River Song: Caste and Cultural Assimilation in the Brahmaputra River Valley, Assam

Nimisha Thakur

doi:10.5334/aa.159

Abstract

In this paper, the author argues that the lens of assimilation which is often used to understand cultural change within the Mising1 community in the Brahmaputra River Valley, Assam overlooks state developmental initiatives that attempt to pathologize and exploit the reproductive rights of tribal women. This paper specifically focuses on the ideas of menstrual pollution ascribed to the bodies of Mising women embedded in coercive menstrual management and family planning awareness campaigns. More broadly, the paper focuses on state discourses of purity and pollution that shapes the location of the Mising community outside Hindu caste hierarchies despite their adoption of Assamese Hindu religious and socio-economic practices.

Highlights

Adaptation which is generally understood as a process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment (Oxford Dictionary 2018), is an essential mechanism in understanding cultural change
Aims of the study This paper focuses on the location of the Mising community outside Hindu caste hierarchies despite their adoption of Assamese Hindu religious and socio-economic practices
The question still remains as to whether the understanding of indigeneity and the aim of inclusivity cited by transnational indigenous movements does not necessarily imply a shift in the lenses that indigenous bodies are seen within

Summary

Nimisha Thakur

The author argues that the lens of assimilation which is often used to understand cultural change within the Mising community in the Brahmaputra River Valley, Assam overlooks state d evelopmental initiatives that attempt to pathologize and exploit the reproductive rights of tribal women. This paper focuses on the ideas of menstrual pollution ascribed to the bodies of Mising women embedded in coercive menstrual management and family planning awareness campaigns. The paper focuses on state discourses of purity and pollution that shapes the location of the Mising community outside Hindu caste hierarchies despite their adoption of Assamese Hindu religious and socio-economic practices

Introduction

Conclusion