Session 6: Gender, Kinship and Community (Summary and Qs)

Partha Chatterjee, Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories. Princeton University Press, 1993: Chap. 6: The nation and its women.

Prem Chowdhry, ‘First our jobs then our girls’: The dominant caste perceptions on the ‘rising’ Dalits. Modern Asian Studies 43(2): 437-479, 2009.

Lucinda Ramberg and Srimati Basu (Eds), Conjugality Unbound: Sexual Economies, State Regulation and the Marital Form in India. Women Unlimited, 2015:

Lucinda Ramberg, When the Devi is your husband: Sacred marriage and sexual economy in south India, pp. 103-132.

Janaki Abraham, Contingent caste endogamy and patriarchy: Lessons for our understanding of caste, pp.

Rajani Palriwala and Ravinder Kaul, Introduction: Marriage in South Asia: Continuities and transformations. In Ravinder Kaur & Rajni Palriwala.(eds), Marrying in South Asia: Shifting Concepts, Changing Practices in a Globalising World. Orient Blackswan, 2014, 1-28.

This week’s pieces focus on women and their positionality within communities – caste, class, religion - and how their identities are tied to kinship and understood though family and marriage structures.

Partha Chatterjee’s piece provides the background against which we can situate the larger arguments of the other pieces. He addresses the 'women’s question' or rather, the diminishing importance of  it, in the period of nationalism, especially since  it was a central issue during debates on social reform in the early and mid-nineteenth century in Bengal (Rammohan Roy and Vidysagar).

Chatterjee argues that nationalism did in fact address the women’s question/the position of women not in terms of an identity but in terms of a difference between the East and the West. Nationalism situated the women’s question in an ‘inner domain of sovereignty’ and notion of ‘tradition’ that was separate from the political and the state.

He traces it back to when the colonisers identified Indian traditions as barbaric and degenerate, especially on account of how women were subject to oppressive and unfree norms. Tradition came to be seen as requiring reform, in need of 'civilising’ and to be replaced by science, western education and thought.

The response to this, by Nationalists, was to separate the domain of culture into two spheres – the material and the spiritual. The claims of  the west were seen as being most powerful in the material domain with the use of science, technology, norms of economic organisation and statecraft. Nationalists accepted the reforming of this sphere in order to overcome the domination by colonisers, but they felt that a blind appropriation of all things western could erode the self-identity of national culture. They thus sought to confine the  influence of the west on the material sphere, and retain and safeguard the spiritual domain, which was seen as superior to the West. 

This separation was further condensed into the idea of the inner and outer spheres - the material representing the outer and the spiritual the inner. As long as India retained the inner, it could appropriate from the West. Encroachments in the ‘inner’ sanctum would lead to the annihilation of national identity and thus had to be protected. This dichotomy got mapped on to the ‘home’ and the ‘outside’. The outside was seen as being the domain of men and the home or ‘inner’ sphere represented by women. This is the ideological framework within which nationalism sought to answer the women’s question.

This theme was taken up in all forms of communication and structured family life and women’s roles accordingly. But to the extent that family life was entangled with wider relations, the ‘inner’  could not remain isolated from the ‘outside’. This led to the idea that the westernisation of women had to be done differentially, in degree and manner, from the men.

Concrete problems arose in the separation of material/spiritual, inner/outer as a result of the rapidly changing circumstances in which the new middle class found themselves. Various solutions to deal with the changing inner and outer included reconstructing ‘classical’ traditions, modernised folk forms, the utilitarian logic of the bureaucratic and industrial practices, the idea of equality in the democratic state etc.

The new woman was defined as a result of the shifts and changes and subjected to new patriarchal forms. Now Indian women were contrasted with modern western society as well as indigenous traditions (the same traditions the colonisers critiqued). Nationalists still drew cultural markers from this tradition but this was a ‘classical’ tradition that was reformed. The New woman was seen in contrast to the ‘common’ woman’ – who was course, vulgar, loud etc. Nationalist sought to now reform the latter category of woman.

New patriarchy adopted the hegemonic form and combined coercive authority with subtle persuasion. This was expressed in various ays such as through adulation of women as goddesses which served to erase her sexuality as she engaged in the ‘outer world’.

Chatterjee highlights how women became a sign of the nation within a nationalist discourse on women where women do not speak.

His argument is an attempt to critique the idea that nationalism was premised on a  total rejection of the West. Chatterjee’s intent is to show that the nationalist paradigm supplied an ideological principle of ‘selection’  - in other words, it was not a dismissal of modernity, which lead to the absence of the women’s question, but a selective approach to modernity to make it consistent with the nationalist project that positioned women in certain ways. We continue to see women and their relation and roles in communities in this way.

Prem Chowdhury’s piece looks at how the changing political economy in villages in Haryana have led to a restructuring of caste relations, with certain Dalit communities gaining social and occupational mobility and power, and upper castes feeling threatened and undermined.

Chowdhury looks at instances of inter-caste marriages and elopement between Dalit and Jat men and women as a site in which to explore new relationships produced by the restructuring of caste positions and the inter-caste politics that follow.

Inter- caste marriages are on the one hand a resistance to traditional endogamous marriage practices, especially between dalit and non-dalit communities,  but then also become the site in which upper caste-communities seek to maintain social, ritual and cultural hierarchy.

Through inter-caste marriages, she looks at how the concepts of  bhaichara (brotherhood), biradari (community) and izzat (honour) are practised and deployed selectively when dealing individuals who challenge norms, and the communities they belong to.

Both Ramberg and Abraham’s pieces set up arguments against certain dominant discourses. Devadasis, usually women from Dalit caste groups in Karnataka, have been seen in much of state and social-justice visions as “needing reform”. As against this, Ramberg writes of the value that dedication brings in the lives of those dedicated to the goddess Yellamma, refusing to see them only as “oppressed”. Abraham questions one of the basic tenets of how caste has traditionally been defined- endogamy. Through one historical and another contemporary case study, she argues that endogamy as a practice within castes is not as rigid as usually understood.  

Lucinda Ramberg, in seeking to understand the nature of value derived in the dedication of women to the goddess Yellamma in Karnataka, complicates the understanding of Devadasi lives beyond oppression, material hardships and lack of choice.

Devadasis are “married” to the Goddess Yelamma. Such forms of dedication have been opposed by the state as well as social reform activists. However, in the piece Ramberg pays attention to the value families generate by “giving” their daughters to the Goddess. She also argues that in being “given”, the women do not necessarily lose their agency. Drawing from Strathern’s ideas, she lays out the idea of persons as constituted by a set of relations. She pays attention to how most Devadasis, who come from Dalit castes, come to become mediators of the devotion of dominant caste groups towards Yellamma.  “Dedication to Yellamama intiates a network of exchange relations, mutual obligations and forms of care which flow among Dalit dedicated women, dominant caste devotees and the Goddess herself”, she writes.

She devotes a considerable part of the paper to explicating how “being given” does not imply a loss of agency, and material returns for sexual relations does not necessarily constitute oppression( in fact, “material gains” structure legitimated forms of marriage too). She ends the piece by making two suggestions; “marriage is a technology for the transaction of sexuality into different economies of value” and” pursuing the question of value maybe more fruitful than attempting to measure the absence or presence of agency as the property of a person”.

Janaki Abraham questions what has come to be seen as a key feature of caste- endogamy. She argues that endogamy-related practices of castes are dynamic, and argues the need for attention to such dynamism. She argues that the shift in the assertion of endogamy vary according to caste’s consciousness and its aspirations at a particular historical moment. She uses two divergent empirical instances to make her point- the shifts in the enforcement of endogamy among the Thiyyas of North Kerala, and the “endogamy paradox” in Haryana- where on the one hand, honour killings occur and on the other, cross-region marriages.

In the case of Thiyyas, she discusses how cohabiting with Europeans was not taboo in the early 19^th century, and how this gradually transforms. Caste-endogamy is not fixed within the practices of the caste, but a shifting feature. She discusses how in marriages that occur in non-local contexts, such as importing of brides in Haryana, caste remains vague but does not really seem to matter. This is different in local contexts, where marriage-associations particularly with stigmatized caste groups draws greater censure.

Overall, her argument is against seeing caste and its practices as a fixed stable entity. Instead, she calls for how caste dynamics change according to context. “This brings together past memories of stigma and discrimination, relationships of power and domination in the present and aspirations for the future”.

Rajni Palriwala and Ravinder Kaur account for the importance of practices of marriage and weddings in South Asia with an emphasis on the cultural and social politics of marriage and divorce for women. The authors discuss the different types of marital arrangements, social changes and the notion of self- choice marriages. There are several articulations of marriage such as the social and economic security it provides women, the legitimacy it gives their conjugal relationship and raises their status in society. The types of social sanctions against diverse marriages- such as honour killings, violence against women, and divorce are also explained with examples. The authors talk about how the various social markers such as caste, class and economic status intersect with the institution of marriage in the modern age which strengthen community identity and fortify kinship ties. There is a mention of the agency women use in getting out of a bad marriage which is inconsistent and unpredictable which needs further unpacking. The authors attempt to link larger factors such as globalisation and economic progress to have led to changes in spousal selection, and articulations of marriage aspirations etc. Finally, the authors ask if a reconfiguration of marriage can exist without the institution of marriage being subject to the social, economic, sexual, political and cultural hierarchies that have been so closely tied to it so far?

The Institution of Marriage: Shifting Frameworks

There have been several outlines by which anthropologists and sociologists tried to explain their work on kinship, marriage and family. The theoretical shifts in understanding of these topics have varied with time. Changes from the structural functional to structural and then to cultural frameworks have led to several insights. Schenider’s remark (1984) in the area of kinship studies about the ethnocentrism and the implicit ‘orientalism’ was that of a non-existence of a multicultural category called kinship. However, the subsequent study of books in the next two decades where kinship and marriage figured, a pattern of attending to ‘understudied’ groups such as ‘tribes’, ‘remote communities’ and non-Hindus.

Looking at the arguments around the extent of changes in marriage and family relations in South Asia, the author noted few important issues. Their first query was what made marriage a perceived common and necessary social institution across South Asia. What comprised it into a region? They stated several reasons why this could have happened. The geographical features of the land, with the Himalayas; the vast oceans and the modern formation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The economic and trade links between regions in South Asia over time strengthened and colonialism led to the forced control of all these areas by the British, leading to common practices. The various religions and communities in South Asia added to its diversity which interacted, intermingled and on several levels negotiated for dominance and power. Social communities which represented their own cultural practices followed their own rules of marriage, family and rituals.

Renewing Tradition and Diversity

While the marital practices have been understood as a universal structure, anthropological work has problematised the notion and have found diversity in marriage practices. The authors mention several configurations of marriage amongst family members- like cross-cousin, uncle-niece marriages among many communities in the North and South of India and Muslim communities. Also the marital residence rules of matrilineal househols in the Malabar, or Northeast were not in  accordance with patrilocality. There was also a difference noticed in the marriage prestations in terms of dowry and bride price.

As gender gained momentum in the area of social science, it immediately drew the attention of academics and researchers who used the gender to analyse marriage practise which resulted significant studies on womens work patterns, constructs of this diversity and its link to regional demographic patterns in sex ratios, marriageable age and womens empowerment or the lack of it. Domestic violence and widow remarriage were examined. Consanguineous marriage among south Indian muslims were looked at and it was seen that these marriages were conducted to maintain community identity and added to their secular prestige.

Marital Prestations, Weddings and Beyond 

Another topic that has been in academic circulation and discussion has been the marriage payments, bride price and the spread of practices of dowry and its implications for womens status, gender and marital relations. The debate on dowry, as female inheritance, has new interpretations today. It is seen that urban working women choose better marriages for themselves as their have the ability to earn and pay for their own dowry. However, legal rights to parental property is still contested by women across several communities. Along with dowry, lavish marriage ceremonies and several functions has increased the expenditure, mainly amongst the upper and middle classes. Influence of popular media is creating standardised ‘ideal’ notions of a wedding. The commercialisation of weddings has increased especially in a culture which was market-driven in which ‘traditional’ practices has become a source of profit.

On the other hand, the dark side of the fall out of a marriage are crimes such as bride burning, harassment for dowry and even honour killings. In these instances violence is directed towards young women or couples who are seen as violating norms or not fulfilling the traditional demands of the marriage contract for example- dowry.

Economies of Marriage and Work

It is important to understand social class structures, work organisation, systems of production and caste hierarchies to observe the cultural arrangements for social reproduction.

The farmers of smaller holdings of land in plantations have seen the changing configurations of marriage. This is due to changes in the economic conditions and shifts in labour force.

The concept of love or self-choice marriage are not limited to the middle classes but are prevelant everywhere. For example, the garment workers in Chennai enter into ‘love’ marriages by challenging the norms and arrangement of traditional marriage. Some poor parents willing consent to the decision of self-choice marriages as they see it as a relief of not having to find a partner for their child and a way out of having to pay dowry. It’s the middle class women in South Asia who experience a conflict between a need to work to fulfil their sense of independence and the necessity to fulfil marital obligations.

Making A Marriage

What makes a marriage modern? Can we use pre-marital courtship and self-choice be measure? Or are there diverse modernities? One way of gauging this is to see the changes in the trends of matchmaking and how this reflects in the desires and expectations of marriage from families and couples. There have been a variety of factors such as migration, urbanisation, rising educational levels and greater socio-economic differentiation that have changed the trends in matchmaking. Traditional arrangements between communities still are encouraged. There are other resources that are used if traditional modes of matchmaking does not work. Marriage Bureaus, fairs, newspaper matrimonial advertisements or internet websites (Shaadi.com) are available as alternate methods of finding a partner.

Majumdar (2009) indicates how a rise in urbanisation and the fall in the popularity of Bengali ghatak (the matchmaker) resulted in the use of newspapers matrimonials esp. among the colonial and post-colonial urban middle class of Kolkata. the website profiles led to gendered changes with women having to look more physically attractive. This established the normative differences in the roles and characteristics of women and men.

Of course, there was always an emphasis on caste, class , language, region and religious affiliation as one of the criteria of matchmaking but education, occupation and financial status has been added to the criteria too.

Love and Conjugality in and Beyond Marriage

As gender and sexuality have gathered interest in marriage discourse, it is surprising that there such a paucity of attention given to the meanings and contours of intimacy and desire (Trawick, 1990). This is based on the assumption of a ‘normative conjugality’ in a functioning marriage which is a hegemonic, heterosexual model. This model views subjective experiences as emotional and individualistic. The confluence of couples expectations of each other and societies expectations of them come together and differs according to the rules of inheritance. For example, the ‘providing husband’ constitutes the martial character of the matrilineal Thiyya community.

The dominant conjugal models are the ones endorsed by the media and projected by the elite. Therefore, it is possible that the lesser known models may have been erased, as for example the tribes who are the polyandrous groups in the Himalayas and among the Nayars. A combination of Brahmanical values and British morals , male property rights and values of individual was coterminous with an emphasis on co-resident, nuclear, conjugal family unit, male authority, lifelong monogamy and fidelity on part of the women. For the poor the concept of ‘providing husbands’ did not exist either in practice or in articulation.

Notions of love marriage and the individual self are interlinked and have grown in political valency. The concept of love has a connotation of being an individual choice rather than a family expectation. The garment factory women workers want love marriages but are undecided about what is more important love, or marriage. Besides marriage after falling in love may involve lesser costs than a regular arranged marriage. The hegemonic notion that sexual love will only be legitimised within the confines of marriage is a thought process that transcends beyond heteronormative relationships. Many gay rights activists and gay informants found the institution of marriage aspirational.

Activism and Legal Interventions

When the British administration took over India and other parts of the sub-continent, they separated personal from criminal and civil laws. The supposition made was that personal law was derived from community and religious law. At various points of the colonial rule , national leaders and the women’s movements, as well as religious and caste associations have demanded a legal reform of the traditions, esp which had been re-interpreted in the domain of marriage. Issues of legal marriageable age, dowry and domestic violence have been voiced. The Shah Bano case was a very good example of showing the conflict between religious sanctions and caste practices. The point to be noted here is that despite differences in personal law and religious sanctions the experiences of being divorced and widowed for women has been universally miserable.

The author brings in the whole discussion of women’s agency and says that woman’s agency appears to be ambiguous and inconsistent as a husband who has left her for many years would be accepted if he returned. The working-class Dalit women in Delhi are willing to let go of their unfavourable marriages but are restricted by community norms. Therefore, unpacking the concept of agency is crucial. So, choosing may not only be a choice  to get married, but it could also be choosing to reject a proposal. There is significant stigma attached to a woman rejecting a proposal. Therefore , agency and choice can only be understood contextually.

Several feminist organisations have been demanding legal reforms , and also in providing legal aid in fighting court battles for dissolution of marriage. This begs the question as to if social change can be lead by legal reforms (Mazumdar, 2000; Menon,1999). For example, the dissolution triple talaq, will it lead to social change as there has been a legal prohibition of men giving their wives divorce by saying talaq three times. There have been attempts to institute a new model of Nikahnama, which may appear as an eye wash and little effort in the huge battle being waged by women activist groups to ask for equal justice for women in marriage and divorce.

The concluding question is that is it possible to retain marriage as an institution or a relationship without the social, sexual, economic, cultural and political hierarchies that have been integral to it thus far?

Anu, Keya and Savitha