Hegemonic at home and subaltern abroad: Kamaiya masculinities and changing mobility in Nepal

Abstract

As former bonded labourers (or slaves), the Kamaiya of far-west Nepal have a history of marginalization, poverty and limited mobility due to the constraints inherent in the Kamaiya system of bonded labour (banned in 2000). Based on ethnographic research in the post-slavery era, this article examines how mobility is becoming an important part of Kamaiya masculinities. I consider in particular an account of migration acquired over a series of interviews with a Kamaiya man named Ram. Ram’s migrant trajectory from Nepal to India and back over variable lengths of time reflect a broader literature on circular migration in India. I argue that transnationally performed migrant masculinities are alternatively subordinated and hegemonic across geographically diverse contexts. By accepting and performing subordinated, often oppressive masculine roles in a broader South Asian context, men such as Ram are producing new, locally hegemonic or at least desirable masculine roles in Kamaiya villages in Nepal.

Resumen

Como extrabajadores forzados (o esclavos), los kamaiyas del lejano oeste de Nepal tienen una historia de marginalización, pobreza y movilidad limitada debido a las limitaciones inherentes en el sistema Kamaiya de trabajo forzado (prohibido en el 2000). Basado en investigación etnográfica en la era post-esclavista, este artículo examina cómo la movilidad se está volviendo una parte importante de las masculinidades kamaiyas. Considero, en particular, una descripción de la migración obtenida a partir de una serie de entrevistas con un hombre kamaiya llamado Ram. La trayectoria migrante de Ram desde Nepal hasta India y de vuelta a Nepal a lo largo de diversos períodos de tiempo refleja una literatura más amplia sobre la migración circular en India. Sostengo que las masculinidades migrantes performadas transnacionalmente están alternativamente subordinadas y hegemónicas en contextos geográficamente diversos. Al aceptar y performar roles masculinos subordinados, a menudo opresivos en un contexto sudasiático más amplio, hombres como Ram están produciendo roles masculinos nuevos y localmente hegemónicos o al menos deseables en las aldeas kamaiyas en Nepal.

摘要

尼泊尔最西部地区中的卡迈亚族，前身是卖身契劳工（或奴隶），他们因为卡迈亚的卖身契劳工系统的固有限制（该系统于2000年废止），而具有边缘化、贫穷与有限的能动性之历史。本文根据后奴隶时代的民族志研究，检视能动性如何成为卡迈亚男性气概的重要部分。我将特别考量对一位名为拉姆的卡迈亚男性进行的一系列访谈所获得的移民记述。拉姆从尼泊尔迁徙到印度，并在长短不一的时程内不断往返的移民轨迹，反映了印度循环式移民的广泛文献。我主张，跨国展演的移民男性气概，在不同的地理脉络中，不是从属便是具有霸权性质。藉由在南亚的更广泛脉络中，採取并展演从属、且经常是压迫性的男性角色，如同拉姆一般的男性，正在尼泊尔的卡迈亚村落中，生产崭新的、在地霸权性、或至少是可欲求的男性角色。

Keywords:

• Masculinity
• mobility
• Nepal
• bonded-labour
• subaltern
• hegemonic

Palabras claves:

• Masculinidad
• movilidad
• Nepal
• trabajo forzado
• subalterno
• hegemónico

关键词:

• 男性气概
• 能动性
• 尼泊尔
• 卖身契劳动
• 从属
• 霸权

Acknowledgements

I would particularly like to thank Professor Cecile Jackson and Dr Colette Harris for their comments, guidance and support in helping to shape this article. Furthermore, I would like to thank Professor Eric Thompson, Dr Kumiko Kawashima and Professor Kate Hunt for their constructive comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this article. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the ‘blind’ reviewers who made thoughtful and useful comments that have resulted in an improved article. Finally, I would like to thank the Kamaiya men who shared their time and stories with me, particularly Ram. This work was made possible by a ESRC PhD scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Nepal throughout 2009 complemented by short field visits in 2011 and 2012. The fieldwork was undertaken principally in a Kamaiya village in Kailali District in far-west Nepal. Methodologically, it is based on a multi-method approach (principally utilizing participant observation, life histories and focus groups) within an ethnographic framework.

2. For more on the links between caste, Hinduism and 19 patriarchy in Nepal, please see Bennett (2002).

3. As Osella and Osella (2006) also report from Kerala.

4. Pahari means a Bahun or Chettri (i.e. upper caste) migrant from the hills.

5. Osella and Osella (2006) indicate that the ‘breadwinner’ ideal has become the predominant mode of masculinity in their research in South India.

6. The Haliya are another group of bonded labourers.

7. Bahun is the Nepali colloquial term for Brahmin.

8. Mahatma Gandhi is perhaps the most obvious example of such a configuration of masculinity (Alter 1994, 2000).

9. Here I am referring to formal education in school settings. Over the three years I have been visiting Kampur, changes have been taking place in the levels of education in the village, with increasing numbers of Kamaiya children receiving a basic education (although in 2012, no one had yet passed their School Leaving Certificate). Literacy and education delivered in school settings were largely not available to most Kamaiya in the Kamaiya system, so this represents an important change in the Kamaiya community following freedom. The implications of changes in literacy and educational level for subaltern Kamaiya masculinities will form the focus of a subsequent article.

10. For example, these reasons include that older men were less accessible as research subjects, and found talking about such issues quite difficult particularly as it was almost impossible to find a space in Kampur in which a research subject might be able to discuss sensitive issues in privacy with me.

11. The Tharu are the wider ethnic from which the Kamaiya originate.

12. For more on gender differences relating to remittances see Orozco, Lowell, and Schneider (2006) and Carling (2008).