Devoted to development: Moral progress, ethical work, and divine favor in south India.  

Oleh:

Pandian, Anand

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Anthropological Theory vol. 08 no. 02 (Jun. 2008), page 159.
Topik: agrarian ; colonialism ; development ; devotion ; divinity ; ethics ; India ; labor ; morality
Fulltext: 159.pdf (447.26KB)

Isi artikel

The article presents rural citizens in postcolonial India as subjects of development: individuals who must submit themselves to an order of power identifying their own nature as a problem, and demanding that they work to develop themselves in order to overcome the limits of this nature. I discuss three dimensions of such subjection to development: development as a normative order of moral imperatives, as a domain of ethical engagement with oneself, and as a relation to others – state officials, teachers, missionaries, and even deities – with whom the ultimate responsibility for one’s progress is invested. Focusing on the colonial experience and postcolonial condition of a particular south Indian community classified as a ‘criminal tribe’ in the early 20th century, I confront toil as virtue with toil as fate, juxtaposing the moral horizons of state intervention with the cosmological orientations of ordinary cultivators.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali