Social hierarchy and enrolment in government and private schools in rural India: longitudinal evidence from a Rajasthan village

With reference to a village in a predominantly tribal part of Rajasthan, this paper illustrates the increasing heterogeneity of the rural educational landscape and examines different patterns of enrolment within this. While the findings confirm those of more macro-level studies using the four official social categories, intra-category differences are shown to be equally, if not more, important in helping to explain variations in the types and locations of schools chosen by parents. The social composition of government schools in the village has greatly narrowed and the majority of pupils in local private schools now come from tribal households. The expansion in size and number of commutable schools has moved the frontier of private schooling away from the village and provided new and increasingly exclusive contexts for both old and new forms of social division to be manifested.     

古印度的种姓制与百家争鸣的出现

文章提出，由于婆罗门教僧侣的竭力维护，印度的种姓制度得到了充分的发展，并对印度社会肌体造成了极大的伤害，代级种姓民众反种性制的斗争促进了“百家争鸣”局面的形成，而在众多的反种制思潮中，释迦牟尼和他的宗教组织成为主流。     

Digital Divide and Caste in Rural Pakistan

This study examined how caste influences adoption of information and communication technologies. It entailed a survey of 2750 farmers, who were interviewed in person, in rural Punjab (Pakistan), and two different methods for data analysis—data mining and indices-based statistical analysis. The analysis shows digital divides at the caste level. Furthermore, it shows that old and new technologies diffuse differently among castes.     

Making “ideal” Indian women: Annie Besant’s engagement with the issue of female education in early twentieth-century India

ABSTRACT

In 1893, Annie Besant touched the shores of India as a leader of the Theosophical Society. In India, Besant is widely known for her involvement in the Home Rule Movement and as president of the Indian National Congress, the chief political organisation in the Indian freedom struggle. Before entering into the political arena of the country, Besant was actively involved in the religious education of Hindu youths. After six years of establishing a college and a school for upper caste Hindu boys, she founded a school for upper caste Hindu girls in the city of Benares in the United Provinces of British India. The formal education of girls was in a nascent stage in the United Provinces compared to those in the presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras. One of the reasons behind this lag, particularly in Benares, was the deep-rooted orthodoxy which was either opposed to the formal education of girls or enforced restrictions on it. The paper aims to throw light on Besant’s engagement with the question of female education not only in terms of physical access to school but also with regard to “what” the girls were being taught at the school. Did Besant strive for “true” education of upper caste Hindu girls enabling them to liberate themselves from the fetters of orthodoxy or did she perpetuate the orthodox ideals to make them “ideal” Indian women?     

“各安其分,各得其所”——论日本的等级制

日本的神道教中处于最顶端的神是天照大神(太阳神),日本传统神话中认为他在人间的后裔是日本天皇,他代表着世间至尊无上的天照大神实现“八紘一宇”(四海一家),统治全世界.只要按照其森严的等级架构“各得其所,各安其分”就可以稳定世界.等级制作为其文化核心被传承下来,影响日本社会的方方面面.     

Self presentation in online environments: a study of Indian Muslim matrimonial profiles

This study examines the self presentation practices of Indian Muslim men and women in online matrimonial advertisements. Findings indicate that while Indian Muslims are using the new medium to adhere to traditional cultural and religious values, they are also making critical adjustments to adapt to the medium itself. While Muslim men and women claimed to possess different attributes in their profiles drawing upon gender role expectations in Indian society, they were identical in their preference for light skin or what is termed as ‘fair complexion’ in Indian English. An overwhelming majority of advertisers claimed to possess desirable skin tones and body types. Few Indian Muslim profiles highlighted external manifestations of religiosity, such as praying five times a day, wearing a hijab or burqa, and observing Ramadan. Further, results of this study also illuminate the influence of South Asian culture on Islamic practice, which is evident in the mention of caste identifications in the online matrimonial profiles.     

Literacy inequalities,mediation and the public good: a case study of physical proximity and social distance in Nepal

Literacy is considered to be a public good – one that benefits not only literate people, but also others in society through mechanisms of sharing and mediation. But to what extent do the benefits of literacy extend to socially distant groups? This paper applies the sociological concept of social distance to examine how social stratification impacts on the way that literacy is distributed and ‘shared' through mediated practice within and across caste-based groups. The paper presents a case study of physical proximity and social distance in Nepal to examine how literacy is shared in a context where inequalities of literacy and schooling are heavily influenced by gender and caste membership. The findings demonstrate that mediation takes place across caste groups, but less extensively than within caste groups. We conclude that assumptions about how literacy operates as a public good need to be tempered by consideration of the implications of social distance.     

论印度低种姓政治力量的兴起

20世纪90年代以来,印度低种姓集团的参政意识逐步提高,低种姓政党不断涌现,种姓协会日益活跃,使低种姓成为印度政坛不可忽视的政治力量。这种现象除了低种姓自身政治意识的觉醒外,与政党对种姓的利用以及政府的政策措施等密切相关。它对印度社会发展的影响呈现出双重性的特征。一方面把印度引向民主化、世俗化和现代化;另一方面则把印度保留在传统的社会文化价值观和制度中,这将大大延缓印度社会在整体上突飞猛进的发展。     

解读印度宗教的多神崇拜特点——兼谈宗教从多神教向一神教的转变

历史上世俗社会的君主制是导致宗教从多神教向一神教转变的重要条件。印度宗教长期保持着多神崇拜的特点，或说长期没有出现“统一的神”的观念，主要是由于古代印度长期“没有统一的君主”所致。另外，由于雅利安人入侵而形成的种姓制度以及长期存在的村社制度所造成的政治上的分散性，也是不容忽视的原因。     

试论印度种姓制的政治作用

在印度存在了几千年的种姓制度,其特点和作用随着社会发展而不断变化。当今种姓制的政治作用不断加强,表现在:低种姓群体政治上进一步觉醒,他们形成自己的政党、协会等组织,积极参与政治活动;政党对种姓的利用增强,各种选举离不开种姓因素;种姓冲突频仍,导致政局动荡,其在政治生活中的分量加重。