Summary
Contents
Subject index
Displaced by Development: Confronting Marginalisation and Gender Injustice applies gender analysis to development induced displacement and resettlement in the Indian context. It highlights the need to focus specifically on how processes of displacement and resettlement affect social groups differently with regard to axes such as gender, class, caste and tribe. It argues that without differentiated analyses and programmes, the processes of resettlement and displacement will continue to be executed in ways that serve to intensify and perpetuate gender and social injustice. The book also critiques and draws attention to the injustices perpetrated in the course of development-induced-displacement and resettlement, which persist as burning issues in 21st century India, where economic and industrial development are growing rapidly.
The authors argue that without radically re-imagining the practices of development that cause displacement, there will be no end to the contentious politics accompanying displacement processes and the marginalisation and impoverishment of vulnerable social groups (e.g. adivasis, the urban and rural poor and lower castes). This means putting the interests of the displaced upfront, instead of seeing them as non-citizens or ‘dispensable citizens’ stripped of their basic rights.
Displacement and Alienation from Common Property Resources
Displacement and Alienation from Common Property Resources
Displacement due to development, conservation, disasters or conflict, often leads to tremendous alienation from common property resources (CPRs) such as forests, land, fodder or water. Subaltern groups including tribals, dalits and other marginal groups lack legal titles (patta) to these resources, which are often communally owned or managed. Unfortunately, the current legal system in India neglects the key role played by CPRs in the sustenance of subaltern groups, in particular subaltern women. Women have traditionally enjoyed a higher status in production systems that rely on CPRs. Moreover, they depend more than men on CPRs for their economic well-being and social status due to the gender-based division of labour that makes them caretakers of the family. However, legal processes justifying displacement in the name of ‘eminent domain’ do not recognise the importance of CPRs, and thus allow alienation processes to take place, which have a very negative impact on the gender and power dynamics in subaltern communities (see Chapter 6 by Ramanathan in this volume for a detailed discussion on eminent domain). Moreover, these subaltern groups are often not counted as development-displaced (DPs) and project-affected people (PAPs).
This chapter is based on data derived from studies on development-induced displacement and deprivation between 1951 and 1995, carried out by the present author and his team in five states in ‘mainland’ India. It also draws on studies in Assam and West Bengal (1947–2000), partial data from three states of north-east India on which the author is concentrating, and a similar study by the Centre for Culture and Development in Gujarat. This chapter also draws on the case of internal refugees due to conflicts, an issue that has special relevance to North East India. The Sixth Schedule, which applies to Meghalaya and two tribal majority districts of Assam, or its other forms, such as the customary laws in Nagaland and Mizoram, recognise community ownership in this region because of the people's greater dependence on CPRs than in most other regions of India. However, migrants from outside the North East encroach on CPRs, and at times, cause the displacement of local people. Because of these implications, every now and then, specific reference will be made to the North East, without deviating completely from a nation-wide perspective.
The Background of Alienation and Displacement
In order to understand the impact of displacement and other forms of deprivation on subaltern women and men, one has to begin by looking at the traditional social structure of subaltern groups. Most of them, particularly tribal and dalit communities, accord a higher status to women than their ‘high-caste’ counterparts. Although some of this has changed due to the influence of ‘high-caste’ norms and customs, even today most tribal communities retain some important features of their traditional culture (Roy 1995: 32–37).
A major difference between the traditional subaltern communities and caste-based communities is the extent of their dependence on CPRs. While individual or caste-based settled agricultural societies also depend on CPRs in some form or another, unlike tribal and dalit communities, their sustenance is derived from patta land and the CPRs supplement this resource. In contrast, subalterns have CPRs as the basis of their livelihoods, and individual land and other assets supplement them. In most tribes, the village council of the tribe controls all land and allots it to individuals for a season. Its form differs from tribe to tribe. Some like the Angami of Nagaland and the Dimasa of Assam combine individual ownership with clan land, but in every case, it is recognised by the community and is under its control. Some others like the Aka of Arunachal Pradesh lack the very concept of individual ownership and only have usufruct rights. Each family cultivates as much land as it requires during the jhum (shifting cultivation) season, at the close of which the land reverts to the community (Fernandes, Pereira and Khatso 2007: 31–32).
...
- Loading...
Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL
-
Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life -
Read modern, diverse business cases
-
Explore hundreds of books and reference titles
Read next
More like this
Sage Recommends
We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.
Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches