • MNS – Pioneer – Article “The Problem Of Studying One’s Own Society”.
  • He suggested sociologist should not consider
    • Village as microscopic unit of macroscopic Indian society.
    • Reality is vast, unorganized and chaotic. We can’t study entire reality.
  • FG Bailey, MSA Rao, Martin Oran studied Caste in different villages.
  • Andre Beteille – Social Stratification in vill Sripuram.
  • Kathleen Gough – Class Structure in Kumbapeti.
  • FG Bailey – Power and Politics in vills of Orrisa.
  • AM Shah – Family and Kinship Jahanabad Gujarat.
  • TN Madan – Rituals of Kashmiri Pandits.
  • Tulsi Patel – Gender Discrimination.
  • Amita Baviskar - Resistance to governmental policies, changing food habits etc.
  • IP Desai – Sme respects of family in Matina Gujarat.
  • MNREGA > Jenn Drebe, Ritika Khera.

New Areas of Study

  • Effect of Globalization, Reproductive voting Behaviour, Politicisation of caste.
  • Dipankar Gupta > caste in Elections (2000).
  • Concept > AJGR, KHAM, MY. (caste chemistry).
  • Milton Singer
    • Little tradition and Great tradition, and McKim Marriott's Universalisation and parochialosation show interlinkage of the village with the larger social world.
    • Culture and civilization are not in contest in India like in Europe; INDIANISATION OF MODERNISATION.
  • William Wiser:
    • American Sociologist – Elasticity in Jajmani relation.
  • AM Shah and MNS
    • Challenged self-sufficiency using empirical data.
  • After village studies gained momentum, debate started if India can be studied using village studies?

Village Studies Perspectives

  • Indological Perspective (Textual)
    • GSG (Attributionist) > Attributer of caste, Dynamism of caste, Kinship, etc.
    • L.D. (Structuralist).
    • KM Kapadia > Family, Marriage, Kinship.
    • Irawati Karve > Kinship system.
  • Anthropological (Field view)
    • MNS > Structural Functional.
    • Mckim Maniot > (Culturology) (Traders. Empraised) (Rural – Urban Continuum).
    • AB > Weberian (Rural Power Structure) (Stratification).
    • SC Dubey > Inter – Disciplinary (Multi – tradition for Social change).

Proponents and Critics of Village Studies

  • Those who glorified (pro-village studies)
    • SC Dube - Indian Villages.
    • MNS - Villages in India.
    • Mckim Marriot - Village India.
  • Those against (criticism of village studies)
    • Upper caste hindered AB not allowed to interact with lower caste.
    • Gender hindered (Lila Dubey).
    • Louis Dumont
      • Criticized MNS for studying both caste and village.
      • Village studies overshadow the primary source of inequality: CASTE.
      • counter – Andre Beteille – vill. study help know the truth w/o personal bias
    • Y Singh
      • Studied 6 vill. in UP – studying history of change is necessary to understand reality comprehensively.
      • Village studies -> Incomplete in themselves.
    • Marxists – (Study Urban centres)
      • AR Desai: Vill. study take you away from the empirical truth of socio-economic genesis.
      • RK Mukherjee: Vill. is land of small farmers, petty traders, wage labourers who are exploited by feuds (and bourgeois) living in urban centres. Study urban.

New Dimensions of Village Study

  • Social Movements
  • Social Dynamics
  • Political Dynamics
  • Gender profile
  • Demographic studies etc.
  • Voting Behaviour – Impact of social scheme | PRI

Some Data on Villages

  • 2001 Census, rural India - 72 percent of total population.
  • Around one-fourth of the total national income.
  • Nearly half of India’s working population.

Land Tenure System

  • Identifies the ownership of land and the relationship of the owner with the cultivator, including terms and conditions under which land is leased to the tiller.
  • Vedic period: State ownership limited; common ownership of land.
  • Muslim period: assessment of land revenue more systemized and standardized.
  • British rule: system of assessment and collection varied according to states and admin convenience.
    1. Who is Owner?
    2. Relation of Owner and Cultivator
    3. Terms and Conditions

Three Main Systems Used by British

  • Ryotwari
    • Independent single tenure.
    • Sir Thomas Munroe, 1820, Madras.
    • Occupant is tenant of state (state is owner of all land).
    • 20-30 years.
    • Revenue as rent and not tax.
    • Eviction in case of non-payment.
    • Assam, TN, MP, Guj, Maha.
  • Mahalwari
    • Joint village ownership. (villages = mahals).
    • Co-sharer selected to take liability on 5% commission.
    • 30-40 years.
  • Zamindari
    • (Permanent Settlement System)
    • landlord/intermediaries.
    • Outcome of permanent settlement Lord Cornwallis, Bihar 1793.
      • Why – British reluctance to deal directly, force of loyals.
    • Who – revenue collecting officers of Mughals (they were not owners).
    • Real proprietors became tenants.
    • State to get 10/11 of rent.
    • Zamindars further leased out (outsourced). Long chain of middle-men.

Peasant Society

  • Peasant
    • Daniel Thorner : Peasnt = Kisan.
  • Peasant Society
    • Robert Redfield : “Peasant society and culture”, 1956.
  • 3 important features of Peasant CULTURE
    • Highly reverent attitude towards land.
    • Agriculture as noble, ideal, best job.
    • Industrious attitude, dignity to labour.
  • Imp features of Peasant SOCIETY
    • Family primary unit of social organisation (generally Joint, whole family works).
    • Land main source of livelihood.
    • Distinct culture and daily schedule (than landed aristocracy).
  • Peasant culture is of obedience and subordination.
  • Peasant in de-facto possession of land but not owner. Aristocracy politically awakened and denies peasantry its rights.
  • Sorokin
    • Rate of social mobility in peasant society is relatively poor.
    • Only defect not dejure
  • AR Desai
    • INM started as a peasant movement. Jajmani a crucial feature of peasant society.
    • (Orthodox & Traditional) Peasantry – Production for self-sustenance only. Land sacred. Not willing to migrate. Belief in old techniques. Economically poor. Low std of living. Highly influenced by tradition and keep passing it. Religion imp. Superstitious and blind faith in religious texts.
  • Peasant society is thus an agri based tradition soc with highly reverent attitude towards land.

Land Reforms

  • Major policy for rural development designed to break old feudal socio-economic structure of rural India, giving impetus to modernization of agri production and productivity.
  • Objectives:
    • Equality, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Economy.
    • Improving distribution of ownership.
    • Agri modernization.
    • Modernising irrigation.
    • HYV seeds, pesti, ferti etc.
    • Improving land use.
  • Steps Taken
    • Abolition of intermediaries.
    • Tenancy reforms
      • Fixity of tenure
      • Rent regularization
      • Ownership rights
    • Land ceilings.
    • Agrarian reorg.
    • Co–operativisation of agri.
  • Consequences
    • Because of abolition of interm – 20 million tenants direct contact with state.
    • 6 mn hectare of fallow land distributed to landless and marginals.
    • 7.7 mn tenants given ownership rights.

Social Consequences of Land Reforms

  • Shift in the occupation of the lower cates.
  • Decline in migration.
  • Generation of conflict due to legislation.
  • Naxalism – Bihar, UP. Labour Movment – AP.
  • Eviction of landless labours.
  • Shortage of manual labour at the time of sowing and harvesting in Pb and Haryana.
  • Increase in absentee landlordism.
  • Policy of land restoration did not touch adversities of tribal.
  • Agrarian movements used in politics and terrorism.
  • Family > Nuclearised To evade LR. Marriage > of conspicuous income. Cave conflicts. Naxalism. Gender > Female infanticide. Dowry
  • Rural – Urban > Migration checked urban untouched.
  • Class > Poor tenants couldn’t benefit. Landlers labourers existed. Stratification > Class based from caste based. Alienation > checked of lower castes. Work > changed. Mobility > increased. Tribal > Unchecked.

Emerging Agrarian Class Structure

  • Impact uneven.
  • Depended upon the size of holdings.
  • Elevated richer tenants.
  • But broadened the base of proprietary classes (which now had landlords and rich farmers).

How Land Reforms Helped Richer Tenants

  • Zamindars were to be given compensation by the tenants before they could secure the ownership rights. Basic and Biggest limitation.
  • Only rich tenants could pay. Poorer forced to borrow or denied ownership.
  • At the same time they lost tenurial security, became “non-owning proletariat” with increased insecurity, obligations and subordination.

Emerging Trends in Post-Independence

  • Summarized by PC Joshi:
    • Decline of feudalistic and customary tenancy; replaced by more insecure and exploitative lease arrangement.
    • Increased importance of commercial tenancy.
    • Rise of owner-farmers.
    • Emergence of commercial peasants led to 2 imp socio-eco consequences
      • Increased the production and productivity of agric.
      • Accentuated class conflicts in villages.

Green Revolution (GR) Definition

  • Large scale increase in agri production in a short span of time as a result of appln of HYV seeds, chemical ferti, pesti, machinery.
  • Crops – Wheat. Time – 1966/67 to 1970/71. Area – Pb. etc.
  • With the advent of GR focus shifted from LR to optimizing production.
  • On a study of 3 villages of Ludhiana, social consequences
    • Caste system undergoing changes. Disappearance of untouchability. Middle class improving, upper class adjusting.
    • Jajmani system declining with work for payment rather than foodgrains.
    • Traditional hereditary privileges weakening.
  • On a whole, PEASANTS TRANSFORMING TO FARMERS. {Peasants – prodn for self-sufficieny. Farmer – Surplus).

Controversy Due to Green Revolution

  • Limited reach, harmful social, economic, environmental, health effects. Termed Seeds of Disaster.

Social Consequences of Green Revolution

  • Increased disparity. Big farmers (>10 acres) benefitted.
  • Small farmers’ previously leased land reclaimed. Became landless labourer.
  • Increased owner cultivation. Large scale eviction of tenants. Leased area halved in 20 yrs.
  • HYV costly. Farmers preferring only skilled labour.
  • Labour movements for increase in wages in Kerala, TN, AP.
  • Increase in conspicuous income of rich farmers. Relative deprivation of share croppers. Start of Consumerism in rural areas > Vidharbha > Copying of GR ways in absence of GR infra. Leading to suicides.

Phases of Change Post-Independence

  • Earlier phases – Jajmani. Followed by – Zamindari, Mahal, Ryot.
  • Now – 2 phases
    • Post-independence Pre LPG phase
      • *Most important changes through legislation, LR, GR (above).
    • Post-independence Post LPG phase
      • Circulation of labour – Agriculture commercialized, growth of seasonal migrant agri labor. Jan Breman calls them Footloose labor. They live in poor conditions.
      • Feminisation of agri labor – Men move outside for work. Also, women labor cheap.
      • Participation in WTO (Dr. K. Somare khana - Opening of Indian mkts for imports. Imported fruits common. Indian farmers not as adequately supported as Europen, American ones.
      • Contract Farming – Though assured return, increased insecurity by dependency on companies, loss of own indigenous knowledge. Products like Cut-flowers divert from food-grain prodn. Production of mainly elite and costly products using ferti, pesti, Not good.
      • Multi-nationalisation of agriculture- From selling of seeds to marketing produce. Govt agents replaced by profit-driven agents of companies.(Terminating seeds).
      • Farmer Suicides – while farmers in distress from centuries, suicides relatively new.
        • Sociologists attribute a range of factors.
        • Mainly marginal farmers trying to increase production using GR methods by borrowing.
        • Failing which means heavy debt and suicide.
        • Increasing demand for dowry, better health, education, medical care.
        • Lack of mobilization making agriculturists unable to influence policies.

Globalisation of Indian Farmers

  • Dr. K Somasekhara
    • Post WTO Period- Indian farmers will find it difficult to face global agricultural completeness.
    • World Trade will become oligopolistic
    • Increased cost of production will lead to decreased returns
    • Development not Gender Neutral (Because lower access to credit, Lower wages).
    • Decrease in welfare-oriented activities

Why High Rate of Farmers Suicides in Recent Times

  • P Sainath – Ecological Crisis + Economic Crisis + Social Crisis (HYV seeds, Chemicals) (Indebtedness)
  • Vandana Shiva + Utsa Patnaik -> (Suicide)
  • Negative growth of agriculture in recent past

Various Studies

  • Impact of westernization (Impacts: on class, caste, women) > Srinivas > Rise of MC, Y. Singh > Homogenization & cultural Identity.
  • Impact of Migration > Mackim Marxist, Kathleen Gough, AM Shah, Lancy Lobo.
  • Impact of Urbanization -> SC Dubey, MSA Rao Feudalistic Tenancy Expiritative le are Commercial Tenancy Rise of owner farmers.
  • GR & LR > PC Joshi on LR Bhalla, Chaddha on GR > Disappearance of UT Jajmani Heriditory privileges Rise of relative deprivation of disparity.
    • Migration
      • (IP Desai > Traditional Joint Families Replaced by Functional JF.
      • AB > caste weakening. Class ties becoming important.
      • Harold Gourd > caste weakening.
      • Karuna Ahmad > woman: Status improved but clustered in low status, love in cover job.
      • Ashish Nardy > Urbanisation has helped caste mobility.
      • MSA Rao > Remittances from cities, helped increase Prestige back home.
      • EA Ross > Rural People becoming consumerists. e consumerists.