| 8． Colonialism, Casteism and the Myth of Race:
A historical perspective on the interaction of Indian beliefs and Western
Science. |
| CHANNA, Subhadra (Dept. Of Anthropology, University of Delhi, India, csubhadra@hotmail.com) |
| In this paper I defend the idea of a common basis
to all forms of inequalities. Caste and race as forms of discrimination share
one thing that socially created inequalities are rationalized and justified
as nature given. In the ancient system of caste, the justification was sought
in mythology and God given characters of living beings. The Western world
entered India as colonial rulers, with their own racist theories that they
used to first justify and secondly to facilitate their rule. Unfortunately
the Indian elite, were the first to receive a Western education, used western
science in the same way as their rulers. They made use of anthropometric
measurements to justify the existing inequalites in Indian society, both
on the basis of caste as well as on the basis of a cultural hegemony of the
Gangetic plains of India. The myth of the Indo- Aryans, of an inferior race
of people called the dasyus , the myth of superior invaders of European
origin , all served the interests of both the traditional power holders as
well as the colonial rulers. By tracing their genetic roots to the White
races the high castes, not only justified their traditional superior position
but the colonial rulers were all to eager to participate and partner such
research, to justify their own rule as well. Western science effectively
replaced religion in the tussle between high and low caste intellectuals,
each with their opposed points of view. The time period is eighteenth and
early nineteenth century. |
| CHANNA, Subhadra Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, India My research interests are in gender, caste and forms of inequality in Indian society and in general, including race. I have done fieldwork in many parts of India, mostly in the North. My publications include four books, two of them edited and about 35 research papers. I was the President of the Indian Anthropological Association from 1997-2000. Major Works: Understanding Society, Culture and Change (New Delhi: Blaze Publications, 1994); Nagaland- A Contemporary Ethnography(ed) (New Delhi: Cosmo Publications, 1987); “Gender and Social Space in a Haryana Village”, in Indian Journal of Gender Studies (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1995); “The Right to Self -Hood: The Paradox of being a Dalit Woman”, in Social Action, Vol. 51, No.4 (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 2001); “The Dalit World View and Self Identification”, Eastern Anthropologist, Vol.54, No.3-4 (Lucknow India, 2001). |