Social construction of capabilities and intersectional complexities in a Tamil village

Abstract

India is an ethnographic museum, well-known for its national motto of “unity in diversity”. It is a country of diverse hierarchies where the social reality is intersected by the varied grades of caste and class, among others. Against this backdrop, this article conceptualises the intersections of primordial identities. The concept of intersection underscores how diverse social positions interact in a Tamil village in India. As intersectionality is “the mutually constitutive relations among social identities” (Shields 2008), the interactions of caste, class, and gender in education are conceptualised to understand the formation of capabilities.

L'Inde est un musée ethnographique, bien connu pour sa devise nationale « unité dans la diversité ». Il s'agit d'un pays doté de hiérarchies diverses, où la réalité sociale se mêle à divers grades de caste et de classe, entre autres. Avec cette toile de fond, cet article conceptualise les intersections d'identités primordiales. Le concept d'intersection souligne la manière dont les positions sociales agissent les unes sur les autres dans un village tamoul en Inde. Comme l'intersectionnalité est définie comme « les relations mutuellement constitutives entre identités sociales » (Shields 2008), les interactions de caste, classe et genre dans l’éducation sont conceptualisées pour comprendre la formation des capacités.

India es un museo etnográfico, ampliamente conocido por su lema nacional “la unidad en la diversidad”. Se trata de un país en el que conviven diversas jerarquías, donde la realidad social se encuentra atravesada por distintos grados de casta y de clase, entre otros factores. En este contexto, el presente artículo establece conceptualizaciones acerca de las intersecciones que se producen entre las identidades primordiales. El concepto de intersección hace hincapié en la manera en que en una aldea tamil de India interactúan las diversas posiciones sociales. Debido a que la interseccionalidad corresponde a “las relaciones mutuamente constitutivas entre las identidades sociales” (Shields 2008), se conceptualizan las interacciones de casta, clase y género en la educación con el fin de comprender la formación de capacidades.

Keywords:

• Social sector – Education
• South Asia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

L.N. Venkataraman is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED), University of the Free State, South Africa.

Notes

1. Each layer in the fourfold classification is a conglomeration of diverse caste groups that often has endogamous rules and regulations. Even today, these rules often determine other social aspects including commensality. In Sripuram, the Pallars are the erstwhile lower castes who are addressed as Dalits in the village.

2. This has been acknowledged by Beteille in personal interviews with the author. In his view, gender is one important dimension that “slipped out” of the central focus in his works.

3. Although this is an inheritance-based division of labour, one can find a complicated picture of variations across the regions in the country.

4. The concept of dominant caste is sociologically important. Srinivas (1987) defined this in terms of three crucial variables: the numerical strength, politics, and economic position of a caste. In this work, it denotes the OBCs who constitute a conglomeration of diverse caste groups in terms of numerical strength and political influence in the village who also possess economic power due to their landholdings in Sripuram.

5. According to the capability literature, functionings are “the outcomes or achievements, whereas capabilities are the real opportunities to achieve valuable states of being and doing” (Robeyns 2006, 78). The differential outcomes in both capabilities and functionings formations are thus strongly influenced by the intersectionality of caste, class, and education in employment in Sripuram.

6. Meenakshipuram is a pseudonymously named small town nearest to Sripuram. This is one of the Block headquarters in Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu.