Yoga nukes bollywood dreams talk 4.20.2013
-
Upload
whitney-howarth -
Category
Documents
-
view
91 -
download
1
description
Transcript of Yoga nukes bollywood dreams talk 4.20.2013
Perspectives on India: Yoga, Nukes, and Bollywood Dreams
by
Dr. Whitney HowarthAssistant Professor of History
Plymouth State University
March 7, 2010Rye Public Library
Defining India Today…
India Today
• Population = 1.2 billion
• Literacy = 73 % male 48 % female
• 29% urban (vs. 82% USA)
• Hindi spoken by 41% of population (English 21%)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html
Regionalism28 states
14 official languages
Separatist struggles in:1) Andhra Pradesh2) Arunachal Pradesh3) Assam
10) Jammu & Kashmir
18) Mizoram19) Nagaland
21) Punjab
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:India-states-numbered.svg
History tidbits• 1st human settlements in India were 9,000 years ago.
• Christianity arrives in India before it arrives in Europe!• Islam arrives in the 800’s. Mughal Rule for 4 centuries.
Peaceful/prosperous period follows…
• Europeans in India since 1498. textiles trade = wealth• British colonize & de-industrialize India between 1700’s-1947
• Independence marked by bloody Partition. India/Pakistan. 1.5 million died in violence and nearly 10 million displaced.
Religious Distribution of Population
Hindus 80.5%,Muslims 13.4%
Christians 2.3%Sikhs 1.9%
Buddhists 0.8%Jains 0.4%
Others 0.6%
http://www.popfound.org/pop_clock.html
Gender Equity & Family
Birth control options Employment
Divorce rights Arranged marriage vs.Love marriage
Widow rights Violence: dowry death,
Inheritance rights custodial rape, domestic abuse, counseling, $ aid
CasteismDalit (untouchable) empowerment and education
Political debates over ‘reservations’ for low caste people – (India’s Affirmative Action)
Caste’s role in government corruption & access to economic resources
Communalism
Babri Mosque demolished, 1992
Rise of Hindu Right political parties 1990’s
Massacres in Bombay (1990’s) – Gujarat 2002
KashmirKashmir remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas).
Current population of region is about 11 million.
Muslims make up the majority of the region.
Since 1947, hundreds of thousands are internally displaced.
1.5 million refugees100,000+ dead.
1 in 7 women in region report being raped.
PakistanBorder disputes
Military governments and instable political conditions threaten security of India.
Terrorism
Pro-Taliban support in some areas.
Al-Qeada strongholds in North West (Waziristan)
Prez. Musharraf (2001-2008)
Ali Zadari (2008- ?)
Nuclear Tensions
Nuclear Tensions
1998 1974
U.S./India relations on nuclear issue
Environmental Concerns
Development:
Infrastructure
Water Resources
Electricity
Jobs
Political Quagmires:
The Narmada Valley Hydro-electric project funded by World Bank -- displaced millions
Post-Tsunami (2004) Recovery – fisher folk
Deforestation – the rights of Tribal people
Livelihood Adaptations and Sustainable Development of Indigenous Communities in the Kerala Western Ghats.
Purpose of Study• To identify the opportunities and threats to the sustainable
development of indigenous communities living in this region, especially as it relates to climate change and resource depletion.
• To identify innovative and traditional regional practices of preserving bio-diversity as a means to record adaptation in the face of environmental challenges like climate change, which are often exacerbated by inappropriate development.
• To acknowledge and examine the particular way indigenous people respond to climatic stimuli (actual or expected) in adjustments to ecological, social, or economic systems
The major objectives are:1. To understand the trends of economic and other livelihood
activities
2. To identify impacts of changing phases of climate and resource use
3. To understand the role of institutions in facilitating the sustainable development
4. To generate updated knowledge for academic and policy decisions at a wider perspective
Case Study Focus:1) Mannan of Kozhimala
2) Muthuvan of Chempakathozhukudy and
Pachapulkudy
MannanKozhimala settlement, Idukki District est. 1976
Total families: 112
Population: 443
Land: Approximately, 356 acres.
Cultivation: cardamom, pepper, coffee, tapioca, cocoa, areca nut, coconut.
Topical Issues for further research
1) Encroachment of outsiders, impact on irrigation-- cash cropping patterns w/ bunds, paddy water limited/blocked
2) Loss of ‘pata’ (lease) lands and impact on cultivation.3) Decline in forest foraging and collection
-- fuel wood, dammer, honey, gamboja fruit, and medicinal plants
4) Mixed cash-crop cultivation in lieu of rice/ragi-- food crops require labor intensive and may yield less profits (needs 1 yr to harvest) market factors also limit rice production, settlement from outsiders influence tribal cropping patterns.
5) Role of Raja system and religious practices (Kalavoottu) in maintaining food security, land development, use of pesticides, forest usage.
Muthuvan people
Chempakathozhukudy
Total Families: 128Population: 471Land: Approximately, 60 acres under cultivation
Cultivation: cardamom, pepper, coffee, tapioca, areca nut, coconut
Muthuvan People
Pachapulkudy Settlement
Total Families: 38 Population: 149
Land: ?Cultivation: cardamom, coffee
ChempakathozhukudyTopical issues for
further investigation
1) Food insecurity and decline of edible biodiversity due to human-elephant conflict
2) Cash-crop mix-crop cultivation & medicinal plant usage.
3) Ecological dependency on forest (changes?) – Eucalyptus and grass for building.
4) Wage labor on cardamom plantations outside settlement
“We and the elephant are the same… we don’t have land, they don’t have land. So Why complain? We have the same problems.” -- Muthuvan Kani, Subbaraman.
Pachapulkudy SettlementTopical Issues for Further Investigation:
1) Food insecurity and decline of edible biodiversity due to human-elephant conflict.
2) Cash crops limited to cardamom and coffee (why?)
3) Ecological dependency on forest limited(restricted to fuel wood and honey, no medicinal plants)
4) Wage labor on cardamom plantations outside settlement
• Questions for Fieldwork Interviews with Manan and Muduvan Tribal communities:
• Religious/Spiritual beliefs:
• 1 Who are the Gods/Godesses you worship? Is there an Earth Goddess?• 2 What are the most important festivals of the year? • 3 Are there special festivals related to the earth, to trees, to water, to
specific plants you cultivate, to an agricultural goddess or practice?
• 4 What poojas do you perform in your home daily? Are these done by both men and women?
• 5 What is your relationship to Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity? Any converts? Feelings about that?
• 6 Do you find the DIVINE in nature? Does God directly influence planting, growing, harvesting, weather?
• Tribal Identity and Issues
• 1 What does the term ‘tribal’ mean to you? • 2 Do you live differently than other people in Kerala?• 3 Do you want to be separate? Distinct? If so, why?• 4 What is your tribe’s relationship with the government? Is the govt. good to tribals?• 5 Have there been any laws or policies (from the state) passed for your benefit? Harm? Which laws?• 6 Do the leaders of your tribal community talk to govt officials? What do they talk about?• 7 What is your relationship with other tribal peoples in the region? (Manan/Muduvan)• 8 Are they lower status or higher status than you? Why? Historic relationship/reasons for
difference?• 9 What distinguishes you from these other tribes?• 10 How do the (Manan/Muduvan/other tribe) live and what is their cultivation practice? Do they
grow the same crops?• 11 Are the current young people in your community PROUD to be (Manan/Muduvan)? What makes
them proud?• 12 What is good about the new generation? What skills/talents/knowledge do they have today that
previous generations didn’t have? How is it useful?• 13 Do you practice conservation/protection of your resources? Why or why not?• 14 Do you try to be sustainable (explain concept: live life now with intention that these resources will
be there for future generations)?• 15 you feel like you’re losing culture? Are you disappointed with the loss of traditions or changing
traditions?• 16 If I want to write a book about your tribe, its history, its relationship to the land… what is the most
important story I should tell?
Ethnobotany and EthnomedicineLeucas aspera (tumba) and salt, taken together
can be given to a woman during birth to aid in the evacuation of the afterbirth (placenta).
Preliminary Findings
Mannan vs. Muthuvan1) Settlement patterns – cultivation, proximity, unity, elephants
2) Pesticide usage, seed storage (ragi, peas)3) Raja’s role in ‘development’ projects, governance, foreign
NGO’s and state politics (less activity among Kanis)4) Proximity to forest and relationship with outsiders (customs)
-- issues of conversion/identity-- conservative social traditions (Muthuvan isolation)-- Education vs. traditional knowledge (Mannan mixed
school and Muthuvan women’s schooling limited)-- Alcohol usage
Our interviews revealed that development projects such as hydro-electric dams in the region, like this one at Anayirangal Reservoir, have caused loss of land, massive relocation of indigenous peoples and dramatic shifts in tribal livelihood choices.
With overpopulation, increased land development, and population resettlement schemes organized by the government, tribal peoples face increased elephant conflicts, water shortages, deforestation, and a sever reduction in productive lands upon which to grow crops or forage. Many feel they have lost more than land. They’ve lost identity.
“Yes to microchips, no to potato chips!”market liberalization and foreign investment
Preserving identity: basmati rice and yoga
Sustainable self-reliance
Genetically modified foods
Intellectual property
patents
KFC and Valentine’s Day
Bollywood Dreams