Sociological Bulletin

The article seeks to make a gendered study of the plough taboo, a prohibition confined only to women, in Santal society. In the light of a discussion on women-specific taboos and restrictions, their diverse interpretations, customary laws and Santal folktales, the article endeavours to explicate the deeply embedded nature of the taboo within Santal society and unravels the gender politics behind the ‘forbidden’ plough. It argues that such asymmetrical, female-only taboos are not mere symbolic expressions of a community’s belief system. They are veritable patriarchal controls meant to ensure the complete dependence of women over men. The article explores similar asymmetrical taboos in other societies to emphasize the point that such female-only taboos are associated with the crucial elements of one’s survival and hence are grave handicaps for women, in particular the single women. The taboos serve as effective tools to control and manipulate single women and their resources, which may, sometimes, be conveniently used to evict them from their property.

The article examines the assimilation dynamics and functioning of ethnic organisations of a small immigrant Bengali community in the Kansas City, USA. Indian Bengalis in Overland Park (a suburban neighbourhood) formed a closely knit group and bonding social capital was sustained through activities of ethnic associations, consumption of ethnic amenities, and through weekend parties/get-togethers. Such ethnic bonding and meagre ethnic/racial diversity in the city (compared to the larger cities of the USA) are found to be contributing to slow and limited assimilation of Bengalis to the American society. These findings challenge the existing erudition that assimilation increases with improvement in socio-economic standing and suburbanisation of immigrants. Further, the article finds that assimilation there is segmental and ethnic associations not only provide a comfort zone to the immigrants in a culturally and racially different country but also play a prominent role in preserving the ethnic identity of its members.

Jammu and Kashmir has been a theatre of conflict for almost three decades now. After the outbreak of militancy in 1989–1990 in the Kashmir valley, Doda belt was the first area outside the valley where armed conflict made inroads and affected lives variedly. Based on ethnographic field work, this paper addresses three interrelated questions about the manifestation of militancy in Doda: first, how did the armed struggle for the control of landscape invoke fear (dehshat) in people and affect their way of living? Second, how did the violence by both non-state and state actors to seek control and assert power transform the local landscape itself? Third, how did the locals negotiate with shifting landscapes embedded with fear and memories of violence? I approach these questions through memory ethnography of the times of militancy (militancy ka daur). Based on conversations, narratives and participant observation, the article shows that militancy and resultant armed conflict sowed fear in people’s lives and altered their relation with space and time in multiple ways. Actors involved in the armed conflict shaped the local landscape by resorting to spatial strategies to control territory and exercise power through fear. As a consequence, locals negotiated with the landscape of fear by conforming to outright commands and through silence. Although militancy ka daur has passed in Doda, the paper argues that it has left deep imprints upon the collective memory of the people.

The contributions of the anthropologists towards nation building in the early years after independence of India is still an unexplored research agenda in the social sciences in general and anthropology and sociology in particular. Under this background, an exploration is made in this study to search the contributions of anthropologists towards nation building and it revealed that there were at least five pioneering researches which dealt with the three major challenges confronted by the planners in newly independent India, and the challenges before the nation were famine, resettlement of refugees and industrialisation and big dam building. Apart from methodology, all the five studies have immense contemporary policy relevance.

Social movement unionism is one of the experiments of bringing together different issues and struggles associated with workers. The idea has been critiqued by different scholars because of different confrontations associated with issues and strategies. The paper argues that such discomfort arises from a monolithic understanding of social movements and their subjects. Assumption of ideological uniformity restricts analysis of the confronting nature of subjects and subjectivities as well as factions and fragmentation of movements. Here, the attempt is to understand diversity in movements through ‘contra-sectionality’. The ethnography for research was conducted on a movement named Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti) in Chhattisgarh. Through a contra-sectional analysis, the article reflects on fragmented consciousness and its implication for the movement.

A case study is one of the most commonly used methodologies of social research. This article attempts to look into the various dimensions of a case study research strategy, the different epistemological strands which determine the particular case study type and approach adopted in the field, discusses the factors which can enhance the effectiveness of a case study research, and the debate surrounding the role of a case study in generating theoretical propositions with broader applicability. The prime focus of this article is to engage the reader with the intention of stimulating them to contribute their own bit, in order to add greater novelty and freshness to the methodology of case study.

The shock of Professor A. M. Shah’s (AMS) demise is fresh in our minds as is his memory as an interactive, alert, productive and disciplined scholar at the ripe age of 89. This article tries to summarise his enormous contribution to the discipline of sociology in India. First, it takes up his path-breaking, analytically sharp mind towards conceptual clarity to match with empirical data that questioned many prevailing assumptions. He put forth the household dimension as the processual dimension of family in India, caste division as a feature of many urban castes, besides hierarchy, which alone was assumed to characterise caste in India. Next, it looks at his brand of work with historical and contemporary empirical perspective in the areas of kinship, marriage, lineage, old age and family policy, religion and sects through his research publications. Next, it describes AMS as a simple and upright person and a dedicated teacher who enjoyed teaching and focused on clarity and understanding without fashionable jargon. His strict but compassionate and no-nonsense approach towards students contributed also to the high status of sociology in the Delhi University. This is followed by his selfless commitment to academic administration in the Delhi University and wider institution-building acumen that benefitted Indian Sociological Society among others.

B. B. Mohanty, Agrarian Transformation in Western India: Economic Gains and Social Costs. New Delhi: Routledge, 2019, 386 pp., ₹1,495 (hardback). ISBN: 978-0367247294.

Sanjukta Das Gupta and Shekhar Basu (Eds.), Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India. New Delhi: Primus Books, (2019 revised and enlarged), 315 pp., Price: ₹1,195.

Walter Fernandes, Joydeep Baruah and Augustin Millik, Ownership, Management and Alienation: Tribal Land in Northeast India. North Eastern Social Research Centre & OKD Institute of Social Change and Development. North Eastern Social Research Centre, 2018, v + 168 pp., ₹300 (hardback). ISBN: 13: 978-8193878545.

Anil Kumar (Ed.), Women, Gender, and Justice: Issues and Perspectives. Delhi: Pragati Publications, 2019, xxiv+248 pp., ₹895 (hardback). ISBN: 978-81-7307-176-8.

Hilal Ahmed, Siyasi Muslims: A Story of Political Islams in India. New Delhi: Penguin Viking, 2019, 240 pp., ₹599 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-0-670-09140-9.