Book
Rank and rivalry: the politics of inequality in rural West Bengal
Cambridge University Press • Cambridge, U.k. • Published In 1983 • Pages: ix, 239
By: Davis, Marvin.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study is a descriptive analysis of rank '…and those rivalries by which distribution of rank and the behavior appropriate to ranked social units are variously maintained or altered, supported or challenged in a village of West Bengal, India' (p. 1). In additon to the above, this work also attempts to provide ethnographic information on stratification and politics in rural India, and through a holistic style of analysis, explore systems of action and meaning in Bengali society. The source is divided into five major chapters. Chapters 1 through 3 offer a descriptive analysis of rank in the Bengali cosmos and society. Additional data in these chapters pertain to ecology, social organization of the village of 'Torkotala' (a pseudonymn), administration and local history, caste and/or birth groups, and the LOK or individual in Bengali thought and action. Chapters 4 and 5 are more theoretical in nature and deal with segmental meaning systems and the relation between religion and politics as organized cultural forms (p. 6). The field work for this study was conducted from January 1971-June 1972, and during the summer of 1977, in the village of Torkotala and other villages of the former Narayanghar kingdom, now included in the larger Midnapore district of West Bengal (p. 16).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Castes
- Family relationships
- Status, role, and prestige
- Community councils
- Community structure
- Territorial hierarchy
- Districts
- Political behavior
- Political parties
- Ethnopsychology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Bengali
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2002
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- South Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1992
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1/71-6/72, and the summer of 1977 (p. 16)
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- 'Torkotala' and other villages, West Bengal, India
- NotesAdditional notes
- [by] Marvin Davis
- Bibliography: p. 232-236. Includes index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 82009747
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Bengalis