Patterns Of Residence In Poona,India, By Caste And Religion: 1822–1965

An analysis of the residential distribution of caste and religious groups in Poona (India) over the past century and a half shows distinctive patterns of segregation and centralization that have largely remained unchanged despite the city's growth and development. The upper castes are residentially centralized and the lower castes are decentralized in Poona. Such a centralization of the elite has been observed in most other past and present cities of the world, although the pattern is less common in the contemporary United States. The Jews and Parsees, and the Christians, tend to be highly segregated and decentralized in Poona. However, Negroes in large American cities are generally more highly segregated residentially than the Jews, Parsees, Christians, and even the depressed and untouchable castes in Poona. The American cities show an average degree of segregation of the foreign-born white ethnic groups, and of the native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, from the native whites that is as great, if not greater, than the mean extent of segregation of caste groups in this Indian city.     

Marriage Migration and Inequality in India, 1983–2008

Using National Sample Survey data from 1983 to 2007–08, we investigate rising rates of female marriage migration in India. We find little evidence to support the idea that marriage migration is a form of disguised economic migration by women. We hypothesise that it is instead a result of the changing patterns of marriage by socioeconomic status. Regression analysis indicates that poor families are increasingly more likely to have brides who in‐migrate, a finding that is robust across a sectoral disaggregation of marriage migration. We also find that urban inequality increases the likelihood of migration by intensifying class stratifications within urban India, increasing the need for poorer urban households to seek migrant brides. Marriage thus serves to reinforce rather than undermine larger patterns of class (and not just caste) inequality.     

Peers and Fertility Preferences: An Empirical Investigation of the Role of Neighbours,Religion and Education

Individual fertility preference is influenced by observed social norms. The present paper investigates the effect of the observed fertility of peers on a woman’s fertility preference. We explore the role of two peer groups: neighbourhood peers and religious peers. Data from the National Family Health Surveys (1992–1993, 1998–1999 and 2005–2006) in India is employed for empirical estimations using a multinomial logit model. We find that both neighbourhood and religious peers have a significant impact on individual fertility preferences, but their relative importance changes with family size. An increase in peer fertility increases the probability of preferring more children. We further examine the roles of education and wealth as transmission channels between the fertility norms of peers to the fertility preferences of the women and find that education plays an important role in moderating peer influences. These findings can serve as vital inputs in formulating family planning and gender policies.     

Beyond the “digital divide”: the “computer girls” of Seelampur

In the last decade, India’s position as a global information economy has aided its status as the poster child for Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) initiatives in the global South. Policy discourse emphasizes that crossing of the “digital divide” through access to technology will bring a leveling of economic and social hierarchies. Based on sustained ethnographic observations and interviews in Seelampur in New Delhi, my paper critically examines the promise of inclusion in the information society for low income “Muslim women.” In following the lives of the “computer girls” of Seelampur, I argue that access to computer training contradictorily reproduced and reified interconnected divisions of gender, class, caste, and religion. Ethnographic research reveals the complexities of everyday lived experiences among Seelampur women. The space of the ICT center was rigidly stratified and the center primarily attracted women from relatively higher class and caste positions within Seelampur. However, I argue that the women had contradictory experiences related to their status as India’s “middle-class” that restricted their economic and social mobility outside the ICT center. Their experiences testified to structural disempowerment that disrupted deterministic assumptions about ICT and mobility.     

Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors

Much research has been done on demographic manifestations of son preference, particularly girls’ excess mortality; however, there is less research that focuses on son preference itself. This paper analyzes the determinants of son preference in rural India. We separate the independent, relative effects of characteristics of individual women and their households, village opportunities for women and village development, and social norms. We look at both socioeconomic and sociocultural variables. Finally, we examine whether predictors of son preference differ by desired family size. Our data come from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) India, 1992–1993. We use an ordered logit model, with dummy variables for state of residence. Our analysis shows that women’s education, particularly at secondary and higher levels, is consistently and significantly associated with weaker son preference, regardless of desired family size. Once factors measuring social norms, such as marriage customs, caste and religion, are included, economic wealth and women’s employment at household or village levels are not significant. Media access remains significant, suggesting an influence of “modernizing” ideas. Among social factors, caste and religion are associated with son preference but, once state of residence is controlled for, marriage patterns and cultivation patterns are insignificant. The strength and significance for son preference of many determinants differs by desired family size. Our results suggest that policy makers seeking to influence son preference need to identify and target different policy levers to women in different fertility and social contexts, rather than try an approach of one size that fits all.     

At home with their queerness: same-sex relationality and the Indian family in advertising media

The legal battle around the reform of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code brought the provisional decriminalization of homosexuality in 2009, which was overturned by the Supreme Court of India in 2013. Queer politics in India thus stands at a critical juncture regarding the goal to foster social acceptance of LGBT individuals. This paper offers an analysis of two recent media representations in India—a gay matrimonial ad and an online advertisement for an ethnic apparel brand featuring a lesbian couple—to demonstrate how the Indian family is emerging as an important arbiter of queer relationality. The negotiation of same-sex relations within the familial is premised on bourgeois notions of class, caste and gender, an ideological normativity that queer of color critique and queer theory have foundationally put up resistance to. This paper goes beyond the queer and feminist critiques of gender and class normativity to suggest that queer visibility in the Indian context is being negotiated not in opposition to, but through, the mandates of the familial.     

Time Use and Household Division of Labor in India—Within-Gender Dynamics

Household allocation of labor is an important area of scholarship in developing countries where women's well-being is affected by the heavy load of unpaid work within the household. This study extends nuclear household-centric research on labor allocation by drawing attention to bargaining between female in-laws in multigenerational households in India. This paper empirically tests two competing theories based on the impact of a daughter-in-law's education on household division of labor in multigenerational households. First is Caldwell's thesis that contends that increasing education would increase the bargaining power of daughter-in-law, thereby tilting the distribution of household labor in her favor, and the second is patriarchal bargain theory that makes an opposite claim. Both these theories are tested using time-use data, and the latter is found to have higher explanatory power. Further layers are added to the analysis by tracing the effects of caste, class, and religion. Findings show that these mediate and determine the division of housework and bargaining outcomes between female in-laws. This study emphasizes the need for an intersectional understanding of gender norms that are inextricably tied to factors such as religion, caste, class, and family structure. Findings also underline the need to study within-gender dynamics systematically.     

Metropolitan social structure,labor markets,and fertility

This paper develops and examines a community-level model of fertility, incorporating both sociological and economic theoretical perspectives. Data from several government and private sources are analyzed in a series of reduced-form, multivariate regression models. Generally, the results demonstrate that while the conceptual relationships from both schools receive some empirical support, the social structural characteristics (such as social class, religious and ethnic composition) offer somewhat greater explanatory power. In a subsequent analytic stage, principal components analysis is employed in order to estimate a series of revised models, clarifying some inconsistencies found when employing a more “naive” model testing strategy.     

Modeling urbanism: Economic,social and environmental stress in cities

The time has come for urban social indicator research to converge with the basic substantive efforts of urban researchers. Such a convergence may propel both basic and applied researchers toward more fruitful outcomes. This paper argues that the traditional model of urbanism provides the medium for the convergence. When urbanism is conceptualized to be multidimensional, seemingly discreet indicators of demographic, economic, social, and environmental conditions in cities may be incorporated into a more general model of urban structure and change. Specifically, using social indicators for 195 cities from ZPG's Children's Stress Index and the 1990 U.S. Census, we show empirically: (1) Urbanism is a complex factor with four distinct dimensions: demographic scale, economic stress, social stress, and environmental stress. (2) These four dimensions of urbanism may be reliably measured with standard composite variables used in today's social indicator research. (3) Within the Urbanism factor there are causal connections among the separate dimensions, the most basic of which is that asserted by arguments from the traditional theory of urbanism; specifically, that population size, density, and social heterogeneity are causally linked to stress in economic, social, and environmental systems of the city.     

Skewed Sex Ratios and Criminal Victimization in India

Although substantial research has explored the causes of India’s excessively masculine population sex ratio, few studies have examined the consequences of this surplus of males. We merge individual-level data from the 2004–2005 India Human Development Survey with data from the 2001 India population census to examine the association between the district-level male-to-female sex ratio at ages 15 to 39 and self-reports of victimization by theft, breaking and entering, and assault. Multilevel logistic regression analyses reveal positive and statistically significant albeit substantively modest effects of the district-level sex ratio on all three victimization risks. We also find that higher male-to-female sex ratios are associated with the perception that young unmarried women in the local community are frequently harassed. Household-level indicators of family structure, socioeconomic status, and caste, as well as areal indicators of women’s empowerment and collective efficacy, also emerge as significant predictors of self-reported criminal victimization and the perceived harassment of young women. The implications of these findings for India’s growing sex ratio imbalance are discussed.     

Widow remarriages in some rural areas of Northern India

It is commonly believed thai widows belonging to high-caste Hindus in India do not remarry because of various social restrictions imposed on their remarriage. Though some information on widowhood and widow remarriages is available, there is need for more detailed information. A study, carried out by the author, of 1 percent of the rural households in Mathura and Saharanpur districts in Uttar Pradesh and in Rohtak district in Panjab has brought out that nearly SO percent of the ever-widowed are remarried. The survey covered 6,211 households, of which 887 were Muslim and the remaining were Hindu.Of the ever-widowed females, 84 percent in Saharanpur, 25 percent in Rohtak, and 19 percent in Mathura were found to have remarried. With a view to finding out whether differences in widow remarriage percentages by districts were real or were due to variations in the distribution of the ever-widowed females by age, occupation, caste, and the number of living children, the standardized widow remarriage rates were obtained. The population of Saharanpur district was taken to be the standard population. As a result of standardization for age, number of living children, and caste, the difference narrowed down considerably; and, while the widow remarriage percentage was 34.2 in Saharanpur. it was found to be 334 in Rohtak and 31.1 in Mathura. A 3 percent lower figure for Mathura district could be a result of the Brahminic influence.Widow remarriages were found to be very common among younger widows, since nearly 90 percent of those below age 16 and 80 percent of those in the age group 15-19 were remarried. Also, roughly 80 percent of those who did not have a child at the time of their widowhood were remarried. But the per-centage of remarried widows declined with an increase in age and in the number of living children. The percentage of widow remarriages was highest among the Muslims-between 35 and 37-because they put no restrictions on such remarriages. Among the Hindus, the lower castes, such as Chamars, Bhangis, and artisan castes, had the highest percentage of widow remarriages-around 30-because of the absence of social restrictions on such remarriages. Among the high-caste Hindus, the Jats (one of the warrior castes) had the highest percentage of remarried widows. The reason for this is that they have socially permitted such remarriages. Widow remarriages, though on a smaller scale, were also found prevailing among other warrior castes, such as Gujjars, Ahirs, and Rajputs. Among other high-caste Hindus, such as Brahmins, Banias, Khatris, and Aroras, cases of widow remarriages were very few-only around 7 percent. This is the result of a long standing religious sanction against such remarriages.On the basis of our data, we are inclined to say that in the rural areas of northern India no marked change in the social position regarding widow remarriages is noticeable.     

India’s ‘Missing Women’ and Men’s Sexual Risk Behavior

Although scholars and policymakers have long been concerned with the ??missing women?? of India, little rigorous research has examined the consequences of India??s sex ratio imbalance for young men??s sexual risk behavior and reproductive health. We use data from the third wave of India??s 2005?C2006 National Family and Health Survey to examine the influence of the community female-to-male sex ratio at ages 10?C39 on men??s likelihood of marrying early in life, of engaging in premarital, multi-partnered, and commercial sex, and of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease. We estimate logistic regression models that control for respondents?? demographic and socioeconomic status and that adjust for the clustering of observations within communities. Net of the effects of other characteristics, the female-to-male sex ratio is positively and significantly associated with the likelihood that men marry prior to age 18 and inversely and significantly associated with the odds that men have had intercourse with a commercial sex worker. However, no significant net associations are observed between the sex ratio and the other outcomes. Education, wealth, religious affiliation, caste, and geographic region emerge as significant predictors of Indian men??s sexual risk behaviors.     

Gender Equity,Religion, and Fertility in Europe and North America

Religion has historically been a pronatalist force, but because it fosters traditional gender role attitudes, its importance for fertility may wane where gender equity is thought to be emerging as the new natalism. In this study, I used World Values Survey and European Values Survey data from 1989 to 2018 to determine whether more religious Northern countries are slower to develop the widespread egalitarian gender role attitudes associated with fertility recovery. I concluded that the “old natalism” and the “new natalism” do not compete with each other as much as their negative association implies that they might. By tracing the evolution of country‐level gender equity in more‐ and less religious countries of Europe and North America, I showed how country‐level religiosity does not dampen the potential for a gender equity‐stimulated fertility recovery. This paper also contributes by showing that the curvilinear relationship between gender equity and fertility has continued into more recent time periods than covered by previous work.     

Family Size,Sex Composition and Children's Education: Ethnic Differentials Over Development in Peninsular Malaysia

In this paper the composition of Indian emigration to Fiji is analysed from documentary data. Most emigrants went as indentured labourers from 1879 to 1916. The system of recruitment, the considerable resistances to emigration and pressure stimulating it, places of origin, age, sex, marital status, economic position, religion and caste and expectations of emigrants are considered ; 75% of the emigrants embarked at Calcutta. In the main they were unaccompanied, young men and women, came from the north-eastern United Provinces, and were a fair cross section of village castes. The emigrants were driven primarily by economic but also by social pressure and intended to return to India. Emigration from Madras differed in some respects. Other Indian emigration to Fiji, of Punjabis and Gujratis particularly, is also discussed.     

Social Diversity,Institutions and Trust: A Cross-National Analysis

This cross-national investigation examines hypotheses derived from two major alternative perspectives on the determinants of trust in contemporary societies. Is a society’s level of generalized trust a function of its ethnic composition, or of its type of governance and political system? The argument that social diversity (ethnic, linguistic, and religious) leads to lower levels of trust, at least in the short run, is assessed with cross-national data (N = 98). Two hypotheses derived from this perspective are not confirmed. The alternative rational governance argument, which holds that trust is a function of rational governance, stable democracy, and civil rights is also assessed. Three hypotheses derived from this political perspective reveal mixed results. The findings highlight the complex interplay of multiple factors in shaping a society’s overall level of generalized trust.     

人力资本、社会资本对农民工市民化的影响—以X市农民工为个案研究

通过个案访谈,描述和分析了两个农民工的市民化历程。比较研究表明人力资本、社会资本是农民工市民化的重要影响因素：人力资本为农民工市民化奠定经济基础,并影响着农民工再构现代型社会资本能力;现代型社会资本则是农民工城市生活的重要资源。因此,帮助农民工提升人力资本,再构现代型社会资本对促进其成功市民化具有重要意义。     

城市农民工市民化问题研究

城市农民工市民化是健康城市化的要求,也是建设社会主义和谐社会的要求。社会资本缺失是农民工市民化进程受阻,进而引发许多社会问题的主要原因。因此,要促进农民工市民化进程就必须增加农民工的社会资本存量。主要对策有:转变城乡分割思想,在全社会确立一种城乡开放、平等、统筹观念;打造促进农民工与城市市民进行互动和交往的文化环境;积极进行制度改革,创建农民工同城市融合的制度平台;建立健全公平、共享的社会保障机制,消除人为差别,增强农民工对城市社会的认同感;加强对农民工就业培训,积极增加农民工的人力资本存量;加强和发挥民间志愿性组织的作用,增强人们的社会参与意识。     

Untersuchung der autoritären Einstellung bei ungarischen StudentInnen

We asked daytime university and college students to complete the survey, which aimed at examining the authoritarian attitude of those questioned, and the factors in connection to it. The questionnaire was made up of 23 statements, and those questioned had to express how far they agree on a five grade scale (N = 349). On the basis of the answers it could be stated that the different groups of those planning to work in different fields differ from each other also from the point of view of accepting authority: from those groups which were examined in greater numbers the physical education teachers and the theologians were the most authoritarian, while the social workers and students of human studies were the least. Those answering differed also in terms of religiousness: those considering themselves religious and close to the church seemed to be the most authoritarian and those who are not religious the least. The results were interestingly coloured by the fact that in assessing specific social situations the social workers and the convinced non-religious ones showed signs of more authoritarian attitude. Results also proved that the own opinion about authoritarianism is related to the opinion of the parents. Beside many other questions we also examined whether authoritarianism is related to the situation when someone is stricter to him/herself and to those emotionally closer than to others.     

Kinship institutions and sex ratios in India

This article explores the relationship between kinship institutions and sex ratios in India at the turn of the twentieth century. Because kinship rules vary by caste, language, religion, and region, we construct sex ratios by these categories at the district level by using data from the 1901 Census of India for Punjab (North), Bengal (East), and Madras (South). We find that the male-to-female sex ratio varied positively with caste rank, fell as one moved from the North to the East and then to the South, was higher for Hindus than for Muslims, and was higher for northern Indo-Aryan speakers than for the southern Dravidian-speaking people. We argue that these systematic patterns in the data are consistent with variations in the institution of family, kinship, and inheritance.     

Religion,Contraceptive Method Mix,and Son Preference Among Bengali-Speaking Community of Indian Subcontinent

This paper examines the influence of religion on contraceptive method mix in the context of son preference among Bengali-speaking population of eastern India (i.e., West Bengal and Tripura) and Bangladesh. In spite of cultural similarity and parallel programmatic approach to family planning in these two distinct geopolitical spaces, differential use of contraception is evident. Using National Family Health Survey (2005–2006) and Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (2007) and by employing sequential logit model, the paper finds evidence of latent son preference in adoption of modern contraception in Bengali-speaking Hindu and Muslim communities of eastern India. However, such practice is observed only among Hindus in Bangladesh. The paper further argues that although diffusion of the culture of son preference cuts across religious groups among Bengali-speaking community in eastern India, religious identity dominates over region in Bangladesh, encouraging minority Hindus to adopt a distinct pattern of contraceptive behavior with reference to sons. Such finding calls for further research in understanding the pros and cons of behavioral diffusion in majority–minority population mix in similar tradition and culture.