About the Book The studies on social change and transformation entailed in this volume reveal an interesting phenomenon. In spite of conscious involvement of the tribes in adopting many cultural traits of the neighbouring larger caste ridden society, they, however, do not totally forgo their tribal identity. There is an urge of the tribes of India to project themselves as one of the components of the local/regional culture, through acceptance of many elements of cultural traits of the neighbouring communities, modification of some aspects of their own traditional cultural contents or even by dropping a few items of their age-old tradition, which pose some constraints towards their induction in the neighbouring culture as its essential components.
About the Author Dr. Jayanta Sarkar (b 1943), M. Sc. (Gold Medal), Ph. D. (Ranchi) in Anthropology. At present he is attached with the Anthropological Survey of India as Deputy Director. He has more than 35 years, of research experience in the field of Cultural Anthropology with special reference to social change among the tribal and non-tribal populations living in the different ecological settings in India. Conducted intensive field investigations in the Himalayan region of the northeastern India. tribal dominated areas of Madhya Pradesh and Chattishgarh, different caste and religious groups living in the industrial and urban settings of east and south India and also among the hunter and food gatherer tribes of the Andaman Islands.
Dr. Sarkar is the author/ co- author/ editor of a dozen books in English and three in Bengali and author of more than 50 anthropological papers published in India.
Dr. Jyotirmoy Chakraborty (b.1952), M. Sc. in Anthropology (Calcutta) Ph. D. (Sambalpur) has specialisation in Cultural Anthropology. He joined the Anthropological Survey of India in 1977. Dr. Chakraborty has completed several national and regional projects commissioned by the Anthropological Survey of India. He has carried out extensive field investigations in Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and Sikkim His present interest in research are: Ethnicity, Culture change and Religious syncretism. He is a life member of many professional associations and societies. Dr. Chakraborty has in his credit a number of research papers published in India.
Foreword Study of social change, synchronically and diachronically, among the tribes of India remains an important area of research for many anthropologists of our country. The tribal situation in India is not, in any way uniform, on the contrary, it differs from one region to another depending on the nature and extent of contact a tribe establishes with the neighbouring communities as well as the extent of participation in economy and polity. There has been quite a shift in occupation among some of the tribes, from shifting cultivation to settled agriculture; hunting gathering to daily wage earning; pastoralism to agriculture or even from specialized craft to agriculture and other occupations.
Preface This volume on Transition, change and transformation: impacting the tribes in India is out come of a research project entitled Tribal India: Structure, Pattern and Transformation initiated by the Anthropological Survey of India. The researchers of the Survey contributed thirty-six papers, based on their intensive field investigations. However, we have included only twenty-three papers in the present volume as the other papers were beyond the scope of the focal theme. The papers have been categorized on the basis of diverse levels of economic pursuits of the tribes and distributed in different chapters. These papers touch upon only some important aspects of tribal society in contemporary India.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
