Toward vernacular democracy: Moral society and post‐postcolonial transformation in rural Orissa, India

Tanabe, Akio

doi:10.1525/ae.2007.34.3.558

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…In Bihar, popular sovereignty has in practice meant the rule of caste groups, or alliances of caste groups, as determined through the electoral process. This responds to the structure of dominance shaped by colonial governmentality but adds what the democratic theorist Claude Lefort (1988) referred to as the “radical indeterminacy” of an often‐unpredictable democratic process, therefore corresponding to at least a partial displacement of hierarchy within public life in favor of new representations of caste as “discreet groups in competition” (Gupta 2000; see also Tanabe 2007).…”

Section: India's Postcolonial Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower‐Caste Empowerment in North India

Witsoe

2011

American Anthropologist

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With this article, I seek to contribute to an anthropological understanding of democracy through an examination of the politics of lower-caste empowerment in Bihar, a populous state in north India. I argue that democracy has to be examined within the context of historical processes that have shaped the larger political economy within which democratic practice unfolds, revealing the specificities of India's postcolonial democracy.Caste as political identity extends democratic practice into the relations of everyday life, challenging routine forms of violence and inequality and collapsing any pretense to a separate "political sphere." An explicitly lower-caste politics generated political subjectivities based on a notion of popular sovereignty as rule by the lower-caste majority, and I show the ways in which this disruptive politics transformed village life. This underscores that Bihar represents an "alternate democracy" but also that we need alternate frameworks for understanding the multifarious experience of democracy today. [democracy, postcolonial, caste, India]

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Section: India's Postcolonial Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower‐Caste Empowerment in North India

Witsoe

2011

American Anthropologist

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“…There is little doubt that the study of morality and ethics has become central to the work of many anthropologists. Increasingly the concepts of “morality,” “moral,” “ethical,” and “ethics” are keywords found in the articles of the discipline's top journals (e.g., Agrama ; Elisha ; George ; Selka ; Simon ; Singh ; Tanabe ). Some claim that despite the increased use of these keywords anthropologists have been studying morality all along through concepts such as kinship, religion, emotions, violence, and suffering.…”

Section: The Anthropological Study Of Moralities and Ethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attunement and Fidelity: Two Ontological Conditions for Morally Being‐in‐the‐World

Zigon¹

2014

Ethos

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An anthropology of moralities would do well to move beyond traditional moral concepts in the realization that most moral lives and ethical projects-what we might call moral experience-are lived according to an entirely other set of moral concepts that are concerned with dwelling in the world, that is, with expanding, maintaining, repairing, or even disentangling from constitutive relationships. In this article I suggest attunement and fidelity as ontological conditions for this moral way of being-in-the-world. I argue that in limiting our disciplinary focus to traditional moral philosophies and concepts we do more to reproduce a particular moral philosophic tradition than to understand moral experience in the world. Although today many institutional and public discourses of morality emphasize the good and the right, I argue that an ontology of assembled and relational-being reveals that morality and ethics go well beyond good and evil. [morality, ethics, ontology, assemblage] In this article I argue that an anthropological study of morality and ethics is best served by going beyond the moral theories of philosophers, the concepts they have passed on to us, and the ontology these theories and concepts assume.1 I begin by pointing out that although there has been a growing disciplinary interest in the explicit study of moralities and ethics, there remains a reliance on philosophical frameworks for doing so and particularly those of the neo-Aristotelian and Foucauldian bent. I argue that such a reliance restricts our research and analysis because it limits what we might recognize as moral experience beforehand, and thus to counter such limitation, we are best served with a broad and open framework that allows us to discern the diverse and oftentimes wide-ranging moral claims, acts, and dispositions we may find in the world. As an example of such a framework, I briefly outline the assemblage theory of morality and ethics that I have developed elsewhere. The assemblage approach, in turn, reveals that the ontological assumptions made by the dominant moral theories are inadequate for such an approach. Thus, I propose an ontology of relational-being characterized by attunement and fidelity, which, in turn, strongly suggests the necessity of moving beyond traditional moral concepts such as good and evil.

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“…Rather than mileposts in the evolution from traditional regimes to modern democracy, we see the these ''styles'' as reservoirs of cultural resources that participants draw from as they negotiate the way they act and talk in the context of group meetings and in relation to new knowledge generated by external sources (Tanabe 2007). Western and Kiganda styles are here recognized as historical constructs that derive legitimacy from distinct though related political systems, respectively, the Ugandan state and the Buganda Kingdom.…”

Section: Cultural Styles Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural styles of participation in farmers’ discussions of seasonal climate forecasts in Uganda

et al. 2010

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Climate change is confronting African farmers with growing uncertainties. Advances in seasonal climate predictions offer potential for assisting farmers in dealing with climate risk. Experimental cases of forecast dissemination to African rural communities suggest that participatory approaches can facilitate understanding and use of uncertain climate information. But few of these studies integrate critical reflections on participation that have emerged in the last decade which reveal how participatory approaches can miss social dynamics of power at the community level and in the broader context. Furthermore, neither climate application research nor theoretical critiques of participation fully examine the culturally constructed nature of participation. Drawing on sociolinguistic analysis, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic observation, this paper examines how Ugandan farmers engage in participation in the context of discussions of seasonal climate forecasts. Forecasts were presented to farmers groups whose members were then asked to discuss the forecast among themselves. In doing so, groups sought to develop a common understanding of the forecast and consensual plans for response strategies. Focusing on one particular group meeting as an example, we show how different cultural styles of participation affect the interpretation of the forecast and the formulation of response strategies. Group interaction is shown to be mostly structured around two styles of participation. On the one hand, there is the ''Western'' style advocated by NGOs and the government, which centers on ensuring that all individuals who are present have opportunities to speak during discussion and to vote on group decisions. On the other hand, a ''Kiganda'' style of participation emphasizes the importance of affirming ties to a collectivity, respect for social hierarchy, deployment of good manners, and consensus building. The case study illuminates how the performance of different styles of participation is grounded in localized frameworks of language and culture but also draw on political and policy discourses at the national level. Although a cultural high value on consensus may work in favor of prominent members, the availability of multiple styles of participation also enables group members to exercise their agency in positive ways. Attention to the interplay of different styles of participation throws light on the subtle social processes that shape how knowledge is assessed, which sources are trusted, which and whose interpretations prevail, what options are deemed viable, how costs and benefits are calculated, and whose resources are mobilized in the effort to reduce vulnerability to climate risk. These are key questions for an assessment of the role of boundary organizations, such as farmer associations, in the communication and application of climate forecasts in agriculture.

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Toward vernacular democracy: Moral society and post‐postcolonial transformation in rural Orissa, India

Cited by 32 publications

References 19 publications

Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower‐Caste Empowerment in North India

Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower‐Caste Empowerment in North India

Attunement and Fidelity: Two Ontological Conditions for Morally Being‐in‐the‐World

Cultural styles of participation in farmers’ discussions of seasonal climate forecasts in Uganda

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