Block VIII

Towards Equity and Equality

BLOCK VIII TOWARDS EQUITY AND
EQUALITY
Introduction
This last block of this course is named Towards Equity and Equality, aptly so as after
going through the entire course, and learning about how society exists in different layers,
learners will be able to see and comprehend that there are various processes through
which such stratification is fought against and many mediations are made which aims
for an equal society.
The first unit in this block involves itself in a discussion on affirmative action and has
been named Intervention of State: Affirmative Action (Unit 27). The unit first
provides definition of the core aspects of affirmative action and state intervention. It
attempts to describe constitutional provisions and protection against caste, class, gender
based discrimination and identifies various development programmes of state. The unit
also examines the role of NGOs in development and their collaborative effort with the
Government and finally analyses the strategies devised by NGOs to receive their goals.
The second unit is called Role of ICTs (Unit 28). The unit first defines what ICT is and
discusses its importance in today’s world. It explains how people of different strata
can be empowered through the use of ICT and talks about different routes and means
by which ICT can reach people. The unit deals with the utility of ICT also and finally
critically analyses the usage of ICT by different groups and communities.
The third unit is called Challenging the Structure: People’s Movements (Unit 29).
Here the author explains the relevance of culture in challenging hierarchical structures
of power and provides an insight about the ways in which people’s movements has
been understood. The history of peoples’ movements in India has been elaborately
dealt with here and the ideological bases for peoples’ movements in India has been
examined critically. Finally the unit tries to put forward an understanding of the relationship
between peoples’ movements and social change in India.
The last unit of this block and the course is called Distributive Justice (Unit 30). This
unit begins with a discussion on the concept of justice and fairness. It then proceeds
with an explanation of the philosophical history of distributive justice and tries to describe
the concept and principle of distributive justice. It critically analyses the social and
institutional bases of distributive justice and concludes with an evaluation of the notions
of relative deprivation and equitable sharing of resources.
This block brings us to the end of this course which hopefully will give the learner an
opportunity to learn about the various forms of stratification that exists in society from
time immemorial and how anthropologists have studied the same with a view to put
forward interventions through various government and civil mediums and meaningfully
work towards an equal and just society replete with equal opportunities for all. It is
hoped that after reading this course the learner will be in a position to be sensitive
towards their fellow beings and create a viewpoint which allows acceptance of people
who are unlike them and their known existence.
Towards Equity and
Equality

52
 Intervention of State:
UNIT 27 INTERVENTION OF STATE: Affirmative Action

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Contents

27.1 Introduction
27.2 Intervention of State and Affirmative Action
27.2.1 What is Affirmative Action?

27.2.2 Origin and meaning of Affirmative Action

27.2.3 Caste Based Affirmative Action

27.2.4 Constitutional Provisions for SC/ST/OBC

27.3 Development Programmes for SC/ST/OBC and Rural Poor

27.3.1 Area Oriented Programmes

27.3.2 Productivity Oriented Programmes

27.3.3 Employment Oriented Programmes

27.3.4 Target Oriented Programmes

27.4 Emergence of NGOs in India

27.5 State-NGO Cooperation for Development
27.5.1 Employment Oriented Programmes

27.6 Role of NGO for Equity and Equality: Discussion with examples
27.6.1 SEWA: Self Employed Women Association

27.6.2 Sulabh International Movement

27.6.3 Ekta Parishad

27.7 Summary
References
Suggested Readings
Sample Questions

Learning Objectives
After going through this unit, the learner will be able to:
 Define the core aspects of affirmative action and state intervention;
 Describe constitutional provisions and protection against caste, class, gender
based discrimination;
 Identify various development programmes of state;
 Examine the role of NGOs in development and their collaborative effort with
the Government; and
 Analyse some operational strategy of NGOs.
53
Towards Equity and
Equality 27.1 INTRODUCTION
Equality in simple terms means the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or
opportunities. Equity in contrast is the quality of being fair and impartial. In any
society unfair treatment in terms of social, economic or political opportunity and
unequal distribution of resources give birth to socio-economic inequality leading to
poverty and deprivation. A nation, for its development often thrives for eradication
of such unfair treatment, induced through caste, gender or racial discriminations,
intervening by implementing various development policies based on impartial and
fair distribution of resources and opportunities. The primary aim of such policies is
to alleviate people from the existing condition of misery and reduce the level of
inequality in the society. Some scholars have termed these initiatives as a means to
bring ‘social justice’. In the following, we will see the measures taken in India for
establishing a just and equal society through the principle of equity. This novel initiative
started with the framing of constitutional provisions for the deprived sections, and
furthered by various development policies carried out by the Government and Non-
Government Organisations.

27.2 INTERVENTION OF STATE AND AFFIRMATIVE

ACTION
Affirmative Action and intervention of State can be perceived from various perspectives.
The requirement of affirmative action is based on the variability of inequalities such as
race, caste, class, religion gender etc., in a particular nation or region. The idea behind
affirmative action is specifically aimed to alleviate the socio-economically deprived
condition of a certain section of a society.
However, when we discuss the role of the state intervention, the focus would be
mainly on the development policies of the state and role of different Government
Schemes aimed to improve the condition of the underprivileged sections of the society.
In the following Unit, we will also discuss about the definition and origin of affirmative
action, role of development programmes in the improvement of the deprived classes,
State and NGO’s role in improving the conditions of the poor, political, and constitutional
affirmative action for attaining equity and equality.

27.2.1 What is Affirmative Action?

Affirmative Action are policies directed to promote equal opportunity as relates to
caste, ethnicity and gender, etc. Such policies focus on public health programmes,
employment opportunities and education. India has a long history of Affirmative Action
starting from the drafting of the Constitution, which primarily dealt with the issues of
caste-based discrimination in the country and made strong reservation policies to protect
the rights of the marginalised communities. The intervention of the state does not only
stop at envisaging the constitutional provisions, it also set up various committees, boards
and framed policies to eradicate poverty and regional inequalities and to promote
social development. For example, since independence, the Planning Commission of
India has played a vital role in framing a five years plan that has still been the most
important socio-economic policy framework for the country. However, the meaning of
development can be understood from two different perspectives, first as a primarily
academic course of study and second as policies that could be practically implemented.
54
In the following section, we will attempt to synthesise these two aspects, viewing the Intervention of State:
Affirmative Action
Intervention of State Affirmative Action from both the implementation of practical policy
development and the thorough academic background of such policy and actions in
India.

27.2.2 Origin and meaning of Affirmative Action:

The term Affirmative Action (AA) is relatively recent origin. The US president John
F. Kennedy first used it in 1961 to refer policies designed to promote equal
opportunity (Ashwini Deshpande, OUP 2013:06). Theoretically speaking, AA was
originally aimed to alleviate the social situation of black Americans and provide a
counterweight to the prevalent racial discrimination in the US. Since then, AA policies
have also been implemented by various governments in both developed and
developing countries in an attempt to lift up poor and marginalised communities in
their respective countries. In America and other countries run by white people, AA
was primarily used to fight racial discrimination. In India AA was written into the
Constitution with the goal of eradicating both caste supremacy and the resultant
deprivation of marginalized people from the ‘lower castes’. The chief architect of
Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar, made it clear from the beginning of
independent India that until social equality was attained, it would be impossible for
the nation to achieve political and economic equality. The goal of AA in India was
not a redistribution of wealth or assets, but a remaking of social hierarchy that broke
down the traditional elite positions in society. This was achieved through the quota
or reservation system that focused on tribal communities and lower castes in areas
such as education, employment and other public services.

27.2.3 Caste Based Affirmative Action

In both developed and developing countries, the majority of AA policies focus on
increasing access to employment and education for marginalised or historically
disadvantaged groups (Weisskopf 2004). India has one of the longest running set of
AA policies of any developing country (Revankar 1971 cited in Weisskopf 2004).
Article 46 of the Constitution (1950) reads, “The State shall promote with special
care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people,
and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect
them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.” A list of castes and tribes
who may avail themselves of such provisions is available in Articles 341 and 342 of
the Constitution. The specific castes and the tribes listed in these articles were called
Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), respectively. Due to this
provision, members of SC and ST were given preference at both national and state
levels in studying at universities and obtaining public service jobs, a policy known as
compensatory discrimination (Galanter 1984 cited in Gang et.al 2011). Although the
Constitution identifies a larger socially and educationally backward classes of citizens,
known today as the Other Backward Classes (OBC), the specific make-up of this
group is not unclear.

27.2.4 Constitutional Provisions for SC/ST/OBC:

The Indian Constitution mandates a few provisions with the purpose of eradicating
caste discrimination and the subsequent deprivation. Articles 16(A), 243 (D) and (T),
330, 332 and 334 all directly address the requirements of reservation for Schedule
Castes at all three levels – legislative, administrative and educational – the Constitution 55
Towards Equity and is most specific on legislative reservation. Articles 243 (D) and (T), 330, 332, and 334
Equality
directly deals with the legislative reservation. While 243 (D) and (T) secures reservation
in urban and rural local bodies, 330 and 332 extend the same to the Lok Sabha and
State Legislative Assemblies, respectively. However, this reservation policy is to be
proportionate to the population of the SCs and was originally envisaged for a period of
10 years, which was extended periodically until the Sixty Second Constitutional
Amendment (1989) stipulated a fifty year period from the commencement of the
Constitution for its termination. As the original Constitution did not have any explicit
provision for reservation for SCs and STs in public service other than legislative
reservation, thus by the Seventy Seventh Amendment in 1995 an exclusive provision
for STs and SCs was incorporated in the text of the Constitution – article 16(4A).
Article 338 lays out the responsibility to oversee and evaluate the progress in the
implementation of reservations and welfare programmes and report the same to the
President of India.
Constitutional Provisions
 Article 16(A), 243 (D) and (T), 330, 332 and 334 directly expounded the
cause of reservation for Schedule Castes.
 Article 14 affirms equality.

 Article 15(4) allows the state to create specific provisions for these sections
along with other backward classes
 Article 17 abolishes untouchability

 Article 243 (D) and (T), 330, 332, and 334 directly deals with the legislative
reservation.
 While article 243 (D) and (T) secures reservation in urban and rural local
bodies.
 Article 330 and 332 extend the same to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative
Assemblies, respectively.
 Article 338 requires monitoring of the above provisions and reporting the
same to the appropriate authorities.

27.3 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES FOR SC/ST

OBC AND RURAL POOR
In the above, we have learned the approaches and strategies of various development
programmes that attempted to fix some diverse socio-economic issues. Here, we will
pick some specific goal oriented programmes to understand the qualitative output of
such activities and the roles that these have played in improving the situation.
27.3.1 Area Oriented Programmes
Area Oriented Programmes were specifically aimed at developing the infrastructure,
such as road, transport, market, etc., and living conditions, depending on their
geographical specificities and a given crisis. Since 1970s, the implementation of such
programmes took place with economic assistance from the Government and the
Scheduled Banks. Some Area Oriented programmes are given below:
56
 Intervention of State:
Drought Prone Area Programme Affirmative Action

Nearly 20 per cent of the cultivated land in India is under persistent drought. As
per observation by the Irrigation Commission 1972, assuming that the areas which
receive less than 75 per cent rainfall per annum are liable to drought, 34 per cent
area in 77 districts were covered under this category.
Objective:
1. To minimize the harmful results of drought on the production capacity of
land, water and other resources through promotion of the natural resources,
such as rainfall, for restoring an ecological balance.
2. To mitigate over a period the impact of the severity of drought.
3. To better the situations, both economic and social, of the rural poor who
suffer most in times of scarcity and drought.
4. To advance the general economic development and improve conditions
of disadvantaged and poor sections of the population who reside in the
programme areas.
5. To implement programmes for land development and afforestation/pasture
development by monitoring, assessing and, where necessary, restoring
the watershed.

27.3.2 Productivity Oriented Programmes

These programmes were an outcome of India’s experiences after the Bengal famine
and the severe food crisis of 1943. The National government gave great importance to
increasing the quality and quantity of the agricultural produce. This gave birth to
programmes such as Intensive Agriculture Area and District Programme, High Yielding
Variety Programme, Multiple Cropping Programme, Multiple Cattle Development
Projects, Massive Agricultural Production Programme, Special Food grains Production
Programme, Million Wells Scheme which were all aimed at developing the agriculture
in the country by improving the yielding technology, supply of sufficient water, seed
and fertilisers. In 1960-61 by the implementation of the Intensive Agricultural Programme
or Package Programme, the new development policy in agriculture began.

27.3.3 Employment Oriented Programmes

As we are discussing about alleviation of poverty and related issues, the most vulnerable
are the village dwellers, especially agricultural wage labourers. Exploitation of the daily
wage workers by the big landlords, seasonal unemployment, migration of the labour,
discrimination between women and men’s wages, and child labour are just some of the
major issues. Any improvement requires regular, dignified economic opportunities.
Hence, creation of employment opportunity had been the major thrust area for the
programmes such as:
National Rural Employment Scheme/MGNREGA
People in the village with very less productive assets need wage employment to
sustain their family. The employment in agriculture is also seasonal. Besides this with
increased number of small and marginal farmers in the villages, their family members
do most of the work in the farm; hence, the wage employment is also limited.
Objectives of the programme:
1. Generation of opportunity for wage employment
2. Creation of durable community assets
3. Improvement of the nutritional status of the rural poor.
57
Towards Equity and
Equality Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)
The Programme for Self-Employment of the poor has been an essential piece of
government-sponsored anti-poverty programmes in the rural areas. The
programme started on 1.04.1999. Objectives of the programme:
1. The main objective of the programme was to assist poor families living just
above the poverty line by providing them assets, a mix of bank credit and
government subsidy, to generate income.
2. The programme was implemented after reviewing and restricting some of
the previously implemented programmes, such as Integrated Rural
Development Programme, Gram Kalyan Yojana, Million Wells Scheme,
etc. Hence, this programme was a major shift from the earlier programmes
and envisioned as a holistic programme of self-employment: looking at
building up infrastructure and providing technology and marketing support.

27.3.4 Target Oriented Programme

From the name itself it can be derived that the target oriented programmes are aimed
to fulfil specific objectives for a particular deprived group. Target oriented programmes
cater to an array of communities, such as landless labourers of rural areas, people with
disability, manual scavengers and women and children of urban slums and rural areas.
Some such programmes are listed below:
Antyodaya Programme
The ethos of the Antyodaya Programme was to promote a society where in the
rich look after their poor neighbours out of feelings of necessity and duty. The
meaning of Antyodaya is the poorest of the poor. The programme is aimed at
providing self-sustaining economic independence to the poorest of the poor
persons.
Target Group:
1. Families having no earning member between 15-50 years of age.
2. Families having no economic assets have earning members but annual
income does not exceed Rs.15000
3. Other families having economic assets but living beneath the poverty line.

National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)

The programme created a national policy to provide assistance to poor families,
representing a significant step towards the fulfilment of Articles 41 and 42 of the
Constitution recognizing the responsibility to act for both the Central and State
Governments.
Objective:
The NSAP provides social and economic assistance package to alleviate poverty;
in particular, pensions are used to provide medical care and other benefits to
poor and old people.
58
 Intervention of State:
27.4 EMERGENCE OF NGOS IN INDIA Affirmative Action

In India NGOs have a long and vibrant history of 150 years characterised by a changing
relationship with the state (Kilby, 2011:4). Both the colonial Government and post-
colonial regimes have shaped the functions and character of NGOs in the country,
which often has been fraught with the state. Although the relationship with the state
often plays a significant role in shaping NGOs, Indian NGOs are hesitant to acknowledge
that the state is a determinant in both the type of work and scope of these organisations.
The definition of an NGO is broad and fluid, but in India, NGOs are defined as
organisations with an institutional base that are voluntary, not for profit and private.
NGOs in India must also register with the government (Nandedkar 1987 cited in
Kilby 2011). However, because there is no central mechanism, it is difficult to determine
the number of NGOs registered with various local, state and national government
bodies. This includes small, local funeral societies and parents and citizens organisations
to very large NGOs that assist thousands of people across different states. As a result,
it is not known exactly how many NGOs are registered in India, but estimates put the
number in a range from 1 to 2 million (Salamon and Anheier 1999 cited in Kilby 2011).
This inexact number speaks to both the challenges in measuring exact numbers of
organisations in India and the value of voluntary service in Indian society ‘…a timeless
sphere coterminous with Indian civilization itself…’ (Blamey and Pasha 1993:14 cited
in Kilby 2011).
State legislatures register these organisations as either Trusts or Associations, and as a
result exact numbers are hard to acquire with accuracy. Exact numbers tend to be
available for smaller subsections of the NGO community such as the 32,144 NGOs
which in 2006 were federally registered to receive foreign funds (Ministry of Home
Affairs 2007). Even so, just over half of those registered NGOs actually received any
foreign funding, with raises questions if they are still operational in their respective
communities.
Until the early 2000s, the majority of Indian NGOs working on development issues
received their funding from foreign sources. In 2006, they received Rs7, 877 crore or
$US1.85b in 2006 (Ministry of Home Affairs 2007: ii), accounting for over 90% of all
formal funding for Indian NGOs doing development work (Sen, S. 1999 cited in Kilby
2011). Starting in 2005, Indian government funding slowly began to replace foreign
funding, in particular for secular NGOs and those in the economically stronger South
Indian states. Even before the early 2000s, there were NGOs that did not want to
receive foreign funding, and worked to seek out donations from local sources or funding
from Indian government bodies. Increasingly in the 21st century, there was a movement
for NGOs, both large and small, which had relied on foreign funding to obtain money
from various domestic channels, which often included “closer funding relationships
with the state” (Kudva 2005: 248 cited in Kilby 2011).
NGOs in the development field emerged as an important bridge over the gap left by
the various Government initiatives. Considering the vastness and diversity of the country,
as well as it having the second highest population in the world, the effectiveness and
benefits of government development programmes did not always address the immediacy
of communities’ needs. These needs drove the growth of civil society initiatives,
community-led, not for profit and voluntary organisations. “In welfare programmes,
development oriented initiatives, empowerment of the women and weaker sections,
protecting the environment, spreading literacy and education, to name a few, the 59
Towards Equity and participation of the NGO sector has been impressive, particularly since independence.
Equality
There is a high degree of diversity and heterogeneity in the activities as well”
(Sooryamoorthy and Gangrade 2001:1).
During pre-independence era, influenced by the freedom struggle, a lot of service
oriented people came together to work on socio-political and economic problems in
the colony. Three major national organisations – Indian National Congress, Hindu
Mahasabha and Muslim league – were strong initial forces working for the betterment
of the citizenry. However, with the entry of Mahatma Gandhi in the political arena, it
increased the popularity and importance of service work in India (ibid 2001: 44-45).
Prominent women, such as Sarojini Naidu, Saroj Nalilni, and Anne Besant took
important role in alleviating the distressed and backward position of the women of
colonial India. Women’s Indian Association (1917) was the first of its kind being the
first all-India women’s organisation under the leadership of Anne Besant. Soon after its
establishment, another women’s organisation, the All India Women’s Conference, known
as Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad, was formed in 1926.
In the post-independence and post-Gandhi era in India, NGOs grew in both number
and size. Initially, participation was largest in spontaneous social movements but eventually
this led to the development and progress of social work professionally. Bhoodan and
Gramdan movements to transform rural India led by Acharya Vinoba Bhave took the
ancient notion of Daan (gift) and reintegrated it into a modern context of voluntary
action. Shramadan (gift of labour), Sampatidan (gift of money, income, wealth),
Bhudhidan (gift of mental abilities for the realization of Sarvodaya ideals) and Jeevan
dan (dedication of life) were the forms of offering which primarily orient one to contribute
voluntarily for the noble cause for development of the less fortunate. These were the
most primary initiatives in independent India following the roots of Gandhian philosophy
of welfare and development of the country. Now we will move forward to understand
the example based analysis of State-NGO cooperation in the country in implementing
development actions in the country.

27.5 STATE-NGO COOPERATION FOR

DEVELOPMENT
After these initial head starts of the voluntary actions, the Government also embarked
on a number of projects for the encouragement of the voluntary work, particularly in
areas where such organisations had limitations. Government started extending help
and partnership approach to involve these Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
in its developmental activities. In the First Five-Year Plan it is evident that there was a
significant initiative from the side of the government to include the NGOs in its
developmental process. In the first Five Year Plan (1951-56), Rs. 40 million was
allotted for voluntary organisation. The Government expressed its failure in dealing
with social problems and its inability to efficiently allocate these resources. Government’s
role and support for the NGOs can further be understood by going through the initiatives
taken in the Five-Year Plans since 1951. The Third Five-Year Plan (1961-66) codified
voluntary work as a part of public cooperation. The grant-in-aid shot up to Rs.830
million in the Fifth Five-Year Plan and in the Seventh Plan increased to 1-1.5 billion for
voluntary organizations (Sooryamoorthy and Gangrade 2001:49). Incorporation of a
separate chapter, “Rural Development of Poverty Alleviation Programmes —
Involvement of voluntaryAgencies,” in the Seventh Plan outlines the significance of the
60
voluntary sector and the Government’s desire to empower them. In the Eighth Plan, Intervention of State:
Affirmative Action
the government moved beyond providing funding to professionalising and having NGOs
as partners. In 1987, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
created a committee of representatives from the NGO sector to simplify financial
assistance to voluntary organisations. The Planning Commission envisioned a country-
wide network of NGOs and developed three separate schemes related to the creation
and development. In the post-independence era setting up of some pioneering
associations and centres, such as Central Social Welfare Board, National Institute of
Public Cooperation and Child Development, The Freedom from Hunger Campaign
Office (formed under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture), etc., played a key role as
part of state agency in supporting and progressing the voluntary actions across the
country.

27.5.1 Total Literacy Programme (TLP)

The Total Literacy Programme (TLP) of Ernakulam district of Kerala is considered a
major success of the State-NGO cooperation (United Nations 1997, 97). The
programme’s aim – total literacy of the district – was achieved by the involvement of a
large number of Government officials, local bodies and voluntary organisations that
worked to make 185,000 people literate within a period of one year, without creating
any new permanent structure or institution to achieve the objectives (Gopal Kumar,
Shreekumar, and Balakrishnan 1994). The literacy level of Ernakulam district, according
to the 1981 census, was 76.82 percent, with an estimated 69,429 men and 115,952
women were illiterate.
The district collector of Ernakulam K.R. Rajan initially came up with the goal of making
the whole district literate and sought financial assistance from the National Literacy
Mission. After searching for a competent NGO with which to partner, Rajan decided
on the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP). Along with financial support from the
government, the Ernakulam District Literacy Society (EDLS) was created which in
addition to the above mentioned groups also included prominent citizens, like Justice
V.R. Krishna Iyer, Verma, educationalist, journalists, writers, editors, MLAs, and
members of voluntary organisations. Rajan served as the district collector and
coordinated the efforts of the EDLS and KSSP for the implementation of the project.
On 26th January 1989 Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar inaugurated the project.
A campaign mode of mobilisation was taken for carrying out the programme and it
brought a wide range of effective partnership of institutions, government and community.
Regular house visits, jathas, meetings and use of posters, arts, cultural programmes
and competitions, literacy walls and boards throughout the district were found to be
means of mass appeal to attract people and get them involved in the programme.
Local committees at the district, panchayat and ward levels mobilised local leadership,
the ward level committees were assigned the charge of selecting voluntary trainers,
and monitoring the progress of the programme. Special committees were formed to
deal with different religious groups and inaccessible tribal groups, Muslim women and
religious leaders. These special committees helped to mobilise people for the total
literacy programme by eradicating all sorts of inhibitions. Participation was also
supplemented by liberal contribution to the programme (around Rs 15.7 million).
Although initially created by a top bureaucrat in the district administration, the programme
no doubt changed in complexion and character and became a public programme. The
planning of the programme made people the central factor around which it was
61
Towards Equity and implemented. Although the government mobilised its machinery intensively for the
Equality
success of the TLP, ultimately its success came from focusing how involve people and
mobilise the available resources

27.6 ROLE OF NGO FOR EQUITY AND EQUALITY:

DISCUSSION WITH EXAMPLES
Previously we have discussed about the state and NGO partnership and an effective
project that is an example of such successful collaborative effort. Now we would look
into three NGOs in India that have a prominent presence in the field of development
scenario of the country.

27.6.1 SEWA: Self Employed Women Association

The Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) is a Gujarat based NGO working
with women in informal sector, the acronym SEWA means ‘service’. The genesis of
SEWA dates back to December 3rd 1971, when the Textile Labour Association (TLA)
in Ahmedabad began as a trade union of textile workers in India. A group of women
who worked pulling freight carts and carrying loads on their head approached the TLA
to do something to improve their situation. Ela Bhatt, the founder of SEWA, was at
that time a lawyer and the head of the women’s wing of the TLA. She advised the
group to organise in order to be eligible for the certain benefits. In that time as well as
today, women working in the marginalised sector faced a myriad of oppressions and
struggle to access economic and social entitlements. The organisation brought a large
number of women traders in the informal sector of the country that were otherwise not
under the purview of any organisation or had protection of social security measures.
SEWA is significant for its advocacy, as well as its innovative programmes, such as its
unique banking system and cooperatives. The organisation has a membership of 162,000
in Gujrat and has its presence in Bihar, Delhi, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh, reaching
a total membership of 212,000. Grounded firmly in the Gandhian ideals of social change
SEWA’s main aim is to bring visibility and opportunities to women and workers.
SEWA: Self Employed Women’s Association
Strategy: Organize women who are engaged in odd jobs and seasonal
occupations. The leaders of SEWA believe in building a unique system of support
for women which would provide them with means to both know their rights and
help advocate for themselves.
Policy Implications: According to Ela Bhatt, the leader of the organisation, SEWA
wants laws for homemakers to be adopted by government, and national policy
for vendors and hawkers.
SEWA Bank: Struggling to provide even one meal a day for their families, members
of SEWA were at risk of being taken advantage of my moneylenders who charged
an exorbitant rate of interest, as high as 10% per day. It works ardently to get
loans from the nationalised banks, which are otherwise inaccessible to the rural
poor women.
SEWA Cooperatives: SEWA formed a variety of cooperatives: for artisans to
create and sell goods, for dairy farmers to sell milk, for members to buy and sell
land as well as labour and services cooperatives which provide women yearlong
employment and help them avoid dependency on the moneylenders.
62
 Intervention of State:
Impacts Created by SEWA: Impressed by the work of SEWA, then Prime Affirmative Action
Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed a National Commission on Self Employed
Women. At international level International Labour Organisation (ILO) and
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions initiated an ILO convention in
1990 to recognise and protect home based workers.

27.6.2 Sulabh International Movement

After discussing activities and ethos of one of the important NGOs in India which
pioneered in the field of rights and helped to alleviate poverty of working women, we
will now focus on another organisational movement called Sulabh Sanitation movement.
Historically, one of the most oppressive and humiliating professions in India was the
occupation of manual scavenging by the lowest castes. Despite laws and social
awareness movements, it has still not been eradicated. Dr. Bindheshwar Pathak who
pioneered the modern sanitary technology, popularly known as two-pit-pour-flush
toilet, worked hard to end this practice. In 1968 after joining the Bihar Gandhi Centenary
Celebration Committee, Dr. Pathak was charged with the developing an alternative
technological system to remove the need for scavenging. The two-pit-pour flush toilet
is not widely acknowledged by engineers in India and around the world as a safe on-
site excreta disposal system, providing a better alternative to unhygienic and unsafe
systems of waste disposal, such as trench latrines and open-air defecation. After the
Bihar Government dissolved the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebration Committee in
1970, Dr. Pathak continued this work through his non-profit organisation, Sulabh
Shauchalaya Sansthan (now known as Sulabh International Social Service
Organisation). A brief chronology of the movement is given in the box below:
Sulabh International Movement
Expansion: The mass movement by Dr. Pathak started spreading all over the country
with a cadre of about 50,000 Sulabh volunteers, now working from right atop the
mountain at Badri Nath to deep down in south and in the farthest corners in the east
and the west of the country, in 25 states and 1642 towns and 4 Union Territories.
Catalytic Agent: After developing a technology, Dr. Pathak evolved a
methodology which also spelt out how a non-profit making social organisation
could work as a catalytic agent between the government, local bodies and the
beneficiaries
Scavengers’ Liberation: During the past 40 years, Dr. Pathak brought the
scavengers’ liberation programme from the micro-level to the macro-level. Sulabh
has converted about 1.2 million bucket latrines into Sulabh Shauchalayas throughout
the country; and more than a million scavengers have been liberated and more
than 640 towns have been made scavenging-free.
Legal Protection: Dr. Pathak persuaded the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India, to include liberation of scavengers and their rehabilitation
programme on the “whole-town approach” basis. Under the scheme,
implementation of Protection of Civil Rights Act 1980-81 was taken up in two
towns of Bihar – Biharsharif and Purnia.
Training and Rehabilitation: With the help of the Ministry of Welfare,
Government of India, Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, and the Bihar
63
Towards Equity and
Equality State Scheduled Castes Development Corporation, Sulabh started a training and
rehabilitation programme for the wards of scavengers in different trades like
shorthand, typing, motor driving, mechanics, masonry work, carpentry, cane work,
etc.
Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act: Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak persuaded the
Ministry of Welfare to give stipends to the wards of Muslim and Christian
scavengers also for training and rehabilitation.
People’s Commission: Sulabh set up a People’s Commission on the Abolition
of Scavenging. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, inaugurated the
Commission at a function organised on November 26, 1998 to honour him with
the Sulabh Honest Man of the Year Award 1997.

27.6.3 Ekta Parishad

In 1991, Ekta Parishad was a group of NGO training institutes doing development
work. Evolved as a people’s organisation in 1991, Ekta Parishad was primarily a
loose grouping of NGO training institutes that created a large base of community
development work. By 1996, they refocused their goal as “people’s control over the
livelihood resources” around the issues of land, forest and water rights. Many of the
initial beneficiaries of Ekta Parishad’s work were tribals who were alienated from their
land due to constant displacement. They were also suffering as they were barred from
the forests because of 1980 Forest Conservation act. Apart from this, industries and
large scale agricultural activities started hijacking the water resources jeopardising the
local people’s livelihood. In 1994 Ekta Parishad gathered around 2 lakh members and
set out for a Padayatra (foot march) to raise awareness and gather support for their
cause. Although their first foot march did not bring much impact but in 2007 the 2nd
foot march from Gwalior to Delhi created a much larger effect. Landless agricultural
labourers, children, women and bonded labourers, over 2,50,000 people total, walked
along the National Highway for one month to reach Delhi. Upon reaching Delhi, the
group presented their demands for land reform and forest rights, making it one of the
largest Non-Violent movements in history.

27.7 SUMMARY
In this unit we have discussed the core concepts of affirmative action and how state
development policies have intervened in different sectors to alleviate poverty, caste
and gender based discrimination. While constitutional provisions for protecting the
rights of the Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe and Other Backward Classes are
enumerated in the Constitution, much of the social work towards alleviating these
discriminations and the causes have been undertaken by state-NGO collaborative
development policies and organisations.
Along with this, state implemented development policies also play crucial role in terms
of creating employment for the rural and urban poor. Hill development policy, special
policy for the development of drought prone areas, etc., are the areas where state
implemented policies are the chief functionary for the improvement of the worst condition
of the weaker sections. In a vast and highly diverse country like India, Government
cannot create any impact by working in isolation. It is somewhat difficult as well to
64 reach the heterogeneous population of the nation without spontaneous support of the
civil society. NGOs are such initiatives which has also played no lesser role in case of Intervention of State:
Affirmative Action
the development and bringing equality in society. In various occasions State-NGO
participation has turned out as a great success. Again, in many cases like in Madhya
Pradesh (Ekta Parishad), voices of the deprived people were heard due to their
organised participation. Thus, the unit gives glimpses of the policies in the country
implemented both by Government and civil society towards reducing caste discrimination
and geospatial poverty across the nation.
References
Desai, Vandana. 2014. Companion to Development Studies. UK: Routledge
Deshpande, Ashwini. 2012. Oxford Introduction: Affirmative Action in India. India:
Oxford University Press
Galanter, M. 1984. Competing Equalities: Law and the Backward Classes in India.
Berkeley: University of California Press
Gang, I. N., Sen, K., & Yun, M. S. 2011. “Was the Mandal Commission right?
Differences in Living Standards between Social Groups”. Economic and Political
Weekly, 46(39), 24.
Klark, Gerard .1998. The Politics of NGOs in South East Asia. London: Routledge
Livingston, John C. 1979. Affirmative Action and Social Change. Sans Francisco:
W.H. Freeman
Mehta, Asha Kapoor and Shepherd Andrew (ed). 2006. Chronic Poverty and
Development Policy in India. Delhi: Sage Publications
Patrick Kilby. 2011. NGOs in India: The Challenges of Women’s Empowerment
and Accountability. Oxon: Routledge
Revankar, R.G. 1971. The Indian Constitution – A Case Study of Backward Classes.
Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Rishi Muni Dwivedi. 2005. Poverty and Development Programmes in India. New
Delhi: New Century Publication
Sooryamoorthy, R and Gangrade, K.D. 2001. NGOs in India – A Cross Sectional
Study. Greenwood Press
Veltmeyer, Henry (ed). 2011. Critical Development Studies Hand Book. London:
Pluto Press
Weisskopf, T. E. 2004. Affirmative Action in the United States and India: A
Comparative Perspective. London and New York: Routledge
Suggested Readings
Deshpande, Ashwini. 2012. Oxford Introduction: Affirmative Action in India. India:
Oxford University Press
Rishi Muni Dwivedi. 2005. Poverty and Development Programmes in India. New
Delhi: New Century Publication
Patrick Kilby. 2011. NGOs in India: The Challenges of Women’s Empowerment
and Accountability. Oxon: Routledge 65
Towards Equity and Sooryamoorthy, R and Gangrade, K.D. 2001. NGOs in India – A Cross Sectional
Equality
Study. Greenwood Press
Sample Questions
1) What is Affirmative Action? Does Constitution play any role in this regard?
2) What are the different dvelopment policies in India?
3) What role state plays as far as the development of the country is concerned?
4) Elaborate the Role of NGOs in socio-economic development of the deprived
section:
5) How does State-NGO cooperation lead to an implementation of development
programme?

66
 Intervention of State:
UNIT 28 ROLE OF ICTs Affirmative Action

Contents

27.1 Introduction
28.1 Introduction
28.2 ICT and Empowerment
28.3 ICT and Embeddedness
28.4 Empowering Possibilities of ICTs
28.5 Increased Access to Outside Institutions
28.6 Potential uses of ICTs
28.7 Summary
References
Suggested Readings
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
After going through this unit the learner will be able to:
 Define what ICT is and its importance in today’s world;
 Explain how people of different strata can be empowered through the use of
ICT;
 Identify routes and means by which ICT reaches people;
 Examine the utility of ICT; and
 Critically think and analyse the usage of ICT by different groups, communities
etc.

28.1 INTRODUCTION
Since 1980s the kind of changes that have come about in the social, economic and
other realms due to the introduction of information and communication technology
(ICT) has been revolutionary. It has not only brought in tremendous changes in the
way communication and information has been made to be available to the individuals
at the press a button on a mobile and computer. It has also changed the way information
pertaining to learning has been drastically altered in such a way that education and
training has now become a virtual reality. The physical distances have been shrunken
through the use of mobile technology. Digital technology has opened opportunities to
people to improve their abilities and knowledge, thereby offering them opportunity to
improve their chances of social mobility.
We need to understand that information, and the ability to communicate that information,
are an indispensable part of a society. All people must have not simply access to
information, but also the means to obtain it. In addition, people should have the right to
freedom of speech, which means the right to search for and acquire information as well 67
Towards Equity and as an ability to express that information through any form of media, irrespective of
Equality
national boundaries or other potential limits.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are broad collection of technology
and tools that can be used by people use to receive, collect and share information by
communicating with each other using a variety of networks, including computers and
mobile phones.
Chris Nicol (2003) in his book ‘ICT Policy: A Beginner’s Handbook’ arranges the
ICTs into three categories:
1. Information technology: Primarily computers, along with other devices that
assisting in the processing of data.
2. Telecommunications technologies: Devices used for communication,
through satellites or other mediums. Some examples are telephone, fax, radio
and television.
3. Networking technologies: Comprised of much of the technology related to
mobile phones, as well as voice over IP (VOIP) technology.
These different forms of ICTs affect many aspects of our lives, including the distribution
of knowledge, business and economic uses, politics, education, media, health and
medicine as well as relationships and social interaction. Increasingly, there is much
overlap to be found between these once distinct categories of ICTs, as new technologies
combine communication, information and media. Such a drastic change is transforming
the way we process and communicate and changing our society into one dependent on
ICTs for information and knowledge (Ramilo and Villanueva, 2001).
The last few decades witness the potential of ICTs to advance economic and social
development. Such examples include new jobs and business opportunities, improved
health knowledge and health-care, and a greater platform for networking and advocacy.
In some cases, ICTs have introduced increased transparency and accountability in
interactions between a government and its citizens. More traditional forms of ICTs,
such as radio and television, have used the power of internet webcasting to create
more opportunities of delivery of content. ICTs have undoubtedly become an integral
part of our social fabric today. It remains to be seen if they are, as some claim, a
technological watershed leading to vastly improved lives.
To better understand the potential power of ICTs, first it must be understood what
makes them unique. ICTs are a form of general-purpose technologies (GPTs) which
have generic uses throughout a variety of activities and industries. Some examples of
GPTs are the steam engine and electricity. When such technologies are adopted by a
large section of society, they will often disrupt current social systems and reconstitute
new ones. For example, the invention and widespread adoption of the steam engine
and electricity resulted in the modern factory system and industrial revolution. This
resulted in widespread changes through many facets of society, personnel, professional,
political, etc. Another example is developments in agriculture that allowed many
populations to shift from pastoral livelihood to an agrarian one and the multitude of
social changes that subsequently occurred. In addition to GTPs, many sociologists and
anthropologists observe that information and communication technologies – development
of language, writing, printing press and radio to name a few – have similar widespread
68 social effects as GTPs. What makes ICTs so unique is they are often comprised of
GTPs combined with information and communication technology, making their potential Role of ICTs
impact on society wider and deeper than either aspect alone.
In a way, ICT has opened new vistas to people who could use the opportunities
created by it to improve their status and also empowers them in many ways. It has
added to their social capital by way of networking and use of social media. Governments
have brought in policy changes to benefit the lower caste classes in part because of the
increased accountability and transparency ICTs provide to average citizens. ICT has
changed the way education can be reached to a large section of people who hither to
could not access higher education. It has empowered the weaker sections, including
women. Mobile technology has ushered in new modes of imparting learning. It has
made learning more interesting and larger amount of information is made available to
everyone without any discrimination.

28.2 ICT AND EMPOWERMENT

It is useful to look at the ways in which ICTs can directly or indirectly empower people
and communities. Many ICTs, in the hands of someone with basic skills, can open up
a world of potential information and communication that was unthinkable a generation
ago. In the past, telegrams and trunk calls were an expensive and difficult way of
relaying information, letters were less expensive but took longer (and required literacy).
Now people on the opposite sides of the world can call each other over the internet.
Emails can be sent containing pictures, documents and large volumes of information
even when the receiver doesn’t have internet connectivity on their device (known as
asynchronous communication). The nearly immediate digital processing of information
helps activists and organisation to raise money, organise rallies and launch campaigns
with a new speed and efficiency. As these technologies become less expensive and
easier to use, their marginal cost to benefit ratio drops and, as a result, many more
people start using them.
Mobile phones are one of the best examples of how ICTs can open up new social
networks and provide increased economic opportunities, or even create new ones.
This is especially true of people working in the marginal or informal economy. For
example, farmers and fisherman no longer need to work through a middle man to
deliver their product to a city, then can contact stores and distributors directly. Self-
employed skilled workers such as plumbers, electricians and beauticians can build
client networks and schedule appointments simply by using a mobile phone. An increase
of affordable access to such technologies can have large and far reaching effects on
people’s livelihoods and economic opportunities.

28.3 ICT AND SOCIAL EMBEDDEDNESS

The many functions of ICTs can obscure the fact that technologies are social constructs,
shaped by the needs of a society and in particular those in powerful positions. Therefore,
many technologies are unavailable to people from economically weaker sections as
they may lack either the means or the training to use them. Despite the common refrain
that technology can the great equaliser, markets tend to develop technologies keeping
in mind the needs and preferences of higher economic classes. Therefore, the rapid
and widespread acceptance of mobile telephone technology is the exception, not the
rule, and it is difficult to replicate such a success with other ICTs. 69
Towards Equity and Even for mobile telephones and the related ICTs, it must be interrogated as to whether
Equality
these technologies empower populations or not. Many ICTs – software, applications,
content, or networking systems to name a few – require specific hardware and training
to use, making them inaccessible to certain populations. For example, using a desktop
computer requires a consistent power system, the computer CPU and monitor, mouse,
keyboard, and a router. The cost of all of this will be prohibitive to most, and in addition
requires specific technical knowledge to set up and use. Another way that markets
prioritise the creation of ICTs for certain populations can also be seen on a global
scale. There may not be as strong an economic incentive to develop ICTs for countries
or population that are seen to lack “paying capacity” or “market potential”. Certain
ICTs are developed keeping the knowledge and need of the dominant classes in mind,
those same ICTs are simply offered to the marginalised groups. Developers of such
technologies strive to create a demand for their products by providing a variety of
options that may or may not be wanted to be useful to all consumers. For example, an
average mobile phone comes pre-loaded with many different applications, regardless
of who the user is or what they need.
Such a wide range of products and services can seem enticing, even empowering.
While certainly such ICTs can give opportunities, there are also potentially negative
consequences to the economy and society. Such attractive products that are designed
by large companies to seem insensible can create cultural dependencies. Therefore,
the aspects of ICTs both as a set of utilities and product must be carefully observed
and understood before claims can be made as to their empowering nature in a society.

28.4 EMPOWERING POSSIBILITIES OF ICTS

Clearly there is a great potential for the use of ICTs to empower and assist many
populations. Much research has been done as to the ways such technologies have
helped lead to large-scale social transformation. It is useful to take a brief look at some
of the ways ICTs have made this possible. These general categories are meant to
enlighten but are not in-depth or complete analysis of particular situations.
Community information centre
A community information centre may use ICTs, often in the form of internet-enabled
computers, to gather, organise and make available a wide variety of information. This
can be information about the community itself, the rest of the world, or even lists of
public services or other economic opportunities. Such a vast availability of information
can change not only behaviour in a community, such as people choosing internet searches
to find information over more traditional forms of gaining information, but can change
people’s expectations around the availability of information in the society. Over time,
these changes in both behaviours and expectations can strengthen the design and reach
of such an information centre, what is referred to as a “virtuous spiral”. There are many
possibilities to weave these new modes of community knowledge with traditional or
local knowledge forms. For example, a community with a strong knowledge of medicinal
plants could use the ICTs at a community information centre to share that knowledge
with community members living far away or even people outside of the community.
Although community information centres clearly offer much public good, they are often
limited in their economic success without additional revenue, either in the form of other
70 projects generating money or outside donations.
Community generated information Role of ICTs

User-generated content can be images, videos, text or audio that is created by an

individual and posted online for others to purchase or use, is a deceptively simple
concepts which plays an increasing large role in most societies. Access to specific data
or statistics about a given community or area, also more widely available thanks to the
internet, plays a vital role in demanding individual entitlements or increasing group
power in a state. A well-known example is an open-source mapping application, wherein
users can edit or add to existing online maps, which was used by residents of the
largest slum in Nairobi, Kenya to create a user-generated map of their area. In the
Philippines, some tribal communities have successfully petitioned the government over
usurped lands based on community-generated maps from collective memories. Across
the world household surveys and census are increasingly employing the use of mobile
phones both for their Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and ease to connect
with people. Of course, the benefits of such use, as well as their potential to empower
communities, largely rest on how the data is collected, what data is collected and what
is done with that data. For every success story from the tribes of the Philippines or the
slums of Nairobi, there are stories of companies using this information to sell products
or support their agenda, often at the cost of vulnerable communities. Similarly, while
some governments use this information to help and connect with their citizens, others
may use it to punish dissenting voices or minority groups. Therefore, the benefit of such
ICTs must be interrogated with regards to the intentions of all parties involved.
Local media/ public sphere
ICTs have the potential to strength local media and make it more accessible. It is
cheaper to produce audio and video material and online radio and TV are becoming
more common. There are also more opportunities for a vibrant public information
network through the use of mobile phones through both short message service (SMS)
information systems as well as other interactive possibilities through data or wireless
networks. This provides opportunities for marginalised communities whose issues are
rarely covered by mainstream media, as well as other groups who have not had access
to traditional mediums, like radio, newspaper and television. However, it remains to be
seen if this new generation of news will be inexpensive and neutral or if it will be
dominated by a handful of media companies, in the same manner as traditional media
often is. Without diligent oversight, digital technologies tend to end up consolidated in
the hands of a few powerful companies, such as Facebook purchasing WhatsApp and
Instagram. Big media and technologies may prioritise certain content that fits their
message or is commercially successful, even at the risk of quashing local community
content by providing corporate content at a lower price. As the power of mobile
technologies and other ICTs continues to grow, it remains to be seen if they will empower
or disempower marginalised communities.
SMSs for information, participation and accountability
Local mobile networks, often in the form of SMS services, can be used to provide
information to citizens that have pre-registered numbers. This means that customer
must register their numbers ahead of time with the appropriate authority to receive
such information on their mobile phones. SMS alerts in India have been used to track
public service information, for example, altering customers to a gas cylinder refill or a
package delivery. However, in some Western countries, SMS networks are used to
alert an entire city to an abducted child or a major weather event, without any need for
71
Towards Equity and preregistration. Mass SMS can also be used to collect information from a large group
Equality
of individuals, known as crowd-sourcing. From there companies or government can
use that information to create maps or other informatics, as mentioned above, to alert
a community to useful information. For example, users can provide information about
sexual harassment in order to judge which places in a city are most unsafe for women
or citizens can report on incidents of electoral violence or voter suppression. Specific
individuals may also benefit, like a new mother who receives regular SMS alerts to
immunise her child or a farmer may be informed the correct time to apply fertilisers to
the fields. As with other ICTs, a robust examination of who holds the power and
whose interests are being served is required here.

28.5 INCREASED ACCESS TO OUTSIDE

INSTITUTIONS
It has been argued here that increased access to ICTs can help communities obtain
opportunities and connect with institutions outside of their traditional sphere of influence.
New methods of providing public services are devised and revised, making it easier
for populations to avail themselves of government assistance. New access to outside
markets creates economic opportunities that were unheard of a generation ago and
help create new methods of banking and loans that have the possibility to empower
marginalised communities. It is sometimes claimed, however, that simply providing
access to ICTs will immediately result in such benefits as listed above. Here the “distance”
of such opportunities and services is often seen as the greatest barrier and once it is
torn down by the utilisation of ICTs, then empowerment will quickly follow. It is rarely
so simple. Implementers of ICTs and related technology must ensure accessibility to
the same within a community. Traditional power dynamics and prejudices can come
into play and sometimes ICTs can end up being a weapon of disempowerment—the
opposite of what is intended. Therefore, the early stages of development for any project
must consciously take into consideration these dynamics and the understanding of
existing institutions, if they hope to implement ICTs as a tool of empowerment.
General ICT Community Centres
As mentioned above, there is a need to train communities to use ICTs, taking into
account existing power structures and cultures. One common method is Community
ICT Centres, which allow individuals or groups, such as families, to learn about and
use ICTs for a variety of tasks. This also requires creativity and a willingness to think
about the needs of the community. For example, one study in India found lower usage
numbers than they were hoping for at a centre for training village-level elected officials.
They began to let officials take net books home (loaned using a library model) and saw
the usage numbers grow dramatically. Women representatives, who were not always
comfortable spending long hours at the centres, could watch educational videos and
use the technology at their leisure. With tablets becoming increasingly less expensive
(some models for as low as USD $100), encouraging the use of such technology in the
home seemed a smart move for these village community ICT centres. Many scholars
have observed that the importance of basic technology skills is as important now as
literacy was for the last century. Therefore, a focused public campaign is necessary to
ensure that marginalised and poorer communities are not left behind in this regard.
Basic skills in using ICTs are as important an empowering tool for the emerging society
as literacy was in the last few centuries. Focused public effort needs to go into making
72
people and communities ICT-literate, initial training but also continuous training and Role of ICTs
upgrading is the only way to ensure that such communities are truly able to benefit from
ICTs.
The table below from the article ‘ICTs for empowerment and social transformation: A
brief exploration of the field from the viewpoint of organisational action’ lists some
potential ICT-enabled community empowerment possibilities, using a ‘capabilities
framework’. It shows how appropriate application of ICTs can strengthen so many
basic community processes, potentially resulting in a while range of positive outcomes.
Indicators for Community Empowerment (through ICT use) - Social Capabilities
strengthened vis –a-vis Social Mobility1
Dimension Objective Outcome indicator

Informational To improve access  traditional information system strengthened

to information  information flows within community improve
and informational  horizontal knowledge exchanges with other
capabilities communities strengthened vertical
knowledge exchanges with the state, donors,
NGOs strengthened

Organisational To strengthen  transparent selection of leaders

organisational  increased efficiency
capabilities  improved information flows
 better coordination among different
organisations
 networks with other indigenous
organisations strengthened

Social To improve access  improved access to formal and non-formal

Development to basic social education (i.e. e-learning)
services  improved access to health services
(improved knowledge about health
practices and traditional medicine)
 improved knowledge and access social
programs of the government (e - government
services)

Economic To promote  improved access to markets and

Development economic commercialisation of products
opportunities  improve productive activities through
enhanced knowledge (i.e. better knowledge
about agricultural practices)
 enhanced capacity mobilises resources from
outside donors
 improved access to remittances through
improved communication with migrant
workers

Political To improve  improved ‘voice’ and participation in

Participation participation in development process
the political  improved transparency of political
system community institutions (e-government)
To enhance  enhance decision-making power in political
transparency system political process
within community  better coordination of political activities
To improve community enhanced transparency of
73
Towards Equity and
Equality
participation in information flows within community
the political  direct participation in international policy
system dialogue (UN permanent forum
To enhance
transparency
within community

Cultural To strengthen the  indigenous languages strengthened

Identity community’s  indigenous knowledge strengthened
cultural identity  improved dissemination of communities’ own
culture

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) offers us the possibility to acquire

information and to connect with other people at a speed and across distances
unprecedented in history. For those without access to ICT, the knowledge and resources
gap can grow exponentially. This gap, often referred to as a “digital divide,” is usually
caused by poverty and lack of infrastructure.
However, ICTs provide opportunities for dialogue between government servants and
the people. Across the world, this often appears in the form of increased access, such
as disgruntled citizens communicating with government leaders through Twitter. In North
America and Western Europe, these ICTs have coincided with a push towards more
open and transparent government, such as hearings and deliberations being streamed
online free of cost. Citizens can request and access information through the internet,
processes that used to require visiting particular government offices and long wait
times.
Within communities, ICTs can be used to support initiatives and groups in coordinating
their actions. For example, through mobile technology and social networks, activists
can organise protests from a network of groups throughout a city, or even a country.
Similarly, these ICTs have the power to connect organisations doing similar work across
national boundaries, for example connecting indigenous communities fighting
deforestations in Brazil and Indonesia. Such wide availability of knowledge and
information can help individuals to broaden their perspectives, voice their opinions and
connect with others.
The same ICTs are being used by some governments to monitor and stifle the free flow
of information and the participation of civil society. Increased surveillance and tracking
citizens through their mobile devices are two examples. Policymakers are consistently
torn between using ICTs to protect citizens while also encouraging debate, dissent and
a free flow of information. ICTs in governance work most efficiently when governments
use them to connect with citizens, gather information and encourage participation and
input in civil society.

28.6 POTENTIAL USES OF ICTS

It is useful to look at the many different potential uses of ICTs, both in public and
private spheres of society. Below is a brief summary of some of its more promising
uses.
ICTs in Development
Today individuals can link themselves through the unique identification card called Aadhar
74 to many government welfare programmes and employment guarantee schemes that
provide livelihood opportunities to the individuals or families. Aadhar is linked to the Role of ICTs

bank accounts of the beneficiaries of the government schemes like Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, Jan Dhan, etc.,
that can help in transferring the monies directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries
towards pensions, insurance, etc. Aadhar is also linked to availing bank loans,
scholarships to the students from the weaker sections and such other benefits. These
offer opportunities or upward social mobility.
ICTs in Government Administration
ICTs can be used to reorganise internal government processes, cutting down on red
tape, providing more specialised or alternative services and reducing costs. Governments
have successfully used ICTs to help organise and track development programmes in
both urban and rural areas. For example, government can use ICTs to conduct surveys
about needs in a particular area, communicate details of a particular development
scheme and monitor the implementation and progress of a programme. ICTs are also
used in governments providing transportation services, such as GPS technology to
improve road safety and increase efficiency in transport and delivery services. ICTs
have also been used to help governments become more environmentally conscious,
such as tracking pollution (such as monitoring of AQI levels), reducing consumption
and the creation of smart public transport technology.
ICTs in Health Care
Electronic health records make it easy for patients to travel with their health information
and for doctors to share data, saving both time and money. Clear standardised health
records are easier to transfer between hospital, easier for medical staff to read and
reduce misunderstandings and mistakes in patient care. Inexpensive access to the internet
through mobile networks can be used to educate rural health workers and provide
health information to the general public. Some countries with a lack of rural doctors
use ICTs to allow doctors in urban areas to communicate with patients over video
calls. ICTs can allow the disabled and elderly achieve independent lifestyles, not simply
by giving them greater access to home care but allowing them to, for example, order
groceries on a mobile application and have them delivered to their home. ICTs have
also offered people with disabilities to access information and new training tools, allowing
them to live more independent lives.
ICTs in Environment
ICTs can provide environmental information for citizens, government workers and the
private sector. This can include air and water monitoring (such as the AQI tracking
mentioned above), warning system of natural disasters, emergency management for
floods, fires or other hazards, in addition to providing public information about
environmental issues in a given region. Private citizens, especially children, have used a
variety of ICTs to organise and execute information campaigns and protests around
clean air and water, pollution and host of other important issues. These same technologies
can also be used for agriculture, to collect information on soil, rainfall as well as track
development programs for agricultural workers.
ICTs for Manufacturing
These new technologies can increase the efficiencies of automation and planning to
speed up process chains or eliminate them. Although increased automation may be the 75
Towards Equity and most obvious and common use, ICTs are also used in manufacturing for their design
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and market capabilities, using computer design and interactive graphics. The
competitiveness of manufacturing and industrial sectors in a given country are often
dependent on their ability to do good quality research and transform that research into
products, supply chains or designs that can be sold. Examining this process reveals a
number of ICTs in use along the way.
ICTs for Knowledge Sharing
All the above examples share a common theme, the use of ICTs to develop new
sources of knowledge and new methods of sharing it. This can be academic knowledge,
such as digital libraries that allow scholars to access books or articles in another country,
or the preservation and digitalisation of traditional or indigenous knowledge. People
can now share this knowledge through video and audio presentation or through social
networks. So-called crowd-sourcing ICTs have made it easier to translate audio, video
and written work thus increasing its potential reach. In countries where these technologies
have existed for some time, citizens have an easier time using them and accessing this
knowledge. Deliberate effort must be made to make available and train people from
less development countries on these ICTs and the many benefits they offer. The role of
ICT in e-education and e-learning is gaining prominence in different areas of the country.
Learners can access educational content in various subjects to widen their knowledge
horizon.

28.7 SUMMARY
ICT has completely altered the way people are engaged in different activities, be they
social, economic, cultural, governance and any other spheres of activities. This has
also affected the chances of social mobility through their empowerment and increasing
networks, thereby helping them to strengthening their social capital. It has also opened
up myriad opportunities for bettering the chances of improving their social status. It has
also empowered them to acquire knowledge and skills so that they can improve their
livelihood opportunities. It has minimised, if not eliminated, the discriminations and
helped people to organise themselves against any such acts. Digital learning has
democratised the way information could be accessed through open sources. In a way,
ICT has brought in basic changes in the way of ensuring benefits to people and work
management.
References
Chris Nicol (ed.) 2003. ICT Policy: A Beginner’s Handbook. Johannesburg: STE
Publishers https://www.apc.org/sites/default/files/policy_handbook_EN.pdf. Accessed
on 24-12-2017
Ramilo, Concepcion and Pi Villanueva. 2001.”Issues, Policies and Outcomes: Are
ICT Policies Addressing Gender Equality?” United Nations ESCAP Expert Group
Meeting. 6. Online. http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Publication/Issues.pdf
Suggested Readings
Chris Nicol (ed.) 2003. ICT Policy: A Beginner’s Handbook. Johannesburg: STE
Publishers https://www.apc.org/sites/default/files/policy_handbook_EN.pdf. Accessed
on 24-12-2017
76
Ramilo, Concepcion and Pi Villanueva. 2001.”Issues, Policies and Outcomes: Are Role of ICTs
ICT Policies Addressing Gender Equality?” United Nations ESCAP Expert Group
Meeting. 6. Online. http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Publication/Issues.pdf
Sample Questions
1. How has ICT impacted the learning opportunities and, thereby, the social mobility
chances?
2. Discuss the role of ICT in the empowerment of people, especially the weaker
sections?
3. Delineate how ICT impacted the lives of people?
4. What are the potential uses of ICT and its relevance to social mobility studies?

77
Towards Equity and
Equality UNIT 29 CHALLENGING THE STRUCTURE:
PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS
Contents

29.1 Introduction
29.2 Anthropology and People’s Movements
29.2.1 Relevance of Culture in Collective Action and Emergence of Anthropological
Interest

29.2.2 Anthropological and Sociological Studies on People’s Movements

29.3 Challenging the existing Hierarchies: Nature of Social Movements

29.4 Brief Overview of Significant People’s Movements in India
29.5 People’s Movements leading to Social Change in India
29.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
After going through this unit the learner will be able to:
 Explain the relevance of culture in challenging hierarchical structures of power;
 Gain an insight about the ways in which people’s movements has been
understood;
 Describe the history of peoples’ movements in India;
 Identify and evaluate the ideological bases for peoples’ movements in India;
and
 Interpret and establish the relationship between peoples’ movements and social
change in India.

29.1 INTRODUCTION
People’s movements across the world form the bedrock of any egalitarian, democratic,
and progressive nation. It is the rigour of formation of people’s group, often, the singular
affiliation of many across the lines of caste, gender, race, sexuality towards a common
goal that establishes a foundation of a growing political economy. These movements
and their affiliations shape public opinion and at large champion the existence of a
stimulating public sphere which subsequently becomes the most integral source of the
spirit of inquiry, unity, and equality. People’s movements or social movements are a
result of concerted effort on the part of public for a sustained period to achieve a goal
that is oriented towards establishing a politically stable society.
This form of non-institutionalised collective actions has been significant episodes in the
78 history of India beginning from resistance during the colonial control to the rise of the
Marxist movements to dethrone feudal structures in Independent India. Movements Challenging the Structure:
People's Movements
across the country have been organised around crises of labour, landless peasants,
industrialisation of sensitive ecology or women rights.

29.2 ANTHROPOLOGY AND PEOPLE’S

MOVEMENTS
People’s movements are commonly referred as social movements around the world. It
is a prominent area of academic discourse and exploration in contemporary times. As
is the case with most socio-cultural processes, social movements or people’s movements
have been defined and redefined from multiple vantage points and scholarly proclivity.
In recent times, Anthropologists have attempted to explore social movements both
theoretically as well as empirically. However, in the past anthropologists have been
known to pursue all kinds of social phenomenon by the means of ‘synchronic, static,
and objectivist modes of inquiry’ (Rosaldo, 1993; Escobar, 1992; p. 397). Since, the
roots of anthropology are in Europe, anthropologists have had a particularly western
way of looking at political practices around the globe (Escobar, 1992). Furthermore,
ethnographic enterprise could only succeed if concrete social and cultural patterns
were explored rather than the rapidly changing political processes like social movements.
For instance Edelman highlighted the transitory conditions of collective actions and
opined that ‘Ethnographic research on social movements, moreover, tended to resist
“grand theoretical” generalisations because close-up views of collective action often
looked messy, with activist groups and coalitions forming, dividing, and reassembling
and with significant sectors of their target constituencies remaining on the sidelines’
(Edelman, 2001; p. 286). As a result, there is still significant amount of focus that
needs to be drawn on the study of social movements in anthropology.

29.2.1 Relevance of Culture in Collective Action and Emer

gence of Anthropological Interest
The interest of anthropologists in people’s collective action was fairly limited and began
only in the latter half of the 20th century. However, from the late 1970s the engagement
of anthropologists, with people’s movements has been steadily growing owing to their
realisation that people’s collective actions are culturally placed. Arturo Escobar stated
that ‘Social movements, it is argued, emerge out of the crisis of modernity; they
orient themselves towards the constitution of new orders, and embody a new
understanding of politics and social life itself. They result in the formation of
novel collective identities which foster social and cultural forms of relating and
solidarity as a response to the crises of meanings and economies that the world
faces today’ (Escobar, 1992; p. 396). The fact remains that culture is in fact in an
ambiguous terrain with respect to the study of collective people’s movements. The
reason for this incongruence can be attributed to the contrary nature of the two concepts.
Anthropologically speaking culture has been traditionally assumed to be a relatively
enduring, sacrosanct system of everything that distinguishes us from other species, as
opposed to the isolated instances of collective surge within the society owing to
longstanding discontentment, unequal access to resources, ideological crises, or any
other grievances (Salman & Assies, 2017; Bader, 1991). Needless to say, an
anthropological lens on collective action ensures a comprehensive understanding of
several tacit elements of people’s movements. Furthermore, the integration of culture
and collective action allows social scientists to overcome the conservative understanding 79
Towards Equity and of culture as a dynamic entity that is hedged by various beliefs, ideas, customs, that
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result from regular socialisation of individuals. Anthropologists often overlooked the
notion that social movements were after all as much a product of culture as any other
element of culture. Blumer defined social movements as those ‘collective enterprises
seeking to establish a new order of life. They have their inception in a condition of
unrest and derive their motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current
form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and hopes for a new system of living.
It can be seen that the career of a social movement depicts the emergence of a new
order of life (Blumer, 1969, p.99). The culmination of any people’s movement results
in a social order that is sometimes vastly different from the existing order or there are
meagre departures in the social matrix at other times.
In contemporary times, anthropologists have adopted a more ‘cultural relativist’ stance
which allows them to accommodate diversity and hybridity in a globalised world.
However, one must remember that this heterogeneity can be attributed to a number of
factors that allow individuals within a community to become affiliates as per their choice
and not essentially in accordance to the normative principles governing their identity,
role, and function within the society (Castells, 1997). The globalised world has connected
the so called ‘primitive’ and ‘isolated’ with the ‘developed’ and ‘mainstream’ regions
through television and digital media that have been instrumental in restructuring the
aspirations, and expectations of community members across the world regardless of
geography and socio-political conditions. The fast-paced media has infringed into spaces
that were once considered unreachable and this has brought to light several issues
pertinent to not just minority communities but the dominant communities as well.
Consequently, the fascination for the ‘exotic’ ‘alien’ and the ‘native’ among
anthropologists has worn off and they have begun focusing on issues and concerns
closer to home. Admittedly, this seems to challenge the romantic notion of anthropologists
travelling to the ‘Godforsaken’ remote locations in order to establish contact with the
geographically isolated, conduct fieldwork and write monographs. In many ways it
was the ethnographic ethos of anthropology that hampered their engagement with social
movements. Suffice to say, this paradigm shift within the discipline accounts for more
compelling and persuasive human concerns that seem to be a consequence of newer
development in identities of the communities at large. Escobar opined that for
anthropologists ‘today’s social movements are seen not only as political struggles in
pursuit of socio-economic goals but also, and essentially, as cultural struggles’ (Escobar,
1992; p.395).

29.2.2 Anthropological and Sociological Studies on People’s

Movements
As discussed in the previous section, the engagement with social movements began
relatively late in anthropology and much of what has been observed and studied has
been contributed by disciplines like history, political science, psychology, and sociology.
As a result, multidisciplinary exchange has become the hallmark of academic discourses
about social movements. Within the gamut of multidisciplinary integration of knowledge,
there were actively operating categories that separated anthropology from the rest.
For instance while the collective actions of the urban communities and the northern
hemisphere became the concern of every social scientist, the anthropologists assigned
to themselves the affairs of the rural, peasants, and the ‘natives’ that were never formally
recognised as social movements, rather they were referred to as nativism, resistance,
80 and millenarian movements (Escobar, 1992; Osterweil, 2014). Escobar (1992)
attributes ‘the postmodern turn in anthropology’ within the framework of feminist Challenging the Structure:
People's Movements
anthropology in the 1980s as one of the earliest stepping-stones for anthropological
explorations in the domain of social movements. It was during this phase, that three
key areas of focus were established viz. the politics of representation, textuality, and a
practice oriented approach that took into account human action that often challenged
or prevented a homogenous order of the society, or reoriented the social order
completely (Ortner, 1984). At the outset, the practice approach is an ambiguous entry
point towards gaining insights about social movements as it is unclear whether we are
evaluating the methodological practice of anthropologists or interpreting social
movements as a form of practice. In terms of the practice-oriented perspective, Escobar
(1992) quotes the work of de Certeau, who explains that collective action as a means
of resistance and protest is a response of the people that are on the margins of a
strategically organised space and knowledge that leads to the subjugation of their socio-
cultural fabric, environment, and their resources. It is noteworthy that de Certeau claimed
that the ones that are subjugated are not merely silent victims rather they organize their
voice in order to resist the systematic oppression.
Some of the earliest attempts to anthropologically explore people’s organised
movements were the studies conducted on the ‘cargo cults, religious political movements’
and the ‘Millenarian, nativist, and revivalist movements that were paid growing attention
during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s’ (Escobar, 1992; p.399). Eventually,
anthropologists and other social scientists became engaged with the concerns of the
indigenous communities, but these collective actions were not studied against a larger
canvas of world politics instead they were considered as isolated incidents of resistance
within a defined space. By 1970s, these communities were placed on the map of the
world and were subsequently understood with respect to the global economic
developments and practices. By 1980s historians and political scientists like Ranajit
Guha had conducted exhaustive research on the collective resistance of the peasants
during the colonial regime in India, and he had managed to examine these people’s
movements as organized and strategic steps against the capitalist or colonial powers.
Guha asserted that ‘...parallel to the domain of elite politics there existed throughout
the colonial period another domain of Indian politics in which the principal actors were
not the dominant groups of the indigenous society or the colonial authorities but the
subaltern classes and groups constituting the mass of the labouring population and the
intermediate strata in town and country—that is, the people’ (Guha & Spivak, 1988;
p.40). Till about this time, peasants in India were hardly seen as social actors capable
of restructuring the existing socio-political order. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize
the contributions made by notable scholars like Ranajit Guha, Ghanshyam Shah, T. K.
Oommen, Gail Omvedt, Partha Chatterjee, Raka Ray, Mary Katzenstein and several
more for foregrounding the ‘subaltern’ agency of these peasants that was capable of
shaping a response against hegemonic structures of control and power (Escobar, 1992;
Majumdar, 2015).
The early scholarly predilection tended to favour a more working-class oriented
understanding of social movements following the period of cold war. However, this
predisposed idea of people’s movements being situated in the collective action of the
working class against industrial control, was challenged by the new age movement that
was clearly defined outside the realm of class consciousness (Touraine, 1985; Salman
& Assies, 2017). This ‘new social movement’ ‘indicates the transition to a qualitatively
new type of society, the post-industrial or programmed society. They were to be regarded
as the first manifestations of a unified social movement, the “self management” 81
Towards Equity and movement in opposition to the technocrats—and as such embodied a struggle over a
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‘cultural model’ (Salman & Assies, 2017; p.69). The ‘new social movements’ have
departed from the traditional understanding of class conflict in an industrial society that
were primarily concerned with the resource distribution and allocation, to a more
culturally oriented struggle that aims to address issues of identity in a post-industrial
and post-political community.
In contemporary times the neoliberal trend that is fostered by an increasingly globalised
world, has given rise to a ‘globalised civil society’ which has supported social movements
on a global and local scale to challenge the infringement of fast paced globalisation
that is clamping down the inherent heterogenous identities of communities around
the world for instance the occupy movement and the pirate movement that began in
2011 and 2006 respectively (Smith and Guarnizo 1998; Cohen and Rai 2000; Salman
& Assies, 2017).

29.3 CHALLENGING EXISTING HIERARCHIES:

NATURE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
As we have established, discourses on people’s movements is a multidisciplinary
concern and this has given rise to numerous ways of looking at people’s collective
actions. Alaine Touraine and Charles Tilly were two of the earliest scholars who came
up with their unique vantage points of looking at social movements. Tilly (1984) defined
social movements as ‘A sustained series of interactions between powerholders and
persons successfully claiming to speak on behalf of a constituency lacking formal
representation, in the course of which those persons make publicly visible demands for
changes in the distribution or exercise of power, and back those demands by public
demonstrations of support’ (p. 306). While Charles Tilly identified these collective
actions with voluntary leadership and public demands of restructuring of power, Alaine
Touraine looked at these movements from a more ideological and cultural lens. Touraine
claimed that ‘A social movement is the action, both culturally oriented and socially
conflictual, of a social class defined by its position of domination or dependency in the
mode of appropriation of historicity, of the cultural models of investment, knowledge
and morality toward which the social movement itself is oriented’ (Touraine 1988;
p.68). To extend Touraine’s argument of an ideological crisis being the substratum of
people’s movements, Eyerman and Jamison proposed an additional outlook that ‘Social
movements are ... best conceived of as temporary public spaces, as moments of
collective creation that provide societies with ideas, identities, and even ideals’ (Eyerman
and Jamison 1991, p. 4; Crossley, 2002). In ‘Power in Movement’ published in 1998,
Sidney Tarrow, a formidable political scientist, somewhat opposed the temporariness
of these actions and went on to discuss social movements as a longstanding event that
results from indelible communication between the representatives of the two sides.
Tarrow opined that ‘Contentious politics occurs when ordinary people, often in league
with more influential citizens, join forces in confrontation with elites, authorities and
opponents ... When backed, by dense social networks and galvanised by culturally
resonant, action-oriented symbols, contentious politics leads to sustained interaction
with opponents. The result is the social movement (Tarrow, 1998, p.4; Crossley, 2002).
The canon on social movements in India includes seminal works by T. K. Oommen
who characterises social movement from Indian context. According to Oommen, the
82 existing social conditions hand in hand with the ‘historicity’ as well as future aspirations
of the people are decisive elements for beginning of a social movement. ’Social Challenging the Structure:
People's Movements
movements including labour movements in a society are conditioned by three factors:
(1) The core institutional order (CIO) of society, (2) the principal enemy as perceived
by the deprived, and (3) the primary goal pursued by the society, all of which change
over a period of time’ (p.83). Oommen goes on to explain the crucial differences
between a social movement in an essentially agrarian and non-industrial society like
India despite the rapidly spreading industrial technology in comparison with the
movements in predominantly industrial nations where the collective actions are centred
around the industrial working class. He further clarifies that scholars who study labour
movements in India tend to overlook agricultural labourers that constitute the majority
in contrast with the industrial labours who are restricted to urban industrial establishments
and are led by trade unions (Oommen, 2009). Yet another prominent scholar Ghanshyam
Shah explained social movements as that phenomenon ‘which examine non-
institutionalized legal or extra-legal collective political actions which strive to influence
civil and political society for social and political change’ (Shah, 2004; p. 21).
The central tenet, in the manifold perspectives mentioned above, is the desire of the
people to demand and achieve equality in terms of access, identity, and representation
through the means of collective action. The people’s movements are invariably
established to challenge the existing structures of control that may be in the form of a
coloniser, the state, the industrial conglomerates that advocate for unbridled technological
and capitalist expansion, or even a despotic regime. These representatives of hegemonic
control do not account for ecological and economic consequences of their decisions
thereby prompting a strategic response from those that lie on the receiving end of such
decisions. Eminent political sociologist Ranjana Mohanty (2010) in her book summary
argues that grassroots social movements have the required impetus to strengthen and
‘deepen democratic ethos of inclusion, equity, and equality’. She refers them as
‘deepening democracy tasks’ that social movements need to focus on. Mohanty
summarises these tasks into five focal points -
‘- The movements replace the exclusionary narrative of state led development
with a counter-narrative of inclusion.
- The movements expand the non-party political spaces into social action.
- Public space is constantly being democratized by the movements.
- The movements renegotiate poor people’s relationship with the state.
- The movements are sites of reconstruction of modernity through the discourse
of citizenship and rights’ (Mohanty, 2010; p.240).
Mohanty’s ‘deepening democracy tasks’ postulates are meant to confront what
Oommen has elucidated as ‘internal colonialism’ following the exit of British colonisers
from India. This was the time when the leaders and architects of the new nation decided
to adhere to ideals of plural identities and multicultural society to overcome the control
of few dominant communities. The ‘internal colonialism’ was a subsequent chapter in
the history of a newly established India as a nation state that was paving a path of
development for its future generation while being faced with pressing issues like illiteracy,
widespread poverty, an extremely low life expectancy due to grave health concerns,
and an urgency to rapidly industrialise without disregarding their commitment towards
the peasants, the labour, the poverty stricken citizens and so on. (Oommen, 2009).
‘The peasant, posited as the paradigmatic actor of social movements, indeed as the 83
Towards Equity and epitome of the mass-political subject in India, derived in large measure from the different
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intellectual traditions from which Subaltern Studies scholars drew intellectual inspiration
(Majumdar, 2015; p. 53).
Once the colonisers had departed, the internal cleavages of religion, caste and tribe,
socio-economic class, linguistic affiliations, and gender within India became pronounced
and impeded the developmental goals because the division of the land into Pakistan
and India led to a new set of crises and conflict within the nation state. India had to
reconfigure its understanding of ‘nationhood’ and the role its citizens played in
development. During the colonial regime in India, the colonisers were the ones that
represented the institutional structure that needed to be defeated by those who had to
abide by the norms established by this structure as ‘colonial subjects’. Challenging the
structure and its hegemonic practices through the means of anti-colonial movements
became a preoccupation for the Indian subjects and allowed them to bury the divides
of language, caste, social privileges because the larger goal of a free nation was far
more lucrative. However, India was far from a homogenous society even at the time of
the freedom struggle, in fact the specificities of each social category made them pursue
their own goals and interests while they came together to challenge the colonial structure.
In the subsequent phase following independence, the nation has witnessed several
people’s movements that were organised in response to the aforementioned issues of
incongruent identities and a vision to establish a democratic and industrially advanced
nation.

29.4 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT

PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS IN INDIA
People’s movements in India have been recorded from the colonial times to the
contemporary times. The colonial phase in India was characterised by freedom
movements, land rights or forest rights movements, and also significant social reform
movements, few of which were even supported by the colonial officers. Once the
British left, India was a newly formed nation which was guided by the ideals of
democracy, equality, and equity to achieve the central goal of nation building which
encompassed ‘extending protection to ‘weaker sections’, commitment to ‘socialism’,
secularism and democracy, political pluralism as is reflected in a multi-party parliamentary
democracy’ (Oommen, 1977; p. 18) and needless to say this diversity gave rise to
several social movements.
In post-colonial India, with the new constitution in place, the reorganisation of the
states began as a result of linguistic affiliations of people that gave rise to sub-national
movements that were meant to unite people of the same linguistic family under a common
territory. This ‘glottopolitics’ resulted in the ‘secessionist movements’ like in Jammu &
Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and several other states of India.
The language affiliates in South India, under the leadership of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
began the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944. While the movement began with the motive of
overcoming the institutionalised hierarchy of the caste system and untouchability, the
Dravida Kazhagam was also motivated by their vision of a Dravida Nadu (Dravidian
State) that would encompass the dravidian language family. The federation eventually led
to the formation of two significant political parties from South India, the DMK (Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam) and the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam).
84
The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Kamtapur Liberation Challenging the Structure:
People's Movements
Organization (KLO), and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB)
have been some of key movements based out of Assam, that have been actively involved
in seeking a distinct status for the ethno-linguistic groups associated with them. Today,
most of these organisations have been recognised as armed terrorist groups by
Government of India, but during the initial years of their establishment these organisations
were prominent social movements that aimed to establish a recognised and united link
between the national headquarters in Delhi and the diverse ethnic communities of North-
east India. During their years in operation, these groups broached alliance with similar
organisations in other parts of North-East India.
It was around the same time, that the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN) was formed with the aim to unite all the territories dominated by Naga speaking
communities. It is noteworthy that many of these ethnic groups are spread across
neighbouring nations of India, hence the organisations have been known to be active
internationally as well.
It was from these linguistic movements that demands for separate statehood came
ahead like demands for Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh, Telangana from Andhra
Pradesh, Jharkhand from Bihar, Chattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh and several
more.
Yet another group of social movements represents the socially and economically
deprived sections of India that have been responsible for some of the most prominent
and longstanding collective actions undertaken by them. Oommen (1977) mentions
that the social policy against discrimination of weaker sections of India that have been
recognised under the constitution of India as scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and
other religious minorities, has prompted several social movements. This policy began
during colonial times and was spearheaded by the British colonisers, however the
policy on protecting the weaker sections of the Indian society remains a strong
foundation of the social justice system in India. At the core of this policy are the privileges
enjoyed by few dominant upper caste groups, notions of purity and pollution, communal
division, and other forms of systematic oppression through suppression of agency and
exploitation based on social status. Within the gamut of social movements of the deprived
sections, the primary movements were the Mahad Satyagraha, Dalit Panther
movement, The Republican Party of India, Adi-Hindu Movement, which were
organised alongside the collective actions undertaken by tribal communities like the
Santhal Rebellion, the Birsa Munda Movement and the Bhil Andolan. Prominent
Dalit movements began during colonial times as a result of the treatment of Dalit
communities by the upper caste Hindus who quoted the Hindu Varna system to
structurally deny the agency of Dalits. One of the earliest movements was the Adi-
Hindu movement of South India which rejected the caste ideology owing to its inherently
divisive and hierarchical nature. The group organised a number of conferences on a
more radical social identity of Adi-Hindu which encompasses all Hindus without
hierarchy.
The Republican Party of India was a group formulated by the All India Scheduled
Caste Federation that was under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. The group
was treated as a launchpad for Dalit youths to becoming political leaders in order to
foreground the concerns of scheduled caste communities of India. When the Republican
Party of India weakened its grip on politics following the death of Ambedkar, the
community witnessed the rise of the Dalit Panther movement in 1972 under the leadership 85
Towards Equity and of Namdev Dhasal in Maharastra. The Dalit Panthers drew its inspiration from the
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Black Panther Movement of the United States of America that represented the African
American communities of USA who were working against the racial atrocities against
the black communities. The Dalit Panthers represented not just the Dalit communities
but the tribal communities, the neo-Buddhist communities, and several other weaker
sections that were resisting the oppressive caste system. The Dalit Panthers manifesto
was aggressive almost bordering on armed rebellion which attracted the attention of
the ongoing Naxal movement leaders and in many ways revolutionised the existing
modus operandi of previous Dalit movements. The Dalit Panthers opposed the
Gandhian ideology of overcoming caste divide and called for a political understanding
of the feudal mindset of upper caste Hindus. The Dalit Panthers Movement was
officially dissolved in 1988 following internal crisis and ideological difference among
its leaders.
The Naxal Movement was yet another significant radical communist movement that is
operational in West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and even parts of
Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. It is often referred as
the ‘red corridor’ of India. The Naxal movement also calls itself Maoist in its ideology
and claims to protect the rights of the marginalized communities of the region, the
Dalits, the Adivasis, and even backward communities who have been systematically
oppressed by social elites. The Naxal corridor has been aggressively challenging the
government control in the red-corridor region of India. The armed conflicts between
Naxal rebels and government machinery have highlighted India’s internal vulnerability
to the international forum.
Another group of movements that have had significant impact on Indian socio-cultural
fabric are the ecological movements like the Chipko Movement, Narmada Bachao
Andolan, Appiko Andolan, Silent Valley Movement, Jungle Bachao Andolan,
and Bishnoi Movement that have been locally organized by communities against
industrial and developmental expansion that threatened the local ecological balance.
Most of these movements were organised almost spontaneously in response to the
emergent destruction of their natural habitat. Almost all these movements encouraged
and inspired other community level large scale and small-scale movement to save the
natural biodiversity of India. One of the contemporary ecological movements is the
Dehing Patkai movement based in Assam that is being led against coal mining in the
Dehing Patkai Rainforest.

29.5 PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS LEADING TO SOCIAL

CHANGE IN INDIA
Whenever a community of people or a country at large witnesses a sweeping people’s
movement, the structures of formal orthodoxy and socio-political rigidity get
reconfigured. Sometimes such movements awaken the slumbering populace into a
new dawn of development and sometimes it shifts the matrix of the class structures.
People’s movements such as trade union movements, peasant movements, tribal, and
environmental movements, linguistic movements, or queer movements have compelled
Indian society to embrace newer ideologies and liberal outlook which in turn has made
our society more democratic, secular, and egalitarian. The centres of such movements
have also simultaneously provided impetus to art, culture, music, and literature creating
newer idioms of expression and aesthetics.
86
 Challenging the Structure:
29.6 SUMMARY People's Movements

This unit is dedicated to understanding people’s movements, primarily as an

anthropological construct and a social process that is a response to hegemonic powers
that tend to dominate members of a community on the basis of their socio-political
status, their economic subsistence strategy, their gender and caste positions etc. The
unit begins with an in-depth analysis of people’s movements as a cultural struggle in the
20th century. The unit further proceeds to a section that recounts the reasons for a laid-
back approach of anthropologists in exploring social movements and their general
reluctance to evaluate such a rapidly changing social phenomenon. The next section
deals with vital contributions made by anthropologists and other social scientists in
order to understand these collective actions. It also attempts to understand their varied
outlook of social movements in an industrial, post-industrial, and post technology phase.
Finally, the unit offers an overview and critical analysis of significant people’s or social
movements in India and how these movements challenged the structures of hierarchy
and power, beginning from the colonial times to the contemporary India. The unit
concludes with a brief segment on the relationship between social movements and the
consequent changes in the social order of things.
References
Bader, V. M., & Benschop, A. 1991. Protheorie van sociale ongelijkheid en
collectief handelen: dl. 2. Collectief handelen. GroningenWolters-Noordhoff
Cohen, R., & Rai, S. M. 2000. “Global Social Movements: Towards a Cosmopolitan
Politics” in Cohen R and Rai SM eds Global Social Movements. London: Athlone
Press
Crossley, N. 2002. Making Sense of Social Movements. UK: McGraw-Hill
Education
Edelman, M. 2001. “Social Movements: Changing Paradigms and Forms of
Politics”. Annual Review of Anthropology. 30(1), 285-317
Escobar, A. 1992. “Culture, Practice and Politics: Anthropology and the Study of
Social Movements”. Critique of Anthropology. 12(4), 395-432
Guha, R. 1988. “The Prose of Counter-Insurgency in Selected Subaltern
Studies”. Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (eds), Selected Subaltern
Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Guha, R. 1999. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India.
England: Duke University Press
Majumdar, R. 2015. “Subaltern Studies as a History of Social Movements in
India”. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 38(1), 50-68
Mohanty, R. 2010. “Contesting Development, Reinventing Democracy: Grassroots
Social Movements in India. In L Thompson & C Tapscott (eds). Citizenship and
Social Movements: Perspectives from the Global South. London: Zed, 10
Nicholas, R. W. 1973. “Social and Political Movements”. Annual Review of
Anthropology, 2, 63-84
Ortner, S. B. 1984. “Theory in Anthropology since the Sixties”. Comparative Studies
in Society and History, 26(1), 126-166
87
Towards Equity and Osterweil, M. 2014. “Social Movements”. Companion to Urban Anthropology. 470-
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484
Oommen, T. K. 1977. “Sociological Issues in the Analysis of Social Movements in
Independent India”. Sociological Bulletin. 26(1). 14-37
Oommen, T. K. 2009. “Indian Labour Movement: Colonial Era to the Global
Age”. Economic and Political Weekly. 81-89
Raina, V. 2004. “Political Diversity, Common Purpose: Social Movements in
India”. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 5(2), 320-327
Ray, R., & Katzenstein, M. F. (Eds.). 2005. Social Movements in India: Poverty,
Power, and Politics. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Rosaldo, R. 1993. Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis: With a
New Introduction. Boston: Beacon Press
Shah, G. 2004. Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature. Delhi: Sage
Publications
Smith, M. P., & Guarnizo, L. E. (Eds.). 1998. Transnationalism from Elow (Vol. 6).
New Jersey: Transaction Publishers
Tarrow, S. 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics.
Cambridge. Cambridge University Press
Touraine, A. 1985. “An Introduction to the Study of Social Movements”. Social
Research, 749-787
Suggested Reading
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (eds), Selected Subaltern Studies, Oxford: Oxford
University Press
Rosaldo, R. 1993. Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis: With a
New Introduction. Boston: Beacon Press
Shah, G. 2004. Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature. Delhi: Sage
Publications
Touraine, A. 1985. “An Introduction to the Study of Social Movements”. Social
Research, 749-787
Sample Questions
1. Explain the term People’s Movement. Explore how anthropology as a discipline
came to engage with the study of people’s movements.
2. How did the ethnographic method in anthropological studies deter the understanding
of people’s movements in the discipline?
3. What is practice oriented approach of Sherry Ortner and how does it enable the
reading of the social resistance movement.
4. How does the ‘subaltern’ studies group attempt to reach understand configure
and critique the agency of marginal groups and their subsequent voice of resistance.
5. Discuss the growth and development of the Dalit Panther Movement.

88 6. Discuss the development and historicity of people’s movements in India.

 Challenging the Structure:
UNIT 30 DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE People's Movements

Contents

30.1 Introduction
30.2 Concept of Fairness & Justice
30.3 Anthropology and Justice
30.4 Relative Deprivation
30.5 Distributive Justice
30.5.1 Principle of Distributive Justice

30.5.2 Social & Institutional Bases of Distributive Justice

30.6.3 Resource Allocation and Distribution

30.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
After going through this unit, the learner will be able to:
 Explain the concept of justice and fairness;
 Gain an understanding about the philosophical history of distributive justice;
 Identify the concept and principle of distributive justice;
 Critically analyse the social and institutional bases of distributive justice; and
 Evaluate the notions of relative deprivation and equitable sharing of resources.

30.1 INTRODUCTION
Within the framework of the society, justice constitutes the underpinning of an egalitarian
structure that ensures effective dispensation of fair and rightful treatment for individuals.
The most fundamental principle of justice is fairness. It is the foundation of a robust
democracy. Distributive justice and its manifestation in a society forms the cornerstone
of ethics and morality. The standards of justice contingent upon western modernity
have fashioned structures of governance and control in decolonised nation states like
those of the Indian sub-continent. One finds justice as part of academic discourses in
early Greek philosophy and in the scholarly contributions by Plato and Aristotle. Justice
primarily focuses on the pursuit of providing individuals with what they deserve in
terms of a due process. The purpose of upholding justice within a society is to provide
its members with a fulcrum on which the social equilibrium balances itself.

30.2 CONCEPT OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

The concepts of justice and fairness are often used interchangeably, and the boundaries 89
Towards Equity and of these concepts remain ambiguous during occasional conversations, but scholars
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contend that both these terms have distinct epistemological foundation. It is pertinent
to point out that the notions of justice and fairness differ in terms of standards of
rightness and ability to remain objective while granting an individual’s due respectively.
Vallentyne (2007) explains justice from multiple points of view beginning from justice
being synonymous to moral permissibility; to legitimacy; and to comparative fairness
wherein equality in terms of getting similar proportion of due in comparison to others is
the norm. Justice is also considered fairness, which is different from comparative fairness,
i.e. in fairness an individual is supposed to receive what s/he deserves regardless of
other people’s share as opposed to a more comparativist approach of comparative
fairness where individual share is not a matter of concern instead equal distribution of
available resources due among the members is observed.
Justice is the means to conflict resolution and freedom. Justice ensures equitable and
adequate distribution of resource in order to ensure not only just allocation of funds,
rather social empowerment of weaker sections of the society. It is for this reason that
scholars have assumed the principle of equity as a universal feature overriding cultural
differences. However, the notion of justice is constantly challenged by structures of
power that in turn dispute the universality of equity. Nader and Starr (1973) claimed
that ‘equity is not universal, but is dependent on time, place, and the restraints
set against naked power, which the dominant members of the society might use’.
Historically, several Greek philosophers of repute had theorised ‘justice’ as per their
proclivity beginning from Socrates to Plato and Aristotle and many more. During those
times the philosophical thought surrounding the principle of justice were guided by the
moral values of courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice. Socrates was followed by
Cephalus who viewed justice as an ‘honesty towards one’s legal obligations like paying
debts and being truthful’. However, Cephalus’s understanding of justice was instantly
refuted by Plato. Cephalus’s son Polemarchus explained justice as a principle that meant
favouring friends and vengeance towards foes. The father and son are subsequently
followed by Thrasymachus, the Sophist who explained justice in entirely contradictory
manner when compared to his predecessors. The Sophist separated all morality from the
notion of justice and went on to declare justice a privilege of the dominant group of the
society. Thrasymachus completely disregarded the merit of justice for the one who
practiced it, rather he claimed that justice served for the benefit of few. It is assumed to
be more of an imposition rather than natural element of human behaviour. An additional
view on justice was also propounded by Glaucon, which later came to be known as
‘social contract theory’ which elucidated that human beings are moral, not out of their
inner goodness but because they are expected to be. Glaucon also believed that justice
was more of a shield for the weaker sections of the society (Reese, 2004).
Plato used the Greek term ‘Dikaisyne’ for justice. This word closely relates to morality
and righteousness and a moral code of conduct of human beings, hence the equivalence
of justice with the highest form of virtues. Justice became the binding force of the
society, an ultimate social responsibility of its citizens to conduct themselves in a just
manner so as to ensure the sustenance of the society. In order to avoid the disintegration
of the society which seemed inevitable if they continued to live as per the old dictum,
the citizens had the moral responsibility to overcome their individual selfishness and
greed of political power. Plato’s understanding of justice conveyed a faith in an institution
that was the ‘highest of the virtues’ with an ability to overcome the vices of the Athenian
90 society following the Peloponnesian war with Sparta. The war had led to the
overthrowing of democratic values by the Spartans and eventually when democracy Distributive Justice
was restored after few decades, Plato’s mentor Socrates was executed by the
democrats.
Plato’s greatest disciples Aristotle went on to develop his own understanding of justice,
especially the philosophy of distributive and rectifying justice that was politically relevant
not just in the past but even in modern times. ‘The ethical virtue that is most important
for Aristotle’s political philosophy is justice. In his theory of justice, he distinguishes
different forms of justice, which should be applied in different spheres of the city (πόλις).
In the tradition of Aristotle, today we associate justice with the laws of a political
community, with a fair exchange of private goods, with lawful punishment or a just
distribution of public goods. Most significant for Aristotle’s political philosophy are his
conceptions of universal justice, which requires citizens to abide by the laws of the
polis, and distributive justice, a part of particular justice’ (Knoll, 2016; p. 58).
In modern times, following the legacy established by Greek philosophers, theorists like
Ronald Dworkin, Karl Marx, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Amartya Sen made
significant contributions towards the theorization and understanding of the notion of
justice, specifically distributive justice. Thus, their ideas will be discussed in greater
detail in subsequent section from the vantage point of distributive justice. Despite the
inherent ambiguity and complexity of philosophical ideas, distributive justice has provided
a sound framework for fair distribution of benefits and resources among members of a
local or a global community.

30.3 ANTHROPOLOGY AND JUSTICE

In the past, Anthropologists have engaged with cross-cultural notions of justice which
were primarily conceived of during the evolutionist era within anthropology when
comparisons between indigenous and western conceptions of social institutions were a
widespread practice. However, anthropologists did not remain invested in the ideals of
justice and injustice vis-à-vis various societies across the world, instead they collected
comparative ethnographic material without reflecting on its significance for individuals
within the community. As per Lerner & Whitehead (1980) justice forms the basis of
every human interaction and it becomes even more relevant during resource distribution
and common ends. Justice is not merely a mechanism for granting fair decisions, it
includes a constant debate and tussle between people’s expectations of what they
deserve and the institutional mechanism that often standardizes the process of according
people their due. Nader and Sursock (1986) advocate an understanding of justice
with the notion of injustice in order to gain insight into the differences between ideal
standards and institutionalization of justice as well as mechanisms of coping when people
feel they have been made to suffer injustice. Consequently, anthropologists are quick
to acknowledge that justice is a notion that varies from society to society as it is culturally
informed and based on what majority believe to be the due process in decision making.
Additionally, within the same society, justice is differently perceived giving rise to decisions
that may not be universally agreed upon.

30.4 RELATIVE DEPRIVATION

One of the most universally accepted definitions of relative deprivation was given by
Peter Townsend in 1987. Townsend defined relative deprivation as ‘a state of 91
Towards Equity and observable and demonstrable disadvantage relative to the local community or
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the wider society or nation to which an individual, family, or group belongs’
(Townsend, 1987, p.125). In order to gain deeper insights into the concept of
distributive justice or social justice, it imperative that one understands the notion of
deprivation especially relative deprivation. It is this understanding of relative
deprivation that allows an individual to assess and evaluate the underlying reasons
for inequality in terms of health, socio-economic, and political benefits. Relative
deprivation allows for establishment of a standard or benchmark of what may be
considered as just and equitable allocation of resources and benefits. The excessive
gap between resources and opportunities for people across the world raises concerns
about inequitable resource allocation. Going by the scholarly dialogues on the matter
of relative deprivation, it is obvious that the concept does not remain confined to a
single discipline. Rather it needs to be recognized as an interdisciplinary subject
matter that is utilised for the development of statistical deprivation indices within the
health and other sectors of social science. Relative deprivation is a common term of
reference in high income group nations (Fu et. al., 2014). Salmond and Crampton
(2000) distinguish between relative deprivation and other kinds of deprivation that
have already been a part of numerous academic conversations namely material
deprivation and social deprivation. While material deprivation includes material
indicators of the physical environment like goods and items of basic survival, living
conditions, access to resources, social deprivation is largely gauged with quality of
life, social roles, customs, rights, and responsibilities, social support etc. In many
cases both material and social deprivation have included similar indicators which has
made their boundaries rather ambiguous. It was due to the obscure and overlapping
nature of the indicators in case of material and social deprivation that Townsend
favoured a more precise indicator for the lack of equity within a society that did not
adhere to the parameters of ‘standard of living’ of any society. Haase (2006) further
elaborated that relative deprivation is ‘an absence of essential or desirable
attributes, possessions, and opportunities which are considered no more than
minimum by that society’. It is a concept that has been widely utilized to ‘describe,
monitor, and compare inequalities between individuals, among small areas, in addition
to regional and national levels (Fu et. al., 2014, p. 225). Thus, deprivation unlike
many other indicators of inequity, does not refer to absence of any one kind of
resource, instead it is the shortage or absence of all kinds of resources that should
be readily available to more or less everyone. However, relative deprivation highlights
hierarchies and differences within the same region owing to differential access to
resources owing to various factors like marginalisation due to social status, gender,
lack of recognition of agency, and so on. It is for this reason that Townsend advocated
for a ‘scientific conceptualisation which both allows for comparisons to be made
through time about changes in conditions within a single society and differences in
conditions between different societies at a simultaneous moment of time (Townsend
1985, p.660).

30.5 DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

Distributive justice clearly illustrates a just distribution of goods, dues, and even burdens
among people within a society or community. Often referred to as social justice in
contemporary times, distributive justice forms the basis of welfare schemes and the
political, cultural, and economic rights of people around the world. Distributive justice
is the master normative category that has regulative authority over all kinds of social
92
institutions of the society especially legal institution. The distributive principle of justice Distributive Justice
forms the foundation of several laws within the legal framework of a society however
Scheffler (2015) argued that a just principle of distribution alone is incapable of providing
the necessary foothold to equity and fairness to sustain a stable society.
‘Like the idea of justice simpliciter, with which it is often used interchangeably, the idea
of distributive justice has been taken to refer to different things: theorists of justice have
adopted different views, mostly without any explicit acknowledgement or defence of
them, about what characterises and delimits the demands of justice as opposed to other
moral demands (for example, the demands of legitimacy, community, efficiency, or stability,
to mention a few central ones). They have also adopted different views of what
characterises distributive justice as opposed to other types of justice (Olsaretti, 2018).
To each scholar, distributive justice could be utilised as a normative principle in almost
all transactions between human beings however these scholars and philosophers have
also recognised that distributive justice is one of the many guiding principles of the
society, albeit a significant idea. For instance, Aristotle was primarily concerned with
the principle of distributive justice in the field of politics. “In Book V of the Nicomachean
Ethics, Aristotle distinguishes justice (δικαιοσύνη) as the whole virtue or universal
justice, which requires abiding by the laws of the polis, from justice as a part of virtue
or particular justice. He divides particular justice (κατp μέρος δικαιοσύνης) into
distributive justice and rectifying justice… Although Aristotle mentions money and “other
things” as the subject of distributive justice, this form of justice primarily concerns the
just distribution of political offices (ρχάς) and the honor (τιμή) that the citizens can
achieve by exercising them. In the Politics, Aristotle even declares that “we speak of
offices as honors (Pol. III 10, 1281 a 31)” (Knoll, 2016; p. 67).
In 1971, in A Theory of Justice John Rawls introduced an intensive account of
distributive justice and concerned himself with fair distribution of all the rights and
responsibilities of the citizens. According to Rawls ‘Principles of justice pertain to the
assigning of rights and duties and to the distribution of benefits and burdens of social
cooperation’. To Rawls justice is the most important characteristic of social institutions
and practices. It is an agreement between rational egoists who are interested in social
cooperation. As per Rawls, Justice is institutionalist that provides a framework to the
basic structure of the society (Rawls, 1971).
To Robert Nozick it is the criteria of distribution that is the central tenet of distributive
justice, as the term distribution is heavily laden with meanings. Distribution as per Nozick
implies supply of things hence it does not remain a neutral term. ‘There is no central
distribution, no person or group entitled to control all the resources, (jointly)
deciding how they are to be doled out. What each person gets, he gets from
others who give to him in exchange for something, or as a gift. In a free society,
diverse persons control different resources, and new holdings arise out of the
voluntary exchanges and actions of persons… The total result is the product of
many individual decisions which the different individuals involved are entitled to
make’ (Nozick, 1973; p.46).
Karl Marx believed that justice especially distributive justice was ‘from each according
to his ability, to each according to his need’ (Simm, 2011). Needless to say that the
weight of the concept of distributive justice is largely balanced on economic and political
principles more than socio-cultural institutions of the society. It is the distribution of
economic benefits that raises the need for a principle for resource distribution.
93
Towards Equity and Ronald Dworkin’s political theory of justice is based on liberalism wherein distributive
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justice conveys a moral responsibility to the government to ensure equal concern for its
citizens which provides political legitimacy to the government (Dworkin, 1981).
Finally, Amartya Sen’s theory of ‘comparative distributive justice’ which he aligned
with the social choice theory, intends to bring together political, economic, and social
fabrics of the society together in order to build a symphony for equal opportunity and
a robust welfare framework that strengthens the weaker sections of the society (Brown,
2010).

30.5.1 Principle of Distributive Justice

The political and economic theorists who have elucidated the concept of distributive
justice, supported varying principles of its application in the society. ‘Principles of
distributive justice are therefore best thought of as providing moral guidance for the
political processes and structures that affect the distribution of benefits and burdens in
societies, and any principles which do offer this kind of moral guidance on distribution,
regardless of the terminology they employ, should be considered principles of distributive
justice’ (Lamont and Favor, 2017).
Plato condemned individualism and meddlesome behaviour of citizens in his imagined
‘ideal state’. He introduced a three-element ideology that guided human nature namely
reason, spirit, and appetite. Each element extended to a social class in the ideal state
viz. reason was represented by philosophers that gathered wisdom to run the state for
decades; spirit was represented by the warrior class that guarded the state; and finally
the appetite of the class of artisans that were fond of materials and could be producers.
It is noteworthy that Plato did not propose equality of classes within the state, rather he
propounded a peaceful web of understanding between the classes that brought stability
and a perfect balance in the state.
Aristotle categorised justice as distributive and rectifying. In order to elaborate further
on it, Aristotle used democrats and oligarchs/aristocrats as two worthy contenders
who favoured two separate ideologies and to be able to fulfil their demands, the
proponents of distributive justice need to remain cognizant of their varying perspectives
and grant the two parties their respective dues. He also believed that distributive justice
cannot be misled with regard to the distribution of resources of the polis as it is consistently
observant about the capacity in which each member of the society has contributed to
the ‘polis’ and their specific abilities. Consequently, the principle of distributive justice
isn’t equality, rather it is entirely based on equitable allocation of resources, goods, and
values to people based on their needs. Both, Plato and Aristotle supported a proportional
distribution of resources to the public rather than a numeric or arithmetic distribution.
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics distributive justice is based on two formal principles
of distribution viz. to everyone in proportion to their worth and equal resources to
equals and unequal share of resources to unequals (Knoll, 2016).
Lamont and Favor (2017) illustrated at least 7 principles of distributive justice. Beginning
from Plato to the more modern contributors, each principle of distributive justice holds
validity and justification in a particular philosophical context.
 Strict Egalitarianism – This is the most basic principle that states that each individual
should have same level of material goods, and burdens because all the people are
morally equal hence they deserve equal access to goods and services.
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 The Difference Principle – This is based on Rawl’s understanding of justice that is Distributive Justice

in turn based on two propositions i.e.

- Each individual has a claim to an adequate scheme of equal basic liberties.
- Social and Economic inequalities are meant to satisfy two conditions viz.
provide equal opportunity to all by being associated to all positions and offices
that are open to everyone; and they are to overcome the difference between
the privileged and the less advantaged by providing greater opportunities to
the latter.
Rawls also proposed several safeguards in the form of priority rules so that basic
liberties of citizens are not compromised even if it means opportunities of resource and
services do not reach the most disadvantaged groups.
 Equality of Opportunity and Luck Egalitarianism – This principle opposes the
strict egalitarianism principle as it favours more economic opportunity centric
distribution among people even if material assets and services are equitably
distributed. Significant contributors to the principle are Brian Barry and Ronald
Dworkin. Dworkin posited that ‘people begin with equal resources but be
allowed to end up with unequal economic benefits as a result of their own
choices. What constitutes a just material distribution is to be determined by
the result of a thought experiment designed to model fair distribution’
(Dworkin, 1981).
 Welfare Based Principles – The central tenet of this principle is the overall welfare
of the people as part of the state’s moral responsibility. ‘Advocates of welfare-
based principles view the concerns of other theories—material equality, the level
of primary goods of the least advantaged, resources, desert-claims, or liberty—as
derivative concerns’ (Lamont and Favor, 2017).
 Desert Based Principles – The desert principles are based on the concept of
deserving. Hence desert is interpretative at best. Lamont and Favor (2017) listed
three categories for the desert principle.
a) Contribution – value of people’s contribution.
b) Effort – value of effort they put into their duty and work roles.
c) Compensation – value of costs incurred by people in their work and duty.
 Libertarian Principles – The significant contributor to the principle Robert Nozick
proposed what is known as entitlement theory. Nozick claimed that distribution is
just if everyone is entitled to the holdings they possess under the distribution.
Nozick went on to share his tripartite theory i.e.
a) ‘A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice
in acquisition is entitled to that holding.
b) A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in
transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding.
c) No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of (a) and
(b)’ (Nozick, 1973).
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Towards Equity and  Feminist Principles – While feminist scholars never presented a well-sketched
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principle of justice owing to its variable interpretation, they have always favoured
the protection of rights of women and have highlight the marginal status of women
in the society which puts them in a position of disadvantage. Hence, distributive
justice can never be fair without the inclusion of rights and privileges of women
and opportunities for them as well (Lamont and Favor, 2017).

30.5.2 Social and Institutional Bases of Distributive Justice

Quite like the principles of distributive justice, the social and institutional bases of justice
have also been debated and discussed by several scholars. In most cases equity and
fairness have been considered as the fundamental social bases of distributive justice,
however scholars have also put forth ‘need’ as the bases of justice. Additionally, there
is the notion of rights, duties, power, and responsibilities that commands distributive
justice in economic, legal, and political institutions. Most of these institutions are
established on the basis of social cooperation and this social network in turn is balanced
on several socio-political categories each with its unique social and cultural
predisposition. For instance, we can consider the work of Nancy Fraser (1998) who
classified two bases of social justice, redistribution, and recognition. In contemporary
times, both redistribution and recognition are considered to be the fundamental principles
that guide distributive justice. The two principles of justice are meant to allocate
resources effectively to people that are recognized as ‘worthy’ of such resources.
Additionally, Fraser recognised gender as one of the basic organising principle in an
economic and social institution of the society. She opined ‘On the one hand, it
structures the fundamental division between paid “productive” labor and unpaid
“reproductive” and domestic labor, assigning women primary responsibility for
the latter. On the other hand, gender also structures the division within paid
labor between higher-paid, male dominated, manufacturing and professional
occupations and lower-paid, female dominated “pink collar” and domestic service
occupations. The result is an economic structure that generates gender-specific
form of distributive injustice’ (p.2).

30.5.3 Resource Allocation and Distribution

Aristotle opined that distributive justice was the benchmark or criterion for standardising
resource allocation as per the worth of the people that became a matter of contention
among people. Much of the disagreement among the citizens was caused by their
diverse or conflicting political affiliations that made them question the ideological bases
of this standardisation. Hence, Aristotle went on to mention four groups of people with
respect to their worth that was defined on the basis of political parameters.
 Democrats that favour freedom
 Oligarchs that favour wealth and capital
 Aristocrats that favour virtue
 Noble Birth
However, one needs to remember that these categories were relevant at a time when
Aristotle’s observations allowed him to separate individuals as free, enslaved, foreigner,
and resident aliens based on the political climate and the socio-cultural matrix of the
society. Moreover, arguments about who deserved what in proportion to their legacy,
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birth, hierarchy, rank became a widespread phenomenon. People with higher birth Distributive Justice

status automatically assumed that they deserved greater political power and control
over the state as their claim on the citizenship was more valid than the other. Additionally,
democrats and oligarchs also had their own conception of what justice entailed. The
problem of defining justice became more profound as each category equated justice
with freedom, equality, citizenship, or rank. While Aristotle devised ‘worth’ as the
generic nomenclature to justify the notion of distributive justice, however ‘worth’ itself
became a term marred with ambiguity. Aristotle held that on the principle of distributive
justice, democrats and oligarchs remained political opponents as their origin could be
attributed to contending notions of justice (Knoll, 2016).
Olsaretti uses Rawls and Bedau’s understanding to explain distributive justice may be
separated from other types of justice in the context that it is justice that is concerned
only with distribution, redistribution, and allocation of resources and not with the
production of the good. To others distributive justice is same as social justice that deals
with all the principles of resource allocation that allow an individual a rightful claim on
state’s resources and ensure equitable resource allocation (Rawls, 1971; Bedau, 1978,
Olsaretti, 2018).
In terms of distributive justice, the central pivot is the fair allocation of resources which
makes fairness the commanding principle of resource distribution and thereby justice.
However, Eckhoff (1974) pointed out that allocation may also be an extension of
exchange, reciprocity, or transfer of resources but in these circumstances, justice may
not be a central concern. He distinguished these exchanges with that of resource
distribution for the purpose of justice. According to Eckhoff, this resource allocation is
a one way distribution of assets, or opportunities to a circle of recipients. Allocation
occurs when an allocator distributes valued rewards, resources, rights, and obligations
to recipients who may or may not be familiar with the allocator. There are instances
when exchange may combine with allocation but it is the recognition of the aspect of
justice and equity that sets them apart.

30.6 SUMMARY
This unit is dedicated to a comprehensive discussion on the concept of justice and
even what may be considered as injustice. The concept has been historically situated in
philosophical thought with references to academic discourses between Socrates,
Cephalus, Plato, Aristotle, as well as discussion on contemporary political schools of
thought spearheaded by scholars like John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Amartya Sen.
This section primarily deals with the concept of worth, justice, and other moral codes
of conduct to a more modern notion of social justice that is valid for the global society.
The unit further progresses to a section on the various definitions, ideas, and thoughts
propounded by scholars with regard to distributive justice from varying vantage points
viz. political, economic, feminist, etc. The subsequent section on distributive justice
details the theoretical ideas that are relevant in the contemporary global society. In
addition to these notions of relative deprivation, resource allocation and distribution as
well as social justice have been dealt with to give the reader a fair understanding of
how they operate within a community and lead to the establishment of welfare measures
of the state. Finally, social, and institutional bases of distributive justice have also been
elucidated in the next section of the unit.
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Towards Equity and References
Equality
Aristotle. 1991. “Constitution of Athens”. In The Complete Works of Aristotle. ed.
by J. BARNES, II, fourth printing. N.J: Princeton
Bedau, H. 1978. “Social Justice and Social Institutions”. Midwest Studies in
Philosophy, III: 159–75.
Brown, C. 2010. “On Amartya Sen and ‘The idea of justice’”. Ethics and International
Affairs. 24(3), 309-318
Cook, K. S., & Hegtvedt, K. A. 1983. “Distributive Justice, Equity, and Equality”.
Annual Review of Sociology. 9(1), 217-241
Dworkin, R. 1981. “What is Equality? Part 2: Equality of Resources”. Philosophy &
Public Affairs. 10: 283-345
Dworkin, R., & Dworkin, R. A. 2006. Justice in Robes. Harvard: Harvard University
Press
Eckhoff, T. 1974. Justice: Its Determinants in Social Interaction. Rotterdam:
Rotterdam University Press
Fraser, N. 2009. “Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics”. Geographic Thought:
A Praxis Perspective. 72-91
Fu, M., Exeter, D. J., & Anderson, A. 2015. “The Politics of Relative Deprivation: A
Transdisciplinary Social Justice Perspective”. Social Science & Medicine. 133, 223-
232
Harris, R., Tobias, M., Jeffreys, M., Waldegrave, K., Karlsen, S., & Nazroo, J. 2006.
“Effects of Self-Reported Racial Discrimination and Deprivation on Māori Health and
Inequalities in New Zealand: Cross-sectional Study”. The Lancet. 367(9527), 2005-
2009
Knoll, M. A. 2016. “The Meaning of Distributive Justice for Aristotle’s Theory of
Constitutions”. ΠΗΓΗ/FONS. 1(1), 57-97
Lamont, J., and Christi Favor, Winter. 2017. “Distributive Justice”. The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edward N. Zalta (ed.), accessed from https://
plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/justice-distributive/
Maddox, M. 2010. “Cultural Justice”. Peace Studies, Public Policy and Global
Security–Volume V. 249
Nader, Laura and J. Starr. 1973. “Is Equity Universal?” in R.A. Newman, ed., Equity
in the World’s
Legal Systems: A Comparative Study. Brussels: Etablissements Emile Bruylant. Pp.
125-137
Nader, L., & Sursock, A. 1986. “Anthropology and Justice”. In Justice (pp. 205-
233). Boston, MA: Springer
Nozick, R. 1973. “Distributive Justice”. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 45-126
Olsaretti, S. 2018. “Introduction: The Idea of Distributive Justice”. The Oxford
98 Handbook of Distributive Justice, 1-12
Reeve, C. D. C. 2004. Plato: Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett Distributive Justice

Salmond, C., & Crampton, P. 1999. “Deprivation and Health”. Social Inequalities in
Health: New Zealand. 9-63
Scheffler, S. 2015. “Distributive Justice, the Basic Structure and the Place of Private
Law”. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 35(2), 213-235
Simm, K. 2011. “The Concepts of Common Good and Public Interest: from Plato to
Biobanking”. Cambridge Q. Healthcare Ethics. 20, 554
Townsend, P. 1985. “A Sociological Approach to the Measurement of Poverty- A
Rejoinder to Professor Amartya Sen”. Oxford Economic Papers. 37(4), 659-668
Townsend, P. 1987. “Deprivation”. Journal of Social Policy. 16 (2), 125-146
Vallentyne, P. 2007. “Distributive Justice”. In Philosophy Publications. London: Wiley-
Blackwell
Van Schoelandt, C., & Gaus, G. 2018. “Political and Distributive Justice”. The Oxford
Handbook of Distributive Justice. 283-305
Walker, H. 2020. “Equality without Equivalence: An Anthropology of the Common”.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 26(1), 146-166
Suggested Reading
Bedau, H. 1978. “Social Justice and Social Institutions”. Midwest Studies in
Philosophy, III: 159–75
Lamont, J., and Christi Favor, Winter. 2017. “Distributive Justice”. In Edward N.
Zalta (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University
Olsaretti, S. 2018. “Introduction: The Idea of Distributive Justice”. The Oxford
Handbook of Distributive Justice, 1-12
Van Schoelandt, C., & Gaus, G. 2018. “Political and Distributive Justice”. The Oxford
Handbook of Distributive Justice. 283-305
Sample Questions
1. Briefly discuss the concept of justice.
2. Explore how Anthropologists have understood justice.
3. Discuss how Plato’s philosophy of justice is relevant even in contemporary times.
4. Briefly state the relevance of relative deprivation vis-à-vis distributive justice.
5. Discuss various types of deprivation.
6. Elaborate on Aristotle’s understanding of distributive justice.
7. What are the various principles of distributive justice.
8. Explain the relevance of resource allocation in situations of distributive justice.

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