Traces of reflexive imagination: Matriliny, modern law, and spirit worship in South India

Ishii, Miho

doi:10.1080/1683478x.2014.970328

Cited by 2 publications

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References 7 publications

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“…In the case of the Muṅḍabeṭṭu guttu, however, the partition plan for the traditional family land has not been accomplished, and the land rights of the kuṭuma members have remained obscure. Consequently, in the Muṅḍabeṭṭu guttu, modern law has not really promoted the distribution of the joint property or the division of the kabarụs; indeed, the 'wholeness' of the kuṭuma as a multiple community is still maintained today (see Ishii 2014b).…”

Section: A Partition Plan For the Kuṭuma Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modernity and Spirit Worship in India

Ishii¹

2019

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This book investigates the entangled relations between people's daily worship practices and their umwelt in South India. Focusing on the practices of spirit (būta) worship in the coastal area of Karnataka, it examines the relationship between people and deities.Based on extensive fieldwork, this book links important anthropological theories on personhood, perspectives, transactions, and gift-exchanges together with the Gestaltkreis theory of Viktor von Weizsäcker. First, it examines the relations between būta worship and land tenure, matriliny, and hierarchy in the society. It then explores the reflexive relationship between modern law and current practices based on conventional law, before examining new developments in būta worship with the rise of mega-industries and environmental movements. Furthermore, this book sheds light on the struggles and endeavours of the people who create and recreate their relations with the realm of sacred wildness, as well as the formations and transformations of the umwelt in perpetual social-political transition.Modernity and Spirit Worship in India will be of interest to academics in the field of anthropology, religious studies and the dynamics of religion, and South Asian Culture and Society. List of illustrationsvii Preface ix 1 Introduction: towards an anthropology of the umwelt PART ONE Humans and the wild śakti of deities 2 The land of paddy fields, forests, and deities 3 The būta shrine and deities in Perar 4 Pāḍdana: the oral epics of deities 5 Dances, oracles, and blessings in the ritual 6 The transaction of wild śakti 7 Playing with perspectives PART TWO Social transformations and the emergence of a new umwelt 8 Būta's agency in conflicts over the village shrine 9 Historical changes in land tenure in South Kanara 10 Modern law, customary law, and the reflexive imagination 11 Land reforms and deities as the 'owners of land' 12 Būtas in the midst of the development project Contents vi Contents 13 The new umwelt in the industrial plant 14 Conclusion: being, pathos, and the umwelt Glossary Bibliography IndexIn the month of māyi during the hottest and driest season, būta rituals are held in many villages in South Kanara, a coastal area in Karnataka. 1 Accompanied by drums and wind instruments played by Puruṣa musicians, spirit mediums of the Pambada or Nalike castes dance around the precincts of local shrines, issue oracles, and interact with people.As apotheosised local heroes or heroines or as the spirits of wild animals dwelling in forests, būtas are generally regarded as deities. While būtas may travel across regions, they are generally believed to be closely linked to the land and nature of localities. Though normally invisible, their power, or śakti, 2 fills the deep forests, hangs over the bush and ponds, and circulates through the woods, agricultural fields, and villages. Consequently, būtas are considered to originate from-and embody-a realm of sacred wildness.Fieldwork for this monograph was mainly carried out in the two adjoining villages of Mudu Perar and Padu ...

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Section: A Partition Plan For the Kuṭuma Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modernity and Spirit Worship in India

Ishii¹

2019

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“…14. Ishii, M (2014), "Traces of reflexive imagination: Matriliny, modern law, and spirit worship in South India", Asian Anthropology Vol 13, No 2, pages 106-123.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14. Ishii, M (2014) draw from intersectionality not only in terms of the intersection of identities but also in terms of the intersection of social categories that draw from frameworks of social organization, traditional and modern, that inform each other and play out in local politics in India.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protecting caste livelihoods on the western coast of India: an intersectional analysis of Udupi’s fisherwomen

Thara¹

2016

Environment and Urbanization

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This work draws from preliminary ethnographic research with a fisherwomen's association in Udupi City, located on the southwestern coast of India. It shows how women have managed to keep capital-rich fish shops away from the sale of fish, preserving their traditional occupation for themselves through informal arrangements with the state. In the Indian context, in which caste remains an important organizing element within a secular framework of democracy and citizenship, I look at how women rely on their caste identities as Mogaveera fisherwomen, while simultaneously referring to their gender and experience of poverty to muster both caste-based political support and secular political resources for their livelihoods. Intersectionality as a concept for analysis is important to understand how both marginal and dominant identities of these women enable them to frame and formulate arguments that are acceptable to the state. I argue that in this particular case, gender, intertwined with caste and poverty, positions these fisherwomen in a fertile space for political alliances that tap into both caste and secular resources. These nuances enable us to see fisherwomen as a complex, heterogeneous group full of contradictions, rather than just poor fisherwomen. Thus, an analysis of gender as intertwined with experiences deriving from other social categories of caste and class allows us to see women's livelihoods as a product of, as well as formative of, those specific experiences, opportunities and constraints they confront.

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Traces of reflexive imagination: Matriliny, modern law, and spirit worship in South India

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Modernity and Spirit Worship in India

Modernity and Spirit Worship in India

Protecting caste livelihoods on the western coast of India: an intersectional analysis of Udupi’s fisherwomen

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