Social Trends

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Sociological view of management of health of the migrant workers in kolkata nibedita bayen
(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2017) Bayen, Nibedita
Kolkata, the economic capital of eastern India, attracts skilled and semi-skilled labourers, who migrate for a living. The migrants include sex workers, taxi drivers, shoemakers, porters, rickshaw pullers and child labourers. They migrate from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and different regions of West Bengal. Migrants, who migrate by taking the help of a village migration network, usually take shelter in slum areas. Such places are identified by the city administration as places of extra attention to prevent outbreak of diseases. The municipal corporation puts in place a robust malaria control plan in the city. The present paper would analyse how migrant labourers are governed by the city administration as a part of its malaria-control drive and how the perceptions of health and illness of these migrant labourers change in the process.
Open Access
Travails with motherhood : auto-ethnographic exploration of being a mother
(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2020) Chatterjee, Ananya
Motherhood is as much as a sociological as a biological and physiological construct. Each and every human society has its values, ideas, duties and responsibilities attached to mothering and motherhood. Even though the concept of family is changing with the emergence of alternative forms to traditional patriarchal family, the raising of children is still perceived to be the sole responsibility of the mother. The expectation that women will become mothers, forms part of the normative discourses governing motherhood which construct women’s sexuality and identity through their reproductive function. Cultural representations of the idealised and sometimes “yummy” mummy (middle class, attractive, healthy, sexy and heterosexual) contrast with depictions of ‘bad’ mothers proliferate in the popular press. The ideal mother is constructed as selfless, nurturing, subsuming their own needs to attend to their children’s demands. The motherhood experience of the working mothers often deviates from the dominant model of motherhood. In their experience of alternative motherhood, they are often marginalised in their family and close kin circle which holds on to the patriarchal definition of motherhood. In this autoethnographic essay I have explored how my experience of motherhood has redefined my identity of mother while passing through a course of negotiations and conflicts with the idealized standards.
Open Access
Identity Crisis in a Cross-cultural Paradox: My Experience
(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Bhutia, Sonam Choden
“Identity” is a sum total of perceptions one accepts, imbibes and is fostered on by the society. It is related to both ascribed and acquired social constructs like caste, class, religion and language. Though caste, class, religion are important components of a person’s identity it is through language that the unique ethnic, social, religion and cultural identity is expressed. Language in both written and spoken form is the factor that binds other components of a person’s identity and it is crucial for cultural preservation. Related to the issue of cultural preservation, one finds the role of language especially in case of Tibetan identity. Despite the Chinese insistence that Tibet has always been a part of China, the Tibetan religion, customs, culture and language preserve distinctive features supporting the right to self-determination and independence. In exile, Tibetans under the guidance of His Holiness Dalai Lama have been successful in keeping their identity alive. However, in the recent times, the fear of losing their identity is specially felt when there is a shift away from Tibetan language; with many scattered around the world the Tibetans are under pressure to adopt languages other than their mother tongue. Sociologically, it is stated that endogamous marriage helps in preserving racial purity and culture. Tibetans marrying outside the community face many challenges of which one is the problem of identity. As a daughter of Tibetan father, a Bhutanese mother and the wife of a Sikkimese Bhutia, the confusion arises as to where I, as an individual, stand and face Identity crisis in certain situations in my everyday life. Starting from my experience as a person faced with multiple identity “tags”, the paper attempts to bring forth issues and dilemmas of identity faced by children of mixed parentage. It also highlights the challenges and issues of identity that come up in inter-community marriages.
Open Access
Rethinking Kosli Identity: Language, Literature and Culture of Western Odisha
(University of North Bengal, 2018-03) Kumar, Tila
Western Odisha’ once upon a time, formed a part of the ancient Koshal kingdom having its distinctive history, culture and unique salient features. The proponents of the separate Koshal state movement which is going on in the western part of Odisha have been mobilizing people and spearheading their movement along such a historic path so as to bring back their golden past and to preserve, protect and promote their rich cultural heritage. The people of western Odisha living in as many as eleven different districts not only ascertain their common ancestry but also share their common fate of being backward and underdeveloped due to ‘internal colonialism’ including state apathy and ‘coastal conspiracy’. Nevertheless, they are struggling and mobilizing forcefully to deconstruct their stigmatized identity and asserting today a unique ‘Kosli identity’, which is increasingly being recognized world over. And it is this ‘Kosli identity’ - which the leaders of the Koshal movement are using to garner people’s support and galvanize Kosli consciousness and ‘Kosli nationalism’ - the emblematic chord of the demand for a separate Kosal state. It is, therefore, that we discuss in the present article, some of the significant markers of what constitute Kosli identity in terms of a) Kosli language and literature and b) Kosli culture.

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