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An Untouchable Community in South India : Structure and Consensus / Michael Moffatt.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Princeton Legacy Library ; 1375Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©1979Description: 1 online resource (370 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691601762
  • 9781400870363
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 301.449409548
LOC classification:
  • DS484 -- M64 1979eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables -- List of Maps -- List of Figures -- List of Myths -- Glossary -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Orthography -- Preface: On Doing Fieldwork with Untouchables -- CHAPTER I. Models and Theories of Indian Untouchability -- CHAPTER II. Untouchability in South India: A Historical Review -- CHAPTER III. The Village of Endavur: Dominance and Caste Structure -- CHAPTER IV. The Replicatory Caste Order of the Untouchables -- CHAPTER V. The Internal Structure of the Harijan Caste -- CHAPTER VI. Replication and Complementarity in Harijan Religion -- CHAPTER VII. Conclusion: Consensus and Its Implications -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: While many studies suggest that Indian Untouchables do not entirely share the hierarchical values characteristic of the caste system, Michael Moffatt argues that the most striking feature of the lowest castes is their pervasive cultural consensus with those higher in the system. Though rural Untouchables question their particular position in the system, they seldom question the system as a whole, and they maintain among themselves a set of hierarchical conceptions and institutions virtually identical to those of the dominant social order.Based on fourteen months of fieldwork with Untouchable castes in two villages in Tamil Nadu, south India, Professor Moffatt's analysis specifies ways in which the Untouchables are both excluded and included by the higher castes. Ethnographically, he pursues his structural analysis in two related domains: Untouchable social structure, and Untouchable religious belief and practice.The author finds that in those aspects of their lives where Untouchables are excluded from larger village life, they replicate in their own community nearly every institution, role, and ranked relation from which they have been excluded. Where the Untouchables are included by the higher castes, they complete the hierarchical whole by accepting their low position and playing their assigned roles. Thus the most oppressed members of Indian society are often among the truest believers in the system.Originally published in 1979.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400870363

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables -- List of Maps -- List of Figures -- List of Myths -- Glossary -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Orthography -- Preface: On Doing Fieldwork with Untouchables -- CHAPTER I. Models and Theories of Indian Untouchability -- CHAPTER II. Untouchability in South India: A Historical Review -- CHAPTER III. The Village of Endavur: Dominance and Caste Structure -- CHAPTER IV. The Replicatory Caste Order of the Untouchables -- CHAPTER V. The Internal Structure of the Harijan Caste -- CHAPTER VI. Replication and Complementarity in Harijan Religion -- CHAPTER VII. Conclusion: Consensus and Its Implications -- Bibliography -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

While many studies suggest that Indian Untouchables do not entirely share the hierarchical values characteristic of the caste system, Michael Moffatt argues that the most striking feature of the lowest castes is their pervasive cultural consensus with those higher in the system. Though rural Untouchables question their particular position in the system, they seldom question the system as a whole, and they maintain among themselves a set of hierarchical conceptions and institutions virtually identical to those of the dominant social order.Based on fourteen months of fieldwork with Untouchable castes in two villages in Tamil Nadu, south India, Professor Moffatt's analysis specifies ways in which the Untouchables are both excluded and included by the higher castes. Ethnographically, he pursues his structural analysis in two related domains: Untouchable social structure, and Untouchable religious belief and practice.The author finds that in those aspects of their lives where Untouchables are excluded from larger village life, they replicate in their own community nearly every institution, role, and ranked relation from which they have been excluded. Where the Untouchables are included by the higher castes, they complete the hierarchical whole by accepting their low position and playing their assigned roles. Thus the most oppressed members of Indian society are often among the truest believers in the system.Originally published in 1979.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)