Archive
Volume 12, Issue 1 (2021)
Different Shades of Caste among the Indian Diaspora in the US
Vivek Kumar
Social scientists, baring a few, deny the existence of caste in the Indian diaspora. It is a fact that caste does not exist among Indians in diaspora as part of a stratification system per se. However, the empirical reality suggests that caste is not totally absent among the Indians in diaspora. On the basis of field-work done by the researcher during January 2012 until May 2012 in different states of the US at least three different shades of caste can be observed among Indians in the US. These three shades are, one, caste can be observed in the form of relationships which gives birth to networks and endogamous grouping. In terms of endogamy the membership of a caste has to be ascriptive (i.e. membership by birth). Hence the caste system assumes potential to influence patterns of interaction of its members in diaspora. Different matrimonial websites and matrimonial columns in varying newspapers in the US are testimony to the existence of endogamy and thereby caste in Indian diaspora. The second shade of caste among Indians in diaspora is that it exists as an institution of discrimination and exclusion. That means discrimination and exclusion exists in the name of castes in the diaspora. In this paper, I will highlight how caste discrimination and exclusion on the basis of higher and lower status of castes exists among Indians even in the US. The third shade of caste among the Indian diaspora in the US can be observed when different castes transcend their regional, religious and linguistic boundaries to form new communities. In this context, the paper will analyze how different castes among the Dalits of India have formed a formidable group that cuts across their religion, region and linguistic delineation to unite under one Dalit identity. Their new identity is now used as a symbol of assertion and emancipation. To conclude, we can safely argue that these three shades of caste will grow stronger as time passes with the potentiality of creating caste conflict as it occurs in the UK.
The Interface of Ethnicity, Modernity and Caste: A Study of
Social Structures in the Lo Community of Upper Mustang
Uddhab Pyakurel and Ajit Bhatta
Modernity has created a plethora of development opportunities for people
in general. However, modernity has not always done justice for people and the community everywhere. This paper tries to contrast such a relationship between modernity
and traditional community. This paper tries to depict how modernity could also pose
a threat to the indigenous community, and disrupt their traditional social structure
and practices. This paper is a study of the `Lo' people of Lo Manthang. Lo Manthang
is one of the culturally rich and geographically constrained highland places in Nepal.
Remote geography, seasonal migration, low agricultural activity, and other di erent
features have made this region relatively disadvantaged. While studying the case of Lo
Manthang, we have observed many unique and unorthodox experiences relating to the
social structure, traditions, and the culture. This paper presents the practices, traditions, and essentially the social structure of the Lo community (also Lo Manthang).
The paper tries to present how the in
uence of modern ideology and principles can
change the structure of the traditional society. Both primary and secondary data were
used while preparing the paper. Primary data was collected through a short eld visit,
and a series of follow-up discussions with the locals, while the secondary data consists
of some comprehensive book reviews and a literature review on similar topics.
China's Projection of Soft Power in terms of Constructive
Journalism:
A Media Content Analysis of Constructive News Coverage of South
Africa by China Daily and South China Morning Post
in 2015 and 2018
Franki Jenkins
China is an increasingly major player in the latest global economic configuration. As a formerly developing nation, China has the potential to view the world through a lens distinctive from current Western hegemonies in its news media and soft power strategies. China has already invested heavily in the African continent and South Africa specifically, including in its news media. Some research has suggested that non-Western, non-democratic countries might have a different approach to international news coverage, including more positive and constructive coverage that diverges from Western news coverage (which is often seen as unnuanced and unequal). A content analysis of Chinese print news media thus examined if Chinese news media's construction of South African reality differs from previous Western social constructions. The research analysed China Daily, a newspaper closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, as well as South China Morning Post (SCMP), an independent, privately-owned publication from Hong Kong. It investigated whether these papers use constructive journalism to cover South Africa, and how their coverage diverged and overlapped. The research found that there are observable differences on an ontological scale, and that both papers have different foci of interest and affective slant which diverge from Western news sources. However, similar to Western sources, both papers are largely not constructive on topics relating to South Africa, and are overall disinterested in local events in South Africa, reproducing the same inequalities in news reportage that exist with the current global hegemonic order.
Electronic Media in the Global Age: A Study of Indian Television
Neeraj Kumar
This paper aims to analyse the impact of globalisation on Indian television and highlights how Indian television has responded to the challenges and opportunities presented by globalisation. It maps the history of Indian Television from pre-globalised era to post-globalised era. The coming of satellite TV in India, after globalisation, has been referred to as 'cultural invasion' or 'cultural imperialism' by many scholars. This paper analyses the changes occurring in the content of television programs by taking into account the notions of 'cultural imperialism', 'globalisation', and 'hybridisation'/'glocalisation'. The paper argues that though at the onset it would appear that there is an attempt to replace the native culture with Western culture/guest culture but this study's analysis shows that there is very limited possibility of cultural replacement. Instead, there are more possibilities of various permutations and combinations of cultures which result in a new hybrid form of culture. Last, but not the least, the paper also highlights the changes occurring in the ideology of image making and portrayal of various characters, particularly women, in TV programs.
Can blue-collar migrants survive city lives amidst Covid-19?
A Conversation between Nina Glick Schiller and Amrita Datta
Responding to how the Covid-19 offers the reference point for a multi-scalar network, in this conversation with Amrita Datta, Nina Glick Schiller maintains that the post-pandemic future will be dominated by the gig economy; hence it is time to consider that the distinction between who is a migrant and who is not is blurry at best and the concomitant experiences of dispossession for temporary migrants cut across all socio-economic locations.
Review: "Ethnic Inequality in the Northeastern Indian Borderlands: Social Structures and Symbolic Violence" by Anita Lama
Tanka Bahadur Subba
