NCERT Class 8 Political Science Chapter 7: Understanding Marginalisation YouTube Lecture Handouts

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NCERT Class 8 Political Science/Polity/Civics Chapter 7: Understanding Marginalization

Socially Marginalized

To be forced to occupy the side/fringe and not in center of things

Illustration: Socially Marginalized

Reasons

  • Different language
  • Different religion
  • Different customs
  • Social status

What Happens?

  • Viewed with hostility and fear
  • Sense of difference
  • Exclusion
  • Disadvantaged
  • Powerlessness

Adivasis (Tribals)

  • Original inhabitants of land – live in association with forests
  • 8% population of India with 500 different groups – not homogenous
  • Orissa has 60 tribal groups
  • Mainly in mining & industrial area of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh
  • Little hierarchy and away from jati-varna system
  • Practice tribal religion – mainly animist - worship of ancestors, village, and nature spirits - Jagannath cult of Orissa and Shakti and Tantric traditions in Bengal and Assam
  • 19th century – many converted to Christianity (major religion in modern Adivasis)
  • Stereotypes: costumes, headgear, dancing, exotic, primitive, backward, resistant to change
  • Have own language – Santhali (biggest speakers)

Tribals & Development

  • Forests were crucial
  • Metals like iron and copper, gold and silver, coal and diamonds, invaluable timber, most medicinal herbs, and animal products (wax, lac, honey) and animals themselves
  • Tribals had full control and access to vast tract
  • Mainly as hunter, gatherer, or nomads
  • Empires depended on Adivasis for crucial access to forest resources
  • Now considered – marginalized and powerless
  • 70 lakh adivasis in Assam – success of tea industry
  • From the 1830s onwards, Adivasis from Jharkhand moved in plantations in India & Mauritius, Caribbean & Australia
  • 19th century – 5 lakhs perished in migration
  • Niyamgiri Hill (sacred mountain) located in Kalahandi, Odisha. This area is inhabited by Dongarria Konds – aluminum plant coming up – protest by environmentalists

How Things Changed?

  • Adivasis have been forced through economic changes, forest policies and political force applied by the State and private industry to migrate to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in industries and as domestic workers
  • Owned land & were rich
  • Taken away by contractors
  • Livelihood was ruined
  • Were threatened and beaten
  • Got very little money for land
  • Land acquired for mining projects, dam construction
  • In NE states – land is militarized
  • Evicted from present wildlife sanctuaries and national park areas
  • Lost main source of work and livelihood
  • Migrated to cities for low wage jobs or construction sites
  • Trapped in cycle of poverty and deprivation – malnourishment & low literacy
  • Displaced from land – lost income, tradition, and customs

Minorities

  • Minority – communities that are numerically small in relation to the rest of the population.
  • Size can led to marginalization
  • Constitution provides safeguards to protect India՚s cultural diversity and promote equality as well as justice
  • Citizens can approach court if fundamental rights are violated

Muslims

  • 14.23% as per 2011 census
  • Marginalized – deprived of socio-economic benefits of development (less access to basic amenities)
  • Rajindar Sachar committee – to examine social, economic, and educational status of Muslims in India - on a range of social, economic, and educational indicators the situation of Muslim community is comparable to that of other marginalized communities like SC/ST with lower school enrolments & high dropouts. Distinct customs and traditions – burqa, wearing fez, keeping beard
  • Ghettoization (region populated by member of community – feeling of secure living) of community – social marginalization
  • Prejudice leads to hatred and violence
  • It requires strategies, measures, and safeguards to redress this situation
  • Each of these groups has a long history of struggle and resistance
  • Marginalized communities want to maintain their cultural distinctiveness while having access to rights, development, and other opportunities

Coming Next! !

How different groups have confronted marginalization?

✍ Mayank