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.
Abstract
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).
- HRAF PubDate
- 2002
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- South Asia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 1992
- Field Date
- 1/71-6/72, and the summer of 1977 (p. 16)
- Coverage Date
- not specified
- Coverage Place
- 'Torkotala' and other villages, West Bengal, India
- Notes
- [by] Marvin Davis
- Bibliography: p. 232-236. Includes index
- LCCN
- 82009747
- LCSH
- Bengalis