Daily Answer Writing: Sociology (Day 25)

Questions

1. Analyse the contemporary forms of untouchability practised in India and posit the factors that have the potential to change the dimensions of such practices. (20 Marks)
2. Write short notes on tribes as ideal types. (10 Marks)

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Model Structures

Q1. Analyse the contemporary forms of untouchability practised in India and posit the factors that have the potential to change the dimensions of such practices. (20 Marks)

Introduction

• Define untouchability
• Untouchability is a set of social sanctions and social disabilities that are ascriptive in nature within the ritual framework of the caste system
• Dimensions: Exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation

Main Body

• Untouchability - IHDS 2012, NCAER
  • Who is practising untouchability
    • 27% of the sample HH continue
    • Rural - 30% Urban - 20%
    • Among Religious groups: Jains & Hindus - highest; Followed by Sikhs & Muslims
• Ghansham Shah, Harsh Mander and Sukhdev Thorat have concluded that untouchability is still practised in 80% of the villages in various forms
• Though at Manifest levels it reduced, at latent level, it's been observed in various forms
• The more prevalent latent form
  • Secular institutions
  • Protest Dalit cooks
  • Employment - recent incident against CISCO -
    • CISCO incident - allegation of Dalit discrimination.
  • Payal Tadvi suicide case - alleged case of suicide due to casteist slurs.
  • Even at PDS - separate days
  • 2018 -- Shravanabelagola -- cleaning jobs workers from Uttar Pradesh
  • Rohit Vemula case
  • Anger in the minds of upper castes towards lower caste due to reservations
    • Mostly due to lack of awareness about the concept of positive discrimination
• Manifest forms
  • Prevalence of endogamous marriage and sanctioning of caste exogamy (khap panchayats, honour killings, etc.)
  • Dalits still form the majority of the workforce in cleaning and other such jobs. (Occupational segregation) Eg. In 2016, 98% of manual scavengers were from lower castes.
  • Separate ghettoes.. Especially in rural areas (eg. Maharwada for SCs)
  • Ritual segregation - e.g. certain rites like upnayana are reserved only for twice-born castes
  • Political segregation - upper caste people often create troubles for Dalit sarpancha.
  • Violence as an extreme manifestation of untouchability. According to NCRB data, 45000+ crimes were registered against Dalits in 2015.
• Untouchability based on gender
  • Menstruation, a biological act given regressive social connotations
    • Women are not allowed to perform sacred acts during menstruation
• Factors that have the potential to change the dimensions of such practices
  • Ensuring strict implementation of laws
    • 1989 Prevention of Atrocities Act full implementation
    • Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955
  • Value education
  • Emancipation from dirty occupations
  • Rationalisation of reservation system - so that all sections of Dalit community gets an opportunity to be uplifted.
  • Economic independence

Conclusion

• Thus, despite various social and legal efforts, untouchability persists in some form or other.

Q2. Write short notes on tribes as ideal types. (10 Marks)

Introduction

• Max Weber used the Ideal type as a methodological tool to understand and analyze social reality. They are mental constructs and pure types that rarely occur in reality.

Main Body

Tribes as ideal Types-

• Kinship is an important instrument of social bonds among the tribals
• There is a lack of a clearly defined hierarchy
• There is absence of strong, formal and complex organization
• Communitarian basis of land holding, therefore lack of private property
• Little value to the accumulation of capital and market trading
• They live in geographically secluded areas
• Endogamous
• United in language and recognizing social distance from other tribes or castes.
• They practice an animistic religion.

However, the above-mentioned ideal typical features do not conform to reality because-

• Tribals in India are highly heterogeneous.
• Some tribes, like Jarawas of Andaman, are highly underdeveloped, whereas Meena of Rajasthan and Negi of Himachal are assimilated in the mainstream.
• Some tribes speak Dravidian and Hindi languages.
• Against the belief of animism, tribes also practice Christianity, idol worship, etc.

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