Globalization and Socio-Economic Exclusion of Tribal’s in India
ABSTRACT ::
This research paper tries to explores and examines the interaction between globalization and tribal’s, in the context of the country’s past decade of economic reform. Impact of Globalisation, both theoretically and practically, can be observed in different economic, social, cultural, political, finance, and technological dimensions of the world. This paper based on secondary data which says that India’s neo-liberal economy is backed by experts in global economy and its model of development has indeed reduced economic inequalities to certain extent but it is still far from the goal as it is known that India is still home to more poor people than the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa but its impact on policy implementation is not there to be seen. The most disturbing element in the process of Globalisation is its relentless drive towards cultural sameness or universalism. Paper raises question of marginalization for indigenous peoples it is a multi-pronged attack on the very foundation of their existence and livelihoods. New trade and investment agreements, has forced indigenous peoples to defend their homelands under an invasion of unprecedented rate and scale. The new economic regime has led to liberalisation, privatization and globalisation of economy and thus it as been treated as powerful threat to the survival of tribal communities. Vast indigenous knowledge, rich culture and traditions, and any hope of preserving the natural world, and a simpler, more holistic way of life for future generations.
Keywords: Economic reforms, Globalisation, Tribal’s, Marginalization, Inequalities, Indigenous
1. Introduction : -
This paper seeks to look at patterns of social exclusion in the realm of work from the perspective of the working poor, especially women, in India. The aim is to identify different processes of social exclusion, rather than to assess their causes or measure their impact. Unemployment per se, the paper focuses on the nature of employment opportunities associated with globalization: notably, the terms of inclusion and the barriers to inclusion in global production systems; and the forms of exclusion from domestic production systems associated with increased imports and other dimensions of trade liberalization. It is hoped that the paper will contribute to on-going efforts to extend and modify the concept of social exclusion to fit the reality of the developing world, and more specifically the reality of work in the developing world.
Social exclusion is the term mainly used to describe for the people or areas are excluded from essential services or every day aspects of life that most of us take for granted. Socially excluded people or places can become trapped in a cycle of related problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poverty, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family breakdown. The deprivation of Dalits is closely linked with the processes of caste based exclusion and discrimination. Social exclusion is basically denial of equal opportunities imposed by certain groups of society upon others which leads to inability of an individual to participate in the basic political, economic and social functioning of society (Thorat, 2007). Over and above these semantic and terminological considerations, it is now necessary to examine the meaning and use of the term social exclusion. It is important to warn against the use and abuse of a concept that has been qualified as a catch-all expression, a corner shop offering something of everything, a buzz word that can be used on any occasion. It has even been described as having become so trivialized that it is saturated with meanings, non-meanings and misunderstandings.
2.0 Objectives of the Study
3.0 Scope of the Study
Scope of the study is limited to the Tribals in the country, how they are getting excluded from the main stream. And what could be road ahead mostly focusing on the Tribals and Economic development.
4.0 Limitations for the Study
The major limitations for the study are as follows
5.0 Indian Tribal Groups
In India we come across many social groups or societies who might have some of these characteristics. But all of them are not denoted as tribal groups. The term tribe is more functional in nature in India. There was a purpose to declare or recognize some societies as tribal societies through constitutional Act of the country. Thus when we talk of tribe we talk of the Scheduled Tribes, the social groups recognized or listed in the Schedule of the Constitution of India. Therefore, by definition, the Scheduled tribes are those social groups who are “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”. This delineation shows that there is no characteristic definition regarding tribal groups in India in our constitution. The recognition is done on purpose or functional aspects only. But it is generally accepted that in selecting the tribal people the following characters are taken some sort of priority: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness. The criteria are not spelt out in the Constitution but have become well established. It subsumes the definitions contained in 1931 Census, the reports of first Backward Classes Commission 1955, the Advisory Committee (Kalelkar), on Revision of SC/ST lists (Lokur Committee), 1965 and the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes orders (Amendment) Bill 1967 and (Chanda Committee), 1969.
6.0 Tribals and Social Exclusion
One of the marked features in terms of which tribes in India came to be conceptualized is geographical and social isolation from the larger Indian society. This meant they were conceptualized in relation to the larger Indian society and not in relation to stage of their social formation. That explains as to why wide ranges of groups/communities at different level of social formation have all come to be identified and defined as tribes. By virtue of the fact that tribes lived in isolation from the larger Indian society they enjoyed autonomy of governance over the territory they occupied. They held control over the land, forest and other resources and governed themselves in terms of their own laws, traditions and customs. Notwithstanding that they were not without interaction with the outside world. This interaction has been differently conceptualized among the scholars. For example, it has been viewed tribes as a dimension of little tradition which cannot be adequately understood unless it is seen in relation to the great tradition (Sinha, 1958). As against this, Beteille sees tribes more as a matter of remaining outside of state and civilization ((Beteille,1986). But even when tribes have been living outside of state and civilization, they were not outside the influence of the civilization. Hence at this stage of their social and political formation it would not be appropriate to discuss tribes in social exclusion terms in relation to the larger Indian society.
The advent of the British rule was however different. There was, to begin with, incorporation of tribes into colonial state structure through war, conquest and annexation. This was followed by introduction of new and uniform civil and criminal laws as well as setting up of administrative structure that was alien to tribal tradition and ethos. Like in many other parts of India, the British also imposed upon them the notion of the private property and landlordism in place of lineage or community based ownership. The revenue collectors/ administrative officials were converted into owner and landlords, which they were not. All these developments led to large-scale eviction of tribes from their land and installation of non-tribes in their place. In places where tribes had still control over land, massive transfer of land took place from tribes to non-tribes through such measures as fraud, deceit, mortgage etc. Since tribes had no practice of record keeping, as they did not have the knowledge of reading and writing, non-tribes took advantage of it forging evidence and documents in their favour. The local administration, which was manned by the non-tribes, worked hand in hand with their ethnic kinder men to ensure smooth transfer of land from tribes to non-tribes. The court language was alien to tribes and they had absolutely no idea of what was going in the court. Over and above, the colonial state took upon itself the right over the forest, thereby denying tribes the right to collect fuel and other daily necessities of life for which they were so heavily dependent on forest (Singh, 2002; Mullick, 1993). Such processes at work continued all through the colonial period in different scale causing havoc in tribal society. Tribes lost autonomy over their control over land and forest. They lost autonomy over the way they governed and regulated themselves as a society. The response of the tribes to this loss of selfrule/ swaraj invariably took the form of armed struggle. In fact, almost everywhere in tribal territory, the entry of the colonial rule met with stiff resistance. In fact, the early encounter of the British with groups/communities, which later came to be described as tribes, was characterized by series of revolt and rebellion all through the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Raghavaiah, 1979; Mullick, 1993).
The British rule brought tribes and non-tribes under one single political and administrative authority. With some exceptions here and there, they were subjected to same laws, rules, regulations and administrations. The same was the case in economic sphere. Through land, labour, credit and commodity market they were all brought under single economic order. Tribes thus came to be part of same political and economic system that the larger India society was. However, the position tribes came to occupy in the new politico-administrative system was one characterized by steady erosion of their control and access to land, forest and other resources. In this, both colonial administration and non-tribal population especially traders, merchants and money-lenders were responsible. Tribes have thus to go through the process of twin colonialism, one of the British rule and administration and the other of the non-tribal population. Tribes who had control over land, forest and other resources and enjoyed autonomy of governance got pushed to the margin of the new political and economic system. There was thus the process of integration/ inclusion of tribes into the larger system under colonial rule but a process of inclusion that came to be intertwined with the process of exclusion in the form of loss of access and control over livelihood as well as control over decision making process in determination of their own life.
7.0 Medium of Exclusion in Globalizing India
Exclusion in the Indian context is complex, widespread and multi-layered. It may be the result of a lack of social and economic opportunity, as in the case of the urban poor, denial of legitimate social space thus causing social segregation and ghettoization, as in the case of the lower castes, or social insecurity.
Displacement: Exclusion could be the result of social uprooting by the state, as has been happening to tribal peoples due to development projects, special economic zones and displacement from traditional occupations caused by economic liberalization (read globalization). While this kind of exclusion is not new in India, the “development project” as part of the globalization mission has accelerated the processes involved. The Sachar Committee inhabited at length on this in the context of economic liberalization and livelihoods (Government of India, 2006; Radhakrishnan, 2008).
Fragmented labour: Exclusion may also be the result of the disappearance of well-organized industrial structures. Multinational corporations (MNC) and their compradors in globalization have dismantled and replaced much local industry with business process outsourcing. In the process they have fragmented industrial labour and weakened the organizational ability and bargaining power of the working class.
Educational deprivation: Exclusion also results from denial of access to education and employment, as in traditional Indian society, or lack of access to the education system and occupational structures for various reasons, especially the state’s failure to provide free or affordable education and generate adequate employment opportunities in contemporary India. Whether in the traditional sense, in the context of globalization, or both, the need for universal higher education is a social imperative.
Migration and misery: For example a case in point here is street vendors. In the absence of reliable data it may be difficult to treat them as part of any one traditionally excluded social group, though studies may reveal that they belong to more than one group. Going by one account, the total number of street vendors in India is about 10 million, accounting for 2 percent of the total urban population, with Mumbai and New Delhi having around 250,000 street vendors each, Kolkata around 150,000, Ahmedabad and Patna 80,000 each and the rest spread across the country. Their illegal status makes them vulnerable to rent seeking by the authorities (police and municipality) and extortion by local mafias.
Living behind walls: The negative impact of fast emerging “gated communities” for the wealthy in urban areas is obvious. Such communities shrink the traditionally available social space to people in general and the excluded in particular. Traditionally, human habitation has been horizontal at ground level though social relations involved hierarchies reflected in the geography of spatial habitations. These horizontal habitations created adequate avenues for social interaction, and, when necessary, social mobilization. Those who were not part of such habitations at least had access to the public space. “Gated communities” exclude by definition those outside the gate but also exclude the denizens inside from the dynamics of society and the social interaction such communities cannot provide. This is in some sense a symptom of a dying society.
Caste -class overlap: Although exclusion and related vulnerabilities in the traditional Indian context are seen in terms of groups, in the case of globalization it is necessary to go beyond groups and look at vulnerable populations as a broad class or category. A case in point is the devastation of India’s agrarian sector by global companies with the resulting rural impoverishment, indebtedness and rise in farmers’ suicides in a number of regions This impact is not only on traditionally excluded social groups but also on many others, as caste and class overlap to a large extent.
Political Marginalisation: While excluded groups are often a minority, and a particularly powerless minority, there is no incentive for political parties to take their interests into account. And they may be excluded from competing electorally by eligibility criteria that embody cultural or ethnic biases. Lack of voice is a key dimension of poverty more generally, but of social exclusion in particular.
8.0 Implications of Exclusion on Tribals
While accepting the contributions of globalisation in the areas of gender bias, social justice, illiteracy, displacement, human rights violations, health, education, development, scientific and technological progress, ecological degradation, and so on, we need also to see that marginalisation and globalisation are intrinsically related. The most acute common problem across states with all their diversity is the backwardness of tribals, a backwardness rooted in neglect. Tribal identity comprises different facets of tribal life geographical, societal, economic, historical, political, religious, philosophical and is inscribed in its literature, art and music. Though it is generally presumed that exclusion is detrimental and inclusion is for good, in practice this may not be true. Forced inclusion by market or by dominant social system in any form may cause harm to the social web of the new entity. This kind of inclusion may be in the form of child labour, women in wage labour with differential payments, putting tribal people in unskilled and unprotected labour force and as immigrant workers etc. For similar reason, exclusion is not always bad. To those who do not accept the value of the market system and do not resemble or depend on a social system outside their traditional domain, any voluntary exclusion from those entities should be perfectly accepted. Both from social and market perspective discourse on inclusion and exclusion of tribal people cater relevance in present situation. Because, it is said that exclusion and poverty are mostly interrelated. Conventional poverty indicators reveal that there is a strong correlation between being indigenous or tribal and being poor or extremely poor. Tribal people are more likely to have lower income, poorer physical living conditions, of other services, worse access to labour, land and capital markets and worse returns to work as well as weaker political representation. The poverty and social exclusion experienced by tribal people are largely due to discrimination at social and institutional level during colonial and post independent era. The present paper tries to highlight the characteristics of inclusion and exclusion of tribal societies in Indian situation.
9.0 Conclusion
Exclusion of tribals operates at the level of individual, group, institution, locality, region and so on. It is both cultural and material, and is hierarchical in terms of needs and intensity. Keeping that discourse in mind, it is important to point out that in India’s development efforts there has been no coherent appreciation of social exclusion of tribals, and no integrated approach to combat exclusion, despite the fact that political rhetoric and policy documents take into account scheduled tribes. Because exclusion is embedded in the way society functions, any approach to overcome it calls for understanding the role of societal processes and institutional structures in creating deprivation and exclusion. This assumes greater significance with the arrival of globalization. With globalization only part of a larger development project, its success or failure depends on how different nations draw up globalization road maps in the context of the larger development process. India’s position in this record so far has been miserable and ruinous.
The debate over positive discrimination in India is spiteful and is increasingly finding expression in violence as we can witness in many part of the country. On the one hand the policy is defended as ethically correct as it is meant to compensate for centuries of injustice perpetrated against large sections of people on account of their social origin. But a democracy which is essentially a social contraption is neither dictated by logic nor by ethics. At the root of democratic success is social engineering which is affected through political bargaining. In India the process is on and only the future would tell whether its experiments were in the right direction or not. Social categories are neither static nor monolithic. But in India the hierarchical stratifications have by and large survived for centuries and they continue to be politically relevant. In the given situation the policy of reservation seems to continue for an indefinite period, at least for the tribals. But this is the easiest thing that the state could think of. The real challenge for the state should be to make the disadvantaged groups competitive through raising their standards so as to let them be on par with the traditionally successful upper classes. That is cost intensive and for that there has to be a shift in the dynamics of power. The disadvantage would have to come to the fore of politics. This is a negative trend among the tribal groups, who in turn are in the verge of losing its unique identity, and thus problems of identity crisis occur. One has to be clear about the fact that no one can deny changes in society. But penetration by an alien culture that does not have basic linkage to the core of people’s life ways is not a welcome change at all. Social scientists have mentioned that social and cultural disintegration through such forces has made tribal people more vulnerable to severe exploitation throughout the country.
There is a need to raise awareness of exclusion, leading to mobilization and group action. Disadvantages arising out of exclusion in India take multiple forms economic, educational, social, political and cultural and are all deeply rooted in traditional society. Because combating social exclusion is meant to bring about social integration a value-loaded term in the context of continuing caste, communal, ideological and political conflicts. Because the mandate of the Indian Constitution is to usher in a secular, democratic, pluralist and egalitarian society, even though the caste-based social hierarchy still stifles this mandate, the answers to these questions would entail engagement with many related social problems. Central to such engagement is the need to enrich India’s legislative and parliamentary practices, processes and discourses, thus separating religion from politics and governance, expanding the space for effective participation by those at the margins of society and strengthening “social justice” in order to enable the full and healthy growth of democracy. Because globalization, per se, is not development and has many socially harmful elements, globalization itself needs to be brought within the ambit of development; in which case the emphasis should be on development discourse, treating development as freedom as Amartya Sen has done. Such a debate has not yet taken place. With globalization only part of a larger development project, its success or failure depends on how different nations draw up globalization road maps in the context of the larger development process. India’s record on this so far has been dismal and disastrous.
References::
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Neha Shivani
Research Scholar,
Centre for Studies in Economics and Planning,
School of Social Sciences,
Central University of Gujarat, Sector-30,
Gandhinagar, Gujarat,
Email: nehashivani1@gmail.com
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