South Asian Context Research Articles

The social life of categories

In this article I examine the ways in which the term “indigenous peoples“ is reworked in a specific South Asian context. I focus on the new, hybrid category of “indigenous tribe“ in the Indian state of Meghalaya. I argue that we can think of the indigenous tribe category as a strategic conflation of two different regimes of rights or political assertions. The first relates to the existing nation-state framework for affirmative action as expressed in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, while the second relates to the emerging global framework for asserting the rights of indigenous peoples. While the benefits of asserting the status of indigenous tribes is obvious, for example, preventing other, nonindigenous tribes from owning land in the state, the long-term gains seems more doubtful. Both affirmative action programs and indigenous peoples frameworks are motivated by a moral imperative to redress historical injustices and contemporary social inequalities. To evoke them for other ends might eventually backfire. The larger point I seek to make, however, is that political categories tend to take on a life of their own, escaping their intended purposes and hence applied by people in novel and surprising ways.

Generic Patterns in Application Letters: the Context of Pakistan

An increasing number of researchers rely on genre to analyse academic and professional communication and to see how members of a discourse community use language. Since Swales’ (1990) seminal genre analysis of research article introductions, many researchers have carried out genre analysis of various types of professional and academic documents including job application letters. Subscribing to the view that genre is dynamic and socially constructed (Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1995), the present study explores if genre conventions in job letters written in Pakistan have undergone any change since Bhatia’s (1989) genre analysis of job letters in South Asian context. It was found that the job applicants no longer use the self-degradation moves as noted by Bhatia (1989). However, they still resort to glorifying the employer as a move and use old-fashioned courtly expressions to appeal to the sentiments of compassion of the employer. Although making good use of the typical formulaic expressions of the genre, most of the candidates fail to use language creatively and elaborately to present themselves as individuals with unique abilities and achievements.

Preventing Domestic Violence in the South Asian Context: Men's or Family Involvement?

Globally there is a growing tendency to involve men in preventing domestic violence. Since men are the main perpetrators of violence against women, proponents of men's involvement argue that men must be involved to prevent men's violence against women. Conversely, opponents of men's involvement argue that involving men would not bring about the expected outcome, since men's involvement is challenging, particularly in the cultural context, and men intentionally perpetrate violence against women. In this paper, an attempt has been made to critically justify the suitability of men's involvement and to find a more culturally acceptable alternative for preventing domestic violence against women in South Asia. This article critically discusses theories related to the sociocultural understanding of domestic violence, insightfully presents domestic violence in this regional perspective, argues the pros and cons of men's involvement, and proposes family involvement as a culturally suitable approach to prevent domestic violence.

Perception and Digital Media in India

This essay analyzes the body politics at the center of both business services outsourcing labor (also termed affective, immaterial, or communicative labor) and the value-adding digital image in contemporary Indian media. The author uses a “media assemblage” method in this analysis, which brings together a critique of emerging forms of communicative labor, digital image technologies, and the changing capacities of the body, or affect. This paper is concept, following the critical approach methodology, and interprets findings rather than predicts them. Numerous feminist investigations analyzing the potentials within what has been designated traditionally as women’s work, have grasped affective labor with terms such as kin work and caring labor. Through an analysis of the Hindi-Bollywood film No Smoking (Kashyap, 2008), and the documentary Office Tigers (Mermin, 2006), the author explores the emergence of a digital vision in the South Asian context through pervasive processes that are “informatizing” various forms of life and work. They correlate the function of this digital vision in both business outsourcing and digital media through analyses of two key modalities: the evolving functionality of information in computer technology; and the modulation of subjectivity in the capacities of attention and sensation of value creation.

Reproductive Exile in Global Dubai: South Asian Stories

As India becomes the center for global commercial surrogacy, infertile Indians themselves may be forced to seek assisted reproductive technology (ART) services elsewhere. The inability of Indian couples to access affordable, high-quality services in their home country may force them to become reproductive tourists—a phenomenon defined in this article as “reproductive exile.” Reproductive exile bespeaks the “forced” nature of fertility travel, when infertile couples must leave their home country in order to access safe, effective, affordable, and legal infertility care. Their choice to use ARTs to produce a child is voluntary, but their travel abroad is not. Furthermore, the term exile takes on additional meanings in the South Asian context. South Asian laborers, both poor and middle-class, may feel forced to leave home in order to secure a living wage, send home remittances, save for their futures, and accrue enough money to access ART services. For many South Asians, Dubai is now the global hub for both labor migration and reproductive exile, owing to the long history of South Asian–Arab Gulf transnationalism, as well as Dubai's reputation for specializing in all manner of “high-tech” services. In this article, reproductive exile to global Dubai will be explored, along with three South Asian stories highlighting infertile couples' dreams of making a test-tube baby.

Tuberculosis in pregnancy: the challenges for South Asian countries.

Despite tuberculosis (TB) being a global problem, maternal TB remains an unrecognized and underestimated tragedy, especially in South Asian countries. Therefore, we performed a non-systematic review regarding implications of maternal TB on obstetric and perinatal outcomes in the South Asian context. We reviewed original studies, both descriptive and analytical, that originated from South Asian countries following an electronic search supplemented by a manual search. Although relevant studies from developed countries were reviewed, they were not included in the tabulation process because those studies had different socioeconomic/epidemiological background. Diagnosis of TB is often delayed during pregnancy, because of its non-specific symptoms, and overlapping presentation with other infectious diseases. Poverty, undernutrition, lack of social support and poor health infrastructure along with complications of TB and need for prolonged medications lead to increased maternal morbidity and mortality. Maternal TB in general (except lymphadenitis), is associated with an increased risk of small-for-gestational age, preterm and low-birthweight neonates, and high perinatal mortality. These adverse perinatal outcomes are even more pronounced in women with advanced disease, late diagnosis, and incomplete or irregular drug treatment. There could be a synergy of TB, socioeconomic and nutritional factors, which might have contributed to adverse perinatal effects, especially in low-income countries. As active TB poses grave maternal and perinatal risks, early, appropriate and adequate anti-TB treatment is a mainstay for successful pregnancy outcome. The current knowledge gaps in perinatal implications of maternal TB can be addressed by a multicenter comparative cohort study.

Malnutrition, Child Health, and Water Quality: Is There a Role for Private Sector Participation in South Asia?

This article discusses the potential of private sector participation (PSP) to improve the urban water supply in South Asia. I first provide background on the literature linking a safe and adequate water supply with malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality. To better understand the selection mechanism underlying the decision to undergo PSP, I then analyze factors associated with the award of private water contracts worldwide. I next present empirical evidence that PSP in water is associated with a lower incidence of diarrheal disease and higher rates of access to piped water among young children in urban Africa. Finally, I conclude by reviewing the South Asian context and its limited experiences with PSP in water, raising question for future research. (JEL codes: L33, L95, H51, 118)

A novel food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess usual seasonal intakes in rural Nepalese women

Few tools exist to assess usual dietary intake of seasonally available foods, despite those foods’ contribution to micronutrient status in a rural South Asian context. This analysis aimed to assess the accuracy with which a novel FFQ captured women's consumption of seasonal foods. In a population study of 15,899 women in 2006–8 in southern Nepal, we administered a two‐part FFQ designed to assess (1) usual intake of foods available seasonally and year round and (2) intake of FFQ foods during the past 7 days. Agreement between 7 day and usual FFQ responses was assessed with Spearman rank correlation coefficients. Rice (median: 13, IQR: 7–13), vegetable oil (13, 13–13), and potatoes (10, 5–13) were the most frequently consumed foods based on past 7 day intake. In season past 7 day intake of seasonal foods was low (median intake 0 for 16 of 18 foods). Correlations between usual intake and past 7 day intake for seasonal fruits and vegetables during their in season periods were moderate (mean: 0.34, range: 0.12 – 0.58). Correlations for usual and past 7 day intakes of year round foods were good (mean: 0.61, range: 0.26 – 0.85). Correlations were greater than 0.50 for 17 of 18 year round foods with IQR> 0 for past 7 day intake. The seasonal FFQ is a promising instrument for assessing usual diet in a rural South Asian setting and may be improved by including foods consumed with sufficient variation in intake in this population.Grant Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Grant #614)

Applying mobile technologies to mental health service delivery in South Asia

Mobile phones have increasingly assumed an important role in the treatment of mental disorders in high-income countries. This paper considers such possibilities in the South Asian context. First, a brief review of mobile phone use in mental disorders is provided. Next, data on the market penetration and dissemination of mobile phones in South Asia is presented. Finally, common barriers to treatment for mental disorders in South Asia are evaluated against solutions that could be derived from mobile technologies. Though not without their risks, mobile phones have the potential to increase engagement, treatment, and retention of South Asian patients with mental disorders in unprecedented ways.

Hindutva, Mythistory, and Pseudoarchaeology

AbstractThis essay elucidates ideologically-inspired interpretations of the South Asian archeological record, particularly by those calledHindutvādins, and those who write about (and against) them. I first survey briefly the chief points in the history of archaeology in examining the Indus Valley Civilization. Next, I describe some of the major controversies that reflect claims of Hindutva pseudoarchaeology in the South Asian context. Throughout, I illustrate the increasingly virulent interactions between Hindutva proponents, indigenist theorists, and academic interpreters, and what these debates foretell of the future of Indus Valley studies.

Introduction. Urban Democracy: A South Asian Perspective

The ‘urban question’ has attracted increasing attention since the 1990s in the South Asian context because the issues at stake take on a particular urgency in the subcontinent for several reasons. A first, obvious reason is the increasing (and even strategic) importance of cities from a demographic, political and economic perspective. South Asia is home to 5 of the 10 largest cities—in fact, megacities—in the world. At the same time, with an urban population of 485 million, South Asia remains...

Questions of mobility and belonging: diasporic experiences queering female identities in South Asian contexts

One dominant narrative about diaspora and queer identity concerns the liberating potential of the experience of dis-placement which enables both the rejection of the taboos and constraints that inform one's socio-cultural background and the articulation and enactment of one's queer identity. In this article I address this narrative by analysing two very different kinds of text, dealing with dis-placement and the enactment of queer identity. The first is anthropologist Evelyn Blackwood's (1995) account, ‘Falling in love with an-Other lesbian: Reflections on identity in fieldwork’; the second is British South Asian lesbian playwright Maya Chowdhry's play ‘Monsoon’ (1993) which depicts the protagonist's relation with another woman on a trip ‘home’ from Britain to India. These texts' engagement with the issues of diaspora and queer raises a series of important issues about power, agency, embodiment, and sexual practice in ways that are remarkably similar. Both texts involve journeys from the west to South Asian countries, same-sex relationships with local ‘insiders’ in a context where such relationships are taboo, complex power relations between the protagonists, and issues of the relative cultural and social mobilities of the protagonists. Liberation, in so far as it occurs, is here experienced in only very limited ways and at a cost. These texts thus challenge some of the assumptions regarding the liberating potential of diaspora, and offer a rather more complex and nuanced account of the inter-relationship between diaspora and queer identity.

Feeling the Blues of Infertility in a South Asian Context: Psychological Well-Being and Associated Factors Among Sri Lankan Women with Primary Infertility

Primary infertility may have a considerable impact on the psychological well-being of women. In the present study, the authors investigated the psychological well-being and its correlates among Sri Lankan women with primary infertility. A total of 177 women with primary infertility were compared with 177 fertile women matched for age and duration of marriage to identify differences in the psychological well-being between the two groups. They were recruited from a prevalence survey conducted in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 2005 to February 2006. The General Health Questionnaire-30 (GHQ-30) and Mental Health sub-components of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) were used to measure psychological well-being. In addition, infertile women with and without psychological distress were compared to identify the social, marital, treatment, and demographic factors independently associated with psychological distress. A significantly higher proportion of women with primary infertility (66.1%; 95% CI 58.6–73.0%) had psychological distress as compared to fertile women (18.6 %; 95% CI 13.2–25.2%; P < 0.001). After adjustment for confounding factors, infertile women who were psychologically distressed were significantly less educated (OR = 55.3; 95% CI 15.2–201.0), had poor marital communication (OR = 3.5; 95% CI 1.3–9.8), had a higher priority for having children (OR = 4.2; 95% CI 1.3–13.8), and had been previously (OR = 39.1; 95% CI 8.3–185.4) or currently (OR = 11.0; 95% CI 3.0–40.6) investigated/treated for infertility when compared with infertile women without distress. Women with primary infertility reported more distress as compared to fertile women. Psychological distress among infertile women was associated with poorer education, being previously/currently investigated/treated, placing higher importance on having children, and having poor marital communication. The need for psychological intervention targeting infertile women in clinics and community settings is highlighted.

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to the Overlap Between Psychological, Fatigue and Somatic Symptoms: A Twin Study in Sri Lanka

Somatic symptoms often co-occur with psychological symptoms but this overlap is poorly understood. Some aspects of this overlap differ in the South Asian context, but it is not clear whether this is a reporting effect or an underlying difference in experienced illness. Home interviews were administered to 4,024 twins randomly selected from a population-based twin register in the Colombo district of Sri Lanka (the CoTASS study). These included assessments of psychological, somatic and fatigue symptoms. The data were analyzed using factor analytic and quantitative genetic approaches. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the symptoms from the three scales represented three separate dimensions, rather than all tapping into a single dimension. However, familial correlations among the data were most consistent with a common pathway model. This implies that a portion of the underlying vulnerability is common across psychological, fatigue and somatic symptoms. There were sex differences in the etiology of this model, with shared environmental and genetic influences playing different roles in men and women. There is a complex etiological relationship between psychological, fatigue and somatic symptoms. This is similar in Sri Lanka to Western countries, but there may be a greater influence from the family environment, suggesting that care needs to be taken when generalizing research findings between countries. People who complain of certain fatigue or somatic symptoms may well also have psychological symptoms, or may have genetic or environmental vulnerabilities to such problems.

Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context

Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context

Constructing Indices of Rural Living Standards in Northwestern Bangladesh

This study aimed to construct indices of living standards in rural Bangladesh that could be useful to study health outcomes or identify target populations for poverty-alleviation programmes. The indices were constructed using principal component analysis of data on household assets and house construction materials. Their robustness and use was tested and found to be internally consistent and correlated with maternal and infant health, nutritional and demographic indicators, and infant mortality. Indices derived from 9 or 10 household asset variables performed well; little was gained by adding more variables but problems emerged if fewer variables were used. A ranking of the most informative assets from this rural, South Asian context is provided. Living standards consistently and significantly improved over the six-year study period. It is concluded that simple household socioeconomic data, collected under field conditions, can be used for constructing reliable and useful indices of living standards in rural South Asian communities that can assist in the assessment of health, quality of life, and capabilities of households and their members.

Scholarly Approaches to the Concept of “Evil” and the Figure of Māra in South Asia

AbstractIn this article, I survey prominent themes in the scholarly analysis of the concept of `evil’ in South Asian religious traditions. Some of the issues I highlight in this regard are the problems in defining `evil’ in the South Asian context and the past tendency to privilege philosophical materials over literary sources. Besides this general topic, I also focus particularly on past scholarly approaches to and interpretations of the Buddhist figure `Māra,’ which to a great extent have illustrated the general trends laid out in the first section. Finally, I conclude that future approaches to the South Asian concept of `evil’ in general, and Māra in particular, ought to find ways to blend philosophical and literary materials, as well as maintain sensitivity to how the notion of `evil’ has played a social role among South Asian religious traditions.

China and Myanmar

Three decades of economic reform have led to a comprehensive recasting of China’s geostrategic priorities in its immediate periphery. China’s relations with Myanmar are an instance of a bilateral relationship that has gone from strength to strength in the past two decades following internal political upheavals in the late 1980s that motivated the two countries to reach out to each other following international opprobrium. This article will explain the strategic nature of relations between Myanmar and China in the last decade and attempt to posit this equation in a South Asian context. The structure of the article includes includes four sections—the first section is a brief introduction that captures five decades of relations between Myanmar and China from 1950 to 2000; the second section examines the comprehensive nature of their bilateral relations; the third section analyses mutual perceptions; and the concluding section focuses on the impact China–Myanmar relations has on the South Asian region. There are two central arguments in this research article—the first revolves around the hypothesis that Myanmar–China relations are motivated by geo-strategic and geo-economic considerations. The second argument rests on the premise that there is no ‘client dependency’ in this bilateral relationship and China–Myanmar relations while ‘close’ and ‘friendly’ do have their share of concerns.

Constitutional Developments in a Himalayan Kingdom: The Experience of Nepal

This article provides an account of Nepal’s constitutional developments over the years in the light of the ‘interaction between indigenous law and transplanted law’. It seeks to maintain a comparative perspective, especially within the South Asian context, and reflects upon the modalities of the political transformations that have occurred in Nepal over the past 250 years, with particular reference to the influence of external legal and political concepts. Imported models have been progressively implanted into autochthonous juridical and political structures, and the interplay of different systems has generated a situation of legal pluralism in Nepal.

Atbarapur (Hoshiarpur district, Punjab), the Acheulian of the Siwalik Range within the South Asian context

The largest collection of Acheulian artefacts in the Siwalik region is from the site of Atbarapur in north-western India. The artefacts occur in reworked sediments of the Pinjore Formation, starting with the onset of the Pleistocene and continuing at places in this region till 0.6 Ma. The technical study shows two similar “ chaînes opératoires”: one based on cobbles for making small flakes and the second based on boulders for large flakes. Both are short and simple: cores are not prepared and each of them produced about seven flakes. Handaxes and cleavers, typical Acheulian tools, are made on the large flakes, often struck from the ventral face of larger flakes (Kombewa method) or from split boulders. The technology compares well with the Lower Pleistocene Acheulian of peninsular India, but with slightly more refined bifaces. It also compares with assemblages from Africa and East Asia: Atbarapur stands as a milestone on the diffusion route(s) of the Acheulian.