Power Relations Between India And Its Implications

The Caste system has aroused much controversy than any other feature of India’s society. Every day, Dalits are butchered, assaulted, abused, raped, lynched, shot or openly mutilated without considering any consequences of the offenders. The deaths of pregnant women who are not able to pay the bribes at government hospitals, some boys with eyes raised completely out for falling in love with a girl of a superior caste, and horrid stories of employees boiled to death because of spewing out arguments with the boss are continuously reported in mainstream newspapers. After years of democracy, the social structure stands to practice the caste system disregarding abolishment laws. Every international or national effort to abolish caste differentiation and segregation has been proven ineffective. The caste system of India is a deeply inculcated social problem requiring immense commitment domestically and internationally in understanding what has stopped the measures to get rid of this ancient system and what measures are needed to complete elimination of the system.

The caste system has been extremely stable in India for over two thousand years. It is only since the more modern, independent state of India was formed that the system has come under any scrutiny at all. It is presently outlawed, but many of the practices, attitudes and traditions remain ingrained in Hindu society (University of Wyoming, 1997).

Looking upon Indian society for comparison, it is seen that the primary factor of the caste system is built

Foh utilizes ontological equality and subordination to determine the coequal status of women. With specific relevance to the eyes of God, the hierarchical structure of gender roles is clearly delineated. For example, ontological equality is described as demonstrating that men and women were created equally in the image of god. However, functional subordination is the characteristic value that women should be subservient to men in social roles. (Professor Guynn, lecture 16) In her description of Genesis 1, She describes that Adam and Eve are equal beings as they were formed at the same time. Dislike the interpretation of gender hierarchy, Susan logically transits the inequality to her meaning of equality. She reclaims that women and men share the equal image of God. Both women and men play the same role in human society and culture. In this respect they are equal in God’s image and eyes. On the other hands, Functional subordination arises in terms of the dependence that Eve has on Adam having come from his body. This leads to their separate roles where Eve may follow Adam’s leadership. She emphasizes on God creates Eve as a helper. The only difference are their functions, not gender. Since men and women are regarded as husbands and wives. Men should show his function on being responsible for his wives, while women are dependent on their husband. She culminates her discussion with the idea that a hierarchical free system cannot be comprehended and therefore, some

Mishra, Prem Anand. Idea Of Hindutva: A Thematic Exploration In Savarkar’s Political Writings. Ahmedabad: Spectrum: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2012. Web. 5 May 2016.

Chakrabarty Vs. Gramsci: In his book “Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference” author Dipesh Chakrabarty not totalizing as he feels it is important that the race, history, and practices of different localities disrupt the totalizing thrust of capitalism. Postcolonial thought and ideologies via “Totalizing” history as only a European experience and development of capitalism does not allow for human diversity and does not acknowledge that various cultural histories are part of and continue to modify current history. Thus, one must also incorporate the subjective human experience of other races and cultures into history and the development of capitalism and vice versa (p.22). In chapter two of “Provincializing Europe,” Chakrabarty recognizes the diversity of human experience and describes the experiences of political modernity in India and other races as different from Eurocentric experience. He asserts we must question “historicism” as an idea thus suggesting that to “understand anything it has to be understood as a whole via its historical development” (6).

This paper has focused on the ideas of Paulo Freire whose thought which has consequently persuaded many other scholars to think about the impact of social injustice and dehumanization such as untouchability and discrimination in the world. His thoughts have a lot to proffer to the field of social movement and change and have greatly influenced the methods used in social practices. Caste system is a profound and rooted structure in Nepal that it cannot be eliminated easily. Many efforts have done to eradicate caste system but not abolished properly. However, the concept of untouchability has been slowly changing in the society. Dr. Ambedkar said inter-caste marriage can be the best way to eradicate untouchability however

The Indian king exercised supreme administrative and judicial power, was in possession of all the military forces of the kingdom and with his Council alone responsible for peace and war and he had too a general supervision and control over the good order and welfare of the life of the community, but his power was not personal and it was besides hedged in by safeguards against abuse and encroachment and limited by the liberties and powers of other public authorities and interests who were, so to speak, lesser co-partners with him in the exercise of sovereignty and administrative legislation and control. He was in fact a limited or constitutional monarch, although the machinery by which the constitution was maintained and the limitation effected differed from the kind familiar in European history; and even the continuance of his rule was far more dependent than that of mediaeval European kings on the continued will and assent of the people.”

The first part of this paper discusses what the caste system is and will discuss the disadvantages of the caste system and how the caste system segregates its people instead of bringing them stability. The caste system really dates back to somewhere in the 2000 BC and formed its origins from the Aryans in ancient India. This system was a way to basically separated people into social classes where they would best fit them (Funk and Wagnall). The caste is divided into four Varna: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Brahmins sit at the top of the ladder and is made up of spiritual and intellectual individuals such as priest and philosophers. A step down the ladder you will find Kshatriyas which is made up of soldiers and nobles. Under Kshatriyas you will a mix match of craftsman, farmers, and different skilled artisans which make up the Vaisyas class. At the very bottom of the caste ladder you will

Power is usually described as “bad” and is mostly discussed by others about the abuse of power however this is not true, power can be used to help or protect individuals, which is exactly what the culture I had observed does. In this essay, I will examine the performances of power that is observed throughout the ritual ceremony, “chanting” in the Buddhism culture, displaying how the religion is used for concealing relations of power within this definite culture. Through this examination, I will use the theories of Karl Marx (religion as ideology) and Antonio Gramsci (hegemony being concept of power), to support the display of how the power distributes religion. By relating to the definition of power, I argue that, for the members of this community, ‘power’ is about ease and security- no inequality.

Why has the influence of China and India continued to be two of the economic giants that have for centuries dominated parts of the world? A look into these economic giants can give the historic correlations between these two giants that lead to the dominant influence throughout the world. However, with Polo’s’ explorations, accounts of travel and detailed writings prompted the trade of these two cultures. Furthermore, travel became easier due to the Marco Polo account of travel routes which travelers were able to navigate by land and sea without difficulty. This also helped to develop topography and map productions along with other technologies which were also known as the Silk Road.

One of the most controversial topics regarding the Indian and Pakistani society and culture is the vast involvement of caste system (zat\ biradari) in our political culture. Other components of political culture are how attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior relate to the political system. This comprises the

Soft power can be very effective if used correctly, but if the controlling party does not know handle it can cause fallback. Soft power tactics hindered India's relationship with Britain. At first, they were attracted to Britain, but that lead to imperialism and negative relationship between the states (Nye, 2011). What caused Britain to stray away from soft power and into imperialism? What causes power to shift?

Dumont's perspective on caste system was primarily concerned with the ideology of the caste system. His understanding of caste lays emphasis on attributes of caste that is why his approach is called attributional approach to the caste system. For him caste is set of relationships of economic, political and kinship systems, sustained by certain values which are mostly religious in nature. Hierarchy in modern western sense has been replaced by the term social stratification which itself proves to be hindrance in the understanding of the peculiarities of caste system in India. Caste is not a form of social stratification, the ideology of caste system is directly contradicted to egalitarian theory of west . Dumont argues that if caste is a social stratification than caste and social class are phenomena of same nature,(2) that hierarchy is incomprehensible, (3) that in the Indian system the separation and the interdependence of groups are subordinated to this sort of obscure or shamefaced hierarchy(hierarchy itself is shame faced) caste is a limiting case of social class in modern sense of the term.

A few disadvantages of India’s social system are that Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social organizations. According to the US Department of State-Background Notes website, even though the government has declared the caste system as illegal, it still has a presence in occupational and societal hierarchies (The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, 2010).