SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Interdisciplinary Conference at the Centre for Indian Studies,
Mysore, India, 17–19 October 2003

Conference themes

Papers to be presented at the conference

Conference Report by Christer Norström

Joint conference organized by:
Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden
Centre for Research on Environment, Development, Innovations, Technology & Trade, CREDITTe, Bangalore, India

Organising Committee:
Christer Norström, and Charles Camâra,
Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
H.C. Sharatchandra, and Lawrence Surendra,
CREDITTe, 66, 3rd Main Road, Amarjyothi Lay Out, Cholanagara, Bangalore – 560032, India

Financial support from the following organisations has been gratefully accepted:
Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, NIAS, Copenhagen
Swedish South Asian Studies Network, SASNET

Accommodation and Travel
All costs are covered by the conference organisation
No conference fee is charged

Conference Theme

Livelihood strategies among forest-related tribal groups of South India

Life and livelihood are linked to the biological and physical world in a complex way. Humans are bound by their physical and biological environment in terms of provision of food, water, shelter and other environmentally related services. However, links to the environment are more than a rational and positivistic issue. They also encompass values and symbols, ranging from identity and solidarity to property control and power relations. This includes values and systems of norms as significant parts of the management of resources, influencing human health and other viables of life and livelihood. More to the point, cultural systems influence the way in which resource utilisation and environmental impact accrue to various groups in the society. The conference will have as its main consideration the significance of values and ethics in livelihood strategies in social and environmental negotiations as part of governance over human resources.

The focus is on forest-related tribals in South India, groups living within the four southern states of India. While the notion of tribe to a certain extent corresponds to the administrative term Scheduled Tribe, in this case it is treated in a wider sense. Several communities in South India with a similar situation and history as Scheduled Tribes, but now contesting their notification as Scheduled Castes, will be included in the conference. Examples of this would be the Siddis of Uttarkanara, Karnataka and the Puliyans of the Palni Hills in Tamil Nadu.

The discourse on rural development and change among scholars, administrators and activists is often dominated by policy making from the outside in relation to rural communities. This conference will in contrast discuss these questions from the local point of view, the inside, through the analysis and interpretations of local livelihood strategies by scholars from a variety of fields, including the humanities, the social and the natural sciences.

Important, but not exclusive, sub-fields to be included:
1. Conflict solutions, negotiations and governance
2. Cultural values, norms and meanings
3. Gender aspects and social change
4. Entitlement, empowerment and property
5. The role of institutions, including the interrelation between local communities, NGOs and the state
6. The management of resources and technological development
7. Science, fieldwork and local knowledge

The initiative for promoting this conference was taken with certain considerations in mind. One such consideration was the lack of comparison between research results from tribes in South India during the last decades. By bringing together a group of South Indian scholars from several disciplines, we will create an opportunity to draw higher level conclusions as well as making more explicit general discourses going on in the lives of tribal groups in South India. Such a comparison will also enhance the possibility of international cross-cultural comparison, using the experience and particularities of South India in a more active way.

Another consideration is of a methodological nature. The conference will give ample opportunity to discuss research experiences, and especially exchanging the pros and cons of fieldwork. Matters of publication, teaching and networking, both within and outside the academic circle, will also be on the agenda. The last as part of the third consideration and aim of the conference, to establish a network of scholars on tribal studies.

Papers to be presented at the conference

Some of the papers are possible to download from the SASNET web site, as Word documents or pdf-files.

• Technology, Life and Livelihood Strategies of Tribes of the Nilgiris: Past, Present and Continuum
by K. N. Reddy and N.S. Balaji Rao, Department of Anthropology S.V. University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
       Word document                      PDF-file (+graphics file)

• Livelihood Strategies of the Sugar Tribal Community in Andhra Pradesh
by Dr. B. Krishna Reddy, Senior Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
       Word document                      PDF-file

• Siddis And Their Organisations or Associations (with reference to the North Kanara District of Karnataka State, India)
By Dr. R. S. Hiremath, Kelageri, Dist. Dharwad, Karnataka, India
       Word document                      PDF-file

• State and the forest-related Communities: Issues and paradigms of Development
By V. Sudarsen and S. Sumathi, Department of Anthropology, University of Madras, Chennai, India
       Word document                      PDF-file

• Ecology, Technology and Resources Management among the Tribes of Eastern Grats: An Anthropological Study
By Dr. V.Subramanyam, Department of Anthropology, Visakhapatnam, Andhra University, India
       Word document                      PDF-file

• Conflict, Negogiation and Governance among three Communities in Tamil Nadu
By Dr. A. Chellaperumal, St. Xavier's College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India
       Word document                      PDF-file

• Individualism, Collectivism and Flexibility: A Paliyan Ethos for Securing Autonomy
By Dr. Christer Norström, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden
       Word document                      PDF-file

• Changing Patterns of Cultural and Social Life among Malayali Tribe of Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India
By Dr. K. S. Kumara Swamy, Department of Anthropology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, A.P., India
       Full paper not available

Abstract: As urbanisation grew rapidly in the country, the tribals who did not get into the main stream of change, preserving to some extent of their ancient patterns of living. The tribals are gradually rising to a more higher and advanced cultural and social life. The tribal development programmes launched in the country since India's independance provide unusual opportunities a new pattern of agricultural production and new economic basis for life and also offers a change to develop a new social relationship and new social stucture in tribal society. Keeping this view the present paper made an attempt to examine the social changes among the Malayali Tribe of the Salem District of Tamil Nadu.
The salient features of the study are 1. to know the livelihood strategies among the tribe 2. to know the dimensions of socio-economic status of tribes 3. to assess the nature of change, types of change and magnitude of change 4. to assess the impact of the environmental conditions and their changing dynamics on the tribal habits 5. and to study the Goverment plans and their impact on the tribal community.

• Evolution of Livelihood Strategies among Geographically Isolated Hill Tribes of South India
By D. Winfred Thomas, Department of Botany, The American College, Madurai, India; E. D. I. Oliver King, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India; and J. Soundrapandi, Department of Botany, Madras Christian College, Chennai, India.
       Word document                     PDF-file for pages 1–6, PDF-file for page 7 (graphics), PDF-file for pages 8–17

• The Shrinking Livelihood Strategies of the Paniyar
By B. Francis Kulirani, Superintending Anthropologist, Anthropological Survey of India, North East Regional Centre, Mawblei, Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
       Word document                     PDF-file

• Sharing and Collective Existence: Tenets of Livelihood Pursuits among the Muduvans of Anamalai Hills, South India
By C.R. Sathyanarayanan, Anthropologist, Anthropological Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre, Mysore, India.
       Word document                     PDF-file for pages 1-21,  PDF-file for pages 22-25 (graphics)

• Folk Narratives from the Palni Hills: The Pulayans ‘left behind the dead cattle, driven to the mountain’s edge, shown the dry waterhole’
By P.Thamizoli, and K.Balasubramanian, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India; and P.Ignatius Prabakar, Department of Anthropology, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
       Word document                     PDF-file

Conference Report

Life and livelihood are linked to the biological and physical world in a complex way. Humans are bound by their physical and biological environment in terms of provision of food, water, shelter and other environmentally related services. However, links to the environment are more than a rational and positivistic issue. They also encompass values and symbols, ranging from identity and solidarity to property control and power relations. This includes values and systems of norms as significant parts of the management of resources, influencing human health and other viables of life and livelihood. More to the point, cultural systems influence the way in which resource utilisation and environmental impact accrue to various groups in the society. The conference main consideration was the significance of values and ethics in livelihood strategies in social and environmental negotiations as part of governance over human resources.

The focus was on forest-related tribals in South India, groups living within the four southern states of India; for example, the Chenchu, Valmiki and Yavadi of Andhra Pradesh, the Malayali, Muduvan and Paliyan of Tamil Nadu, the Jenu Kuruba and Kunbi of Karnataka and the Kurichia and Paniyan of Kerala. While the notion of tribe to a certain extent corresponds to the administrative term Scheduled Tribe, at this conference it was treated in a wider sense. Several communities in South India with a similar situation and history as Scheduled Tribes, but now contesting their notification as Scheduled Castes, were included in the conference. Examples of this are the Siddi of Uttarkanara in Karnataka and the Puliyan of the Palni Hills in Tamil Nadu.
The discourse on rural development and change among scholars, administrators and activists in India is often dominated by policy making from the outside in relation to rural communities. This conference in contrast discussed these questions from the local point of view, the inside, through the analysis and interpretations of local livelihood strategies.

Important topics included:

1. Conflict solutions, negotiations and governance
2. Cultural values, norms and meanings
3. Gender aspects and social change
4. The role of institutions, including the interrelation between local communities, NGOs and the state
5. The management of resources and technological development
6. Science, fieldwork and local knowledge

The initiative for promoting this conference was taken with the following three considerations in mind:

1. The lack of comparison between research results from tribes in South India during the last decades. By bringing together a group of South Indian scholars from several disciplines, we wanted to create an opportunity to draw higher level conclusions as well as making more explicit general discourses going on in the lives of tribal groups in South India. Such a comparison will also enhance the possibility of international cross-cultural comparison, using the experience and particularities of South India in a more active way.
2. The second consideration was of a methodological nature. The conference wanted to give ample opportunity to discuss research experiences, and especially exchanging the pros and cons of fieldwork. Matters of publication, teaching and networking, both within and outside the academic circle, would be part of the agenda.
3. To create the foundation for establishing a network of scholars on tribal studies, especially with a focus on South India.

A total number of 21 papers were presented (see abstracts above), with a total of 32 participants (see participation list), from several of the major universities of South India, the Anthropological Survey of Calcutta and Mysore, and other institutions. The academic disciplines represented were mainly Social Anthropology, Sociology, Linguistics and Botany. A number of papers from the conference will be selected for a forthcoming publication.

Christer Norström, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University