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The emerging new collective
identity among the related groups has further made the task of
academicians, policy planners and executive not so easy. Hence,
the volume under reference is a welcome edition in the existing
related literature.
All the 11
contributions are first-rate articles based on the research
work, field study of respected author, government data as well
as state policies. Almost all research papers bear the imprint
of the erudite scholarship of the authors, their experience and
expertise. Right from the concept of empowerment the title
travels through globalisation, state social movements,
alternative paradigms, alternative strategies, grassroots
mobilisation, collective action, worker’s cooperatives etc.
As far as the
marginalised groups are concerned,only women and tribes have
been dealt with, as if Harijans, children, aged, hill people,
dry landers, slum dwellers, unorganised peasants, meritorious
but unemployed youth, widows forced to live in different ashrams,
maltreated rape victims and especially the children among them,
sodomised but innocent, helpless and ignorant youth, those still
carrying night soil on their heads, those of the ‘fair sex’
forced and condemned to prostitution etc., merit no place in the
book.
Moreover, in
the spatial context only Bihar has been accommodated. As
observed above, so far the social scientists and lawmakers are
far from the comprehensive inventory of the Indian marginalised
groups.
Empowerment of
marginalised groups is a vital issue and it needs the attention
of not only political scientists and sociologists but also that
of economists, historians, geographers, public administrators,
legislatures, the executive, judiciary and many others.
The volume
would have been much more meaningful if the editor had
associated atleast one author from every field and other glaring
marginalised groups were also accommodated. Currently the
attempt appears to be lopsided and loses its significance.
David Ray Cox
has done full justice to the theme Marginalisation and the
Role of Social Development. How apt is he when he states,
"Marginalisation cannot be quantified, nor even defined in
a precise sense. What it basically signifies is a situation in
which a section of the population is pushed to the margins of a
society, for whatever reason"?
The Alternative
Paradigm (Jagannath Pathy) and Alternative Strategy (Ramashray
Roy) suggested are apparently meaningful but their suitability
shall be assessed only when the same are put to practice at a
large scale.
Kumud Sharma in
her very well written article Rethinking Social Development
with Women has thrown a challenge to the male- dominated
social order when she concludes, "Does the new millennium
promise a more humane and just society or will it be
characterised by brazen use of power and money; greater
insecurity; erosion of democratic norms and values; unrestricted
global capital and the free market economy and dismantling of
earthy ideals which make the world a qualitatively different
place to live"?
Vina Mazumdar
in her The Bankura Experiment in relation to peasant women has
come across the stumbling block, although she may claim
"groundswell of change". "Taboos on intercommunal
social relations, eating together, marriage choices, speaking in
public and accepting leadership of a person considered to be
lower in social status all seem to break down more easily when
the women act together.They achieve this through various methods
of persuasion".
This
observation cannot be universalised since nearer home women
acted together, one of them an ex-minister, to eliminate a
tender aged girl for her "crime" of falling in for a
Dalit educated and promising youth whom the girl loved and
married.
Despite these
observations, the title makes an interesting reading, though it
is not correctly captioned. The editor, who is a professional
sociologist employed in the IGNOU and working on empowerment of
marginalised groups, shall do better if he widens the scope of
his enquiry and ropes in other social scientists since sociology
is not the only social science.
The attempt is laudable since
it is the first of its kind and is likely to pave a path for
many more to come.
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