Originally published in 2003, this volume studies village politics and the changes brought about in rural society through political developments. It focuses on the social, political and cultural circumstances of communist mobilization in rural West Bengal. It analyses the emergence of rural communism in the local context of changes in the position of women, in caste practices, in economic conditions and in new efforts to create ‘development’. It investigates how this cultural change interacts with the mechanisms and tools of village politics, and using anthropological methods and oral history as tools, allows for a detailed and intimate ethnographic description of village politics and its changes.
Author(s): Arild Engelsen Ruud
Series: Routledge Revivals
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 242
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Original Title
Original Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
1. Anthropology and History of Village Politics
Village and the State
The Village Politics Studies
Views from Below
What is this Thing called Culture?
2. Small Communities in Landscape and History
The Village Setting
Gradual Political Radicalization
Agrarian Relations and Increasing Poverty
The Spark: A New Line of Thinking
But Does It All Fit?
3. Two Stories about Power and Influence
'We were all in it Together?'
Gopinathpur: The Story of an Enduring Alliance
Udaynala: The Story of a Brittle Alliance
Sources of Individual 'Power' in Village History
Money-lenders as Political Leaders?
Interested Patron-Client Relationships
'Power'—As in 'Influence'?
4. Road, Poetry, and Some Crafty Young Men
On Commensality and Other Changes
The bhadralok and His Making
Selimmaster's Notebook and a Critique of Village Society
Implementing the Modern Tradition in Udaynala
Family Ties, Education, and New-found Reading Material
From the Epics to 20th Century Novels
Modern Tradition in Village Drama
Language and Status
5. Caste Stereotypes and Communist Mobilization
Excesses and Typical Village Politics
Udaynala and Gopinathpur and the United Front Period
Caste and Class, ca. 1960
Dacoity
'We are bagdis!': The Bagdi Stereotype
Bagdis in Udaynala Village Affairs
The Shifting Alliances of the 1970s
The Bagdi, and Assertion as Identity and Source of Influence
'We Made Ourselves Low': An Untouchable Identity
Muchis in Village Public Affairs
Hierarchy and Mobilization
6. Formal Politics and Informal Politics
From the Discussion-House to the Office
New Formal Institutions: 1960s
Ohabsaheb's Exit
How Important Were the Reformed Panchayats?
Bichar—an Informal Institution
Informal Politics and Middle-Men
'Symbolic Capital' and Len-den
Formal and Informal Politics: Two Interlocked Games
7. Gossip and Reputation: The Making of Village Leaders
The Importance of Gossip
The Making and Unmaking of Individual Reputations
Towards Manikbhai's Bichar
Gossip and The Village Agenda
Manipulation
8. Conclusion
A Space for Change?
References
Index
