Rural social structure,Social change and continuity

Unit:3 Rural social structure, Social change and Continuity

Concept of chapter:The majority of the people live in the villages and rural areas and follow patterns of occupations and life some what different from those living in urban areas.Their behaviour,way of life, and beliefs are conditioned and deeply influence their rural development.T hus sociology is the scientific of man’s behaviour in relation to group with whom he has reciprocal interaction. simply enough this study focues on man living in rural areas. It studies diff erent aspects of human society, such as demography, education, family, caste, tribe, village and a number of other segments of a soci ety.

Compiled by Roshan pant (MBM-Nepal Commerce campus)

2

Concept of Rural Sociology• Rural sociology is the science of the village or village society.• Rural sociology studies the relations of the people who live in the villages.• It is just like a mirror of the rural social life. It provides a detailed study of

knowledge about different aspects of rural life, its problems, its culture, its religion, its economic and political life.

• The basic aim of the study of rural sociology is to make the village people self sufficient and also link them with the wider society at regional and national levels.

• Rural sociology which aims at providing systematic and scientific approach to rural problems

• Backbone of society, many funds, to make the village people self sufficient and also link them with the wider society at regional and national levels.


3

Nature of Rural sociology

• Scientific: systematic body of knowledge. In case of rural sociology the rural problems are systematically and logically studied.

• universally applicable• Rural sociology is multi-dimensional in

character.• It emphasises on micro studies.• It employs comparative method


4

Importance of Rural sociology1. Rural sociology lays great stress on systematization and scientific analysis. Many studies have been

made but many of them now are in monograph or article form. Some of the studies seriously lack proper analysis and solution.

2. Vast majority of population lives in the villages which has its own problems. Even today, two-third of the world population lives in rural areas. Rural sociology aims at studying all those problems and life of rural people.

3. Rural society is the fundamental basis of human civilization and culture. People who are living in urban areas they are mainly the migrants from the rural areas. So rural area or village is the well-spring of our culture and civilization. Thus to know about the life of urban community it is essential to know their original place of living, that is rural community.

4. The basic importance of rural sociology has to find out the laws of development and those principles only can be discovered by studying rural communities in detail.

5. The importance of rural society cannot be ignored in studying rural problems in Nepal.Nepal is a country of villages, therefore, rural sociology is comparatively more important here than in any other country of the world. The importance of true Indian culture can be found only In the Nepalese villages.

6. Now Nepalase is facing with problems of social, economic and political reconstruction. Unless, one understands what rural nepal is, one cannot understand the problems of Nepal as a whole and its ancient tradition, customs, culture and ways of life.


5

Scope of Rural sociology


6

Scope of rural sociology • A Study of Rural Institutions:Rural sociology studies the structure, characteristics and functions of rural

social institutions. It studies the institutions like family, marriage, kinship, religion, caste etc. in the rural context.

• A Study of Rural Social Organization:In rural sociology rural social organisations are unavoidably studied. It includes the study of rural family pattern, marriage, rural social stratification, educational system, religion, cultural institutions etc.

• A Study of Rural Reconstruction:Rural reconstruction is an important aspect of life and without which development is impossible. Rural sociology studies various plans and programmes relating to community development programmes.

• A Study of Rural – Urban Continuum and Contrast: Both village and city hypothetically are two contrasting modes of community life. It has to be studied in a scientific manner. By studying the comparison between these two, it can meet different plans and programmes for the development of rural community.

• A Study of Planning:Rural sociology is a study of social planning relating to rural society. Community development projects, Panchayati Raj, Co-operative movements are coming under this study. Their success and failure can only be measured by the study of rural sociology.

• A Study of Rural Community:Rural sociology is concerned with the characteristics, features, nature and human ecology of village community. It is also the study of activities of rural people.

• A Study of Rural Social Structure:Rural sociology studies the various components of rural social structure. For example, village community, caste, class, dominant caste, jajmani system, caste and politics, backward class etc.


7

• A Study of Rural Problems:The subject matter of rural sociology includes the problems of rural life such as social, economic, political and cultural problems.

• A Study of Religion and Culture: Culture includes old customs, traditions, folkways, norms, values, etc. Rural sociology studies the complexity of rural culture, cultural patterns etc

• A Study of Rural Social Process: Social process indicates the fundamental ways through which these people can interact with other groups.

• A Study of Rural Social Control: Social control is the control over the society. It starts from the family level. Rural sociology significantly studies the infernal means of social control like customs, traditions, folkways, mores, norms, religion etc.

• A Study of Social Change:Social change is the change in the social relationships; the changing aspect of any system of the society. Due to the impact of modern education, means of transport and communication, modernisation, urbanisation, industrialisation, the rural society is now undergoing tremendous changes.


8

methods or approaches employed in the study of rural life

1. Structural-functional method2.Regional approach 3.Systemic comparison4. Fieldwork5.Participative observation6.Social survey


9

Structural-functional method:• This approach views society as a complex, but interconnected system, where

each part works together as a functional whole.This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole

• A metaphor for the structural-functional approach is the human body. You have arms, legs, a heart, a brain, and so on. Each individual body part has its own neurons and system for working, but each part has to work together for a fully-functioning structure, or system.

• addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions, and institutions.

• Hierarchical model of caste system• What are the different structures, or systems, in society? probably think of the

government, businesses, schools, Reference group , opinion builders and families. We need all of these systems to work together for a fully-functioning society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norms_(sociology)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_(norm)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutions


10

Regional approach• Regional Approach undertakes a large territorial or geographical

unit as its subject of study• The discussion and analysis includes the questions like, ‘What

factors determine the growth of varied types of villages, what factors operate to combine a cluster of villagers into a agrarian region, what factors tend to transform an agrarian region into a cultural, linguistic or political region, and how do regions evolve into and provide these problems are of considerable significance in the study of rural society

• It helps in developing broad laws of rural development. It is not as time-consuming as the village community approach. This enables the investigator to find out the life style of the people very quickly.


11

Systemic comparison

- Compare and contrast between the society with reflection of rural sociology as a whole

- How far one village economy is being similar and varied with other village

- Village may very between high migration and low migration

- Village social life may very between dry and wet (irrigation) village


12

Fieldwork

• Field work present fact finding of the rural life, status, and changing pattern of rural livelihood and consumption patterns, occupation, structure, trend of migration and other social setting.

• Investigated few month to 2 years phenomenon of rural life


13

Participative observation• the observer participates with the people whom he is

observing. • This gives him the opportunity to come into direct contact

with the people who are to provide him with his information and obtain much useful information.

• This provides much detailed information along with the facility of its execution.

• But this method involves extensive use of time, money and energy. Yet, in spite of these defects, it assists in a profound study of rural and primitive groups. This method finds an uninhibited use in many anthropological studies


14

Social Survey

• Social survey is intended to be the study of the social aspect of a community’s composition and activities.

• It aims at the collection of quantitative facts. • It makes a concrete study of society, especially the

social problems inherent in the society. • It presets program for improvement and development. • It is conducted with fixed geographical limit; • it is related to problems of social importance and

assists in formulating constrictive programs.


15

Rural urban differencesBases Rural Urban

Life simple Not simple,complicated

people more or less the same Same social status different castes, creeds, religions and cultures, thus do not enjoy the same social status

Occupational mobility

very little scope for occupational mobility. many occupations, so occupational mobility

Importance of Family Regarded important May not be, hold of families is not strong

Changes and adaptability

no fast change and social adaptability. Very fast

culture very deep-rooted. Everyone loved culture and cultural heritage above everything else.

it is different to find pure culture.

Division of labor and specialization

there is no division of labour there is

respect to the womenfolk

lower women enjoys comparatively high social status.

materialistic less More

occupation agriculture and animal husbandry. engaged in non-agricultural work, i.e. trade, commerce or service industry.


16

Basis for Comparison Urban Rural

MeaningA settlement where the population is very high and has the features of a built environment, is known as urban.

An area located in the outskirts, is known as rural.

Includes Cities and towns Villages and hamlet

Life Fast and complicated Simple and relaxed

Environment Greater isolation from nature. Direct contact with nature.

Associated with Non-agricultural work, i.e. trade, commerce or provision of services. Agriculture and livestock.

Population size Densely populated Sparsely populated

DevelopmentPlanned settlement exists in urban areas, that are developed according to the process of urbanization and industrialization.

Developed randomly, based on availability of natural vegetation and fauna in the area.

Social mobility Highly intensive Less intensive

Division of labor Always present at the time of job allotment. No such division.


17

Rural urban continuum• Continuum means continuity. By rural-urban continuum is meant “continuity from the village to the city.• In sociological studies, it was thought that there was a clear contrast between urban and rural societies.

(previous slide)• Some sociologists have used the concept of rural-urban continuum to stress the idea that there are no

sharp breaking points to be found in the degree or quantity of rural urban differences.• However, there are also structural similarities between the two with regard to the patterns of caste,

kinship, rules of marriages, observance of religious practices, migrations, educational institutions, employ ment opportunities and administration are the other institutional sources of linkages between villages and cities. Thus, villages and towns cannot be seen simply as dichotomous entities. They are interlinked and yet distinct from each other

• Both village and city are elements of the same civilization and hence neither rural urban dichotomy, nor continuum is meaningful.

• Though the communities are normally divided into rural and urban the line of demarcation is not always clear between these two types of communities. There is no sharp demarcation to tell where the city ends and country begins.

• Hence rural-urban continuum means two essential things:(a) There is a disagreement over the traditional dichotomy between rural society and urban society.(b) The difference between rural and urban community is a matter of degree.


18

Figure of continum:• previously it was believed that

rural to urban passes from these 7 steps.The extreme points represent remote village and metropolis. It was believed that Gradual change and merger from remote rural towards metropolis brings it closer to the next higher stage facilitating greater merger between the two.

• Moreover rural and urban areas are mutually dependent. Analysis must focus on the linkage between the two rather than the dichotomy.

• (a) Rural depending on Urban• (b) Urban depending on Rural


19

Rural Depending on Urban:

• (i) Urban areas as business centres for purchase of consumables such as kerosene, matchbox, pump set and fertilizers etc.

• (ii) Urban areas are centres of recreation and education.

• (iii) Compensation, rehabilitation and employment opportunities in case of acquisition of village land for industrialization. Demand for house increases giving financial boost to the villages.


20

Urban Depending on Rural:

• (i) For vegetables and agricultural products.• (ii) Industries depend on raw materials like

sugarcane, jute, wheat and cotton etc.• (iii) For labour, skilled mansions etc.• (iv) Caste based occupation specific services

like dhobi, sweeper, barber and goldsmith etc.


21

The stylized rural-urban continuum

• In figure here the spatial flow includes flows of people, goods, money technology, knowledge, information, and waste and sectoral includes flows of agricultural products going to urban and peri-urban areas, and goods from the urban manufacturing areas going to more rural areas .

• Increasing trade and capital flows, the information revolution, increasingly decentralized governance structures across the developing world are changing opportunities for rural-urban linkages as well as, the boosting up of such linkages.


22

Aims

• Why have rural and urban areas changed?• To what extent can we define rural and urban

areas?• What are our perceptions of rural and urban

areas?• Where do we get them from?• It is now unusual to find a clear distinction between rural and

urban areas - now there is a gradual decrease in urban characteristics with increased distance from urban centre – known as the urban-rural continuum.


23

Why have rural and urban areas changed?

Rural and urban areas have changed due to 4 main processes :

1. Counter Urbanisation : the movement of people and businesses away from towns and cities to rural areas

2. Suburbanisation : the movement of people from the inner city areas to the suburbs of towns and cities leading to the growth of the suburbs and the extension of the urban area


24

Why have rural and urban areas changed?

3. Re-Urbanisation : the movement of people and businesses back to the CBD and Inner City due to redevelopment and regeneration

4. Intra-urban migration : Any population movements made within urban areas e.g. as families develop and their housing needs change this is reflected in their intra-urban migration


25

A summary:The belief that there is between the truly rural and the truly urban are no more clear they have many ‘shades of grey’; Over time, villages are transformed into towns and cities. The rapid process of urbanization through the establishment of industries, urban traits and facilities has decreased the differences between villages and cities. The differences between the two is not visible.development of transport and road communication has connected remote villages .New occupations and modern educational institutions have attracted the people of rural areas.This is what the rural urban continuum is.

.


26

Urbanism(Urban sociology)• Urbanism is the sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas.• It studies the role of cities in development of a country • On the one hand, urbanism indicates the rural-urban movement of populations

(urbanization) or their degree of concentration in urban areas. On the other hand, urbanism describes the characteristic way of social interaction of inhabitants of towns and cities (urban areas).

• It is a normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, processes, changes and problems of an urban area and by doing so provide inputs for planning and policy making.

• Urbanism constitutes the core interest of disciplines such as urban planning (as concerns the physical design and management of urban structures) and urban sociology (as concerns the study of urban life and culture).

• In other words it is the sociological study of cities and their role in the development of society.

• Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statistical analysis, observation, social theory, interviews, and other methods to study a range of topics, including migration and demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations and economic trends.


27

Features of urbanism

Urbanism Is a way of life which is characterised by certain elements such as

• transiency (short-term relations), • superficiality, (impersonal and formal relations

with limited number of people,) • anonymity (not knowing names and lacking

Intimacy) and • individualism (people giving more importance to

one’s vested interests).


28

• A sociologically significant definition of the city seeks to select those elements of urbanism which mark it as a distinctive mode of human group life such as :

• Transportation• Communication• Cities• Growth• Mode of life (Although largely population is the only element which is

considered, these elements are more significant in defining an area as “Urban”.)


29

Social structure of rural society• every society has certain units. It is these units that form the social set

up or social structure. These units are inter-related and through their study, it is possible to study the behavior patterns of the society.

• A social structure includes is made-up of elements of society, such as institutions, statuses, roles, groups and social classes. Sociologists study social structure by examining the elements or parts that comprise it.

• In Rural Society, different villages are the units and they have geographical, moral and other types of structures. Their behavior pattern, there believes ideas, faiths etc. are also different from one another. For the proper study of the Indian Rural Society, the units that from the social structure have to be studied.

• Some of them are Family,Caste System ,Internal Organisation,Religion, Economic System, kinship, marriage, etc


30

Components of social structure• The family:Family is the basic unit of social structure. It occupied an

important place in the Rural Society. the family also brings about socialisation social control and also performs various basic and important tasks; the family also brings about socialaisation, social control and also performs various economic activities. It is the agency that controls the religion activities particularly in the Rural Society. It has the following characteristics:

a) Patriarchal family structure, b) joint family system, c) extended family structure.

• Caste-System:The second unit of the social organisation of social structure of the Rural Society in the Caste System. Through the institution, the functions status, occupation role and social position are determined

Normally it has the following characteristics:-1) Limited to the persons born within that caste. 2) Endogamous group, 3)

Determined occupation


31

• The internal organisation:Normally every village can have a Panchayat or like or and its head; it is elected with the consent of almost all the adult members of the village. Such as revenue, law and order etc, generally there is a village Panchayat, a village Nyay Panchayat, Panchayat of different castes and certain other social, religious and political group’s voluntary groups.

• That are indented at helping the villagers are maintaining the religious customs and traditions play a vital role in determining the internal organisation and working of the villagers and village life.

• Religion and religious organisation: Like caste, family internal organisation etc, religion is an important unit of the village social structure of organisation. In fact religion means worship of the super natural power. This super natural power means god and other gods and deities, worship of supernatural power and the ditties form an important part of village life. Villages have there own gods and deities.

• Economic system:• Economic system has now come to occupy an important place in every social structure. In fact economic

system determines not only the social structure but various other things. It includes the means and the system of production system of distribution, sharing of profit etc, according to Raymond forth; social and economic activities are inter-related have a mutual relationship.

• In village society as we have seen earlier different castes have different occupations and functions. In other words their economic activities are determined by their social conditions. A particular social group has performed particular type of economic activities. For example the social group or the caste that is known as washer man is responsible for washing the clothes; no one can be to that profession.


32

Economic structure of Rural society• Study of economic structure of rural society gies the true and vivid picture of a

overall economy which governs the societyThe economic structures components od rural society are• Major occupation of population(might be agriculture)• Labour force composition based on education,income,age gender• Emplyment trend(traditional,urban directed, migration and foreign emp etc)• Status of land holding (who holds? And at what proportion? Where used?)• Labour market issues• Land reforms issues• Rural Society under the Impact of Urbanism and change in production and

consumption pattern• Supplies and marketing(Commercialization of Agriculture) • Village administration• Institutional Participation in reconstruction and development


33

Village • A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but

smaller than a town, with a population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.

• It is a Home and refuge of growing future citizens in large society, and the original focus of humanitarian organizations to national development,

• The basic unit of production in the national economy is also the village• Context of producing food to feed the nation and the people• Export supplier of manpower to stimulate to production services of society, and• Finally, village means Place providing needs of the nation, and the state's population

in times of peace and to time of war and • Therefore, can be stated that:Villages mean survival bases of existence and

providing economic independence of any state.

• Development in practice means the process of improving the quality of life in cities and villages. so study of village plays a vital role in rural sociology


34

Features of village

• Isolation and Self-Sufficiency:All of their essential needs were satisfied in the village itself.

• Peace and Simplicity:In the village there is no noise and little sophistication.

• Conservatism: The inhabitants of the village are strongly attached to old customs and traditions

• Poverty and Illiteracy:They are generally poor with a very low income.

• Local Self-government: The villagers manage their own affairs through the traditional institution like Panchayat.


35

Classification of villages1.On the basis of structure:• The Nucleated Village:• The Linear Village:• Dispersed Village:• The Mixed Village: 2. On the basis of residence:• Migratory Village:• Semi-permanent Agricultural

Village:• Permanent Agricultural Village:3. On the Basis of Organisation: • Co-operative Villages:

• Semi-Collective Village:• Collective Villages: 4.On the Basis of Land Ownership:• Land-Lord Villages:• Ryotwari Villages


36

• The Nucleated Village:In this type of village, homes of farmers and artisans are clustered together. Their land is located outside the village at varying distance. Their livestock are often housed along with them or nearby them.

• The Linear Village:In this type of village, houses are built on parallel rows. Each house is surrounded by small gardens. The paddy fields are at a distance from the house. This pattern of settlement unites the social advantage of residential closeness and economic advantages of living on one’s land.

• Dispersed Village:The village in which the dwelling places of the village lay scattered or diffused is called a dispersed village. These villages have no definite structure or shape. This type of village is found in hilly areas.

• 4. The Mixed Village: It is the mixer of nucleated and dispersed pattern of settlement. In this type of village settlement, there is a larger compact settlement of houses which is surrounded by a few small hamlets at a distance. This type of settlement can be seen both in plain as well as hilly areas.


37

• Migratory Village:Here, people live for few months or for as season. They collect their rood from natural resources. But when the food supply from that place is lessened, then they shift to another I place where they can find adequate amount of food. For example, J we find this type of village among the tribal society i.e. shifting cultivation.

• Semi-permanent Agricultural Village: In semi- permanent agricultural villages, people reside for few years at a particular” place and migrate to another place due to the exhaustion of the productivity of land. The duration of residence is more as compared to migratory type of villages.

• In this type of village, people keep animals like cow and goat but do not cultivate the land for agriculture. They burn down the small trees and bushes and sow seed over the earth which gives them some crop after rainfall. When the people find that land is not yielding required amount of food grains, they leave the place’ for another new settlement.

• Permanent Agricultural Village: In permanent agricultural village, people live permanently for generation to generation. They develop village organisations and social relations within their own village. Generally, they do not change their living place and place of cultivation. Here, in this villages, permanent households are created.


38

• Co-operative Villages: In this type of village, land is owned individually and people pull their resources together for common cultivation and farming. Generally, co-operative houses are organised to supply them their necessary commodities. Co-operative villages are also seen in India.

• Semi-Collective Village: In such villages, land belong to the collective body. All means of production and resources are owned collectively. The people work together for production of food grains and other essential goods. For their consumption, they get their monthly or annual dues fixed according to the income of the village.

• The income of villagers is not associated with the number of hours worked by members of a particular family. The families received their quota according to the numerical strength of the family.

• Collective Villages: In this type of village, the villagers live in a communal settlement where all property is collectively owned and all the arrangements are done on a collective basis. Members of the village only render their labour to the common pool and get all the necessaries of life like food, clothing, housing, education etc.There is common dining hall, common store and Communal Kinder Garden in the village. The Old and disabled persons are also maintained from the common fund. As a whole, such type of village gives full security for the whole life of a person, his children and dependents.


39

• Land-Lord Villages: In such villages, land is owned by individual family or a few number of families known as land-lords. The land lords possess all the rights over the land but give the land to the tenants. The land-lords also impose rent on the land which tenants usually pay.

• Land lords give certain percentage of rent to the king or government and keep a good percentage for themselves. Such type of villages existed in India before the abolition of intermediaries in agricultural sector.

• Ryotwari Villages:In ryotwari villages, farmers are the owners of the land and they cultivate it. They directly pay the rent to the government without any intermediary. Such villages are known as ryotwari villages where land is owned by Ryots or Cultivators.


40

Land reforms and Agrarian class structure in Nepal

• Landlessness in Nepal, in fact is a deeply entrenched and widespread problem concentration of land in the hands of a few elite classes has resulted in severe exploitation

• Land ownership is both a source of power as well as the chief means of rationing economic opportunity as it determines the distribution of production and income.

• Land reform is one of the most important mechanism to restructure agrarian relations and to build a more socially just society as well as healthier political environment.

• Land reform could have significant potential for reducing poverty by transferring assets to the poor, provide human security and historical injustice.

• Despite, repeated commitment towards land reform in Nepal, land reform in practice has been a miserable failure as regards to distribution of land among the landless and the land poor and a small elite class continues to oppress majority of the poor Nepali population, to this day.

• One of the major reasons for land reform failure in Nepal is the inefficient implementation of the laws because of lack of political will, the power of landed interests, and formidable administrative barriers.


41

Agrarian Social Structure of Nepal • Agrarian society refers to the society that depends upon agriculture as

its primary economic activity. Agrarian social structure may be thought of as the characteristics of agrarian society.The Agrarian social structure of Nepal are

• Ownership of land:All the members of Nepalese agrarian society do not own a land, land owning members and the landless persons, no irrigation facility .

• Distribution of land: extremely unequal. Much of the arable land is possessed by few.

• Agricultural technology :predominantly traditional• Transitional phase:the traditional agriculture to the modern

agriculture and from the subsistence farming to the commercial farming.


42

• Labor force: family members, hiring people and adopting labor exchange known as “parma”. Difficult as migration, abroad for foreign employment.

• Division of labor: only based on age and sex. based on skill and knowledge has yet to be developed.

• Social stratification: Nepalese agrarian society is highly stratified. There are three classes based on land ownership-the landlords, the peasants and the tenants.

• Influence of socio-cultural norms and values: Nepalese agrarian society is influenced by socio-cultural norms and values to some extent.

• Ethnic heterogeneity of Nepalese agrarian population: Nepalese agrarian structure is characterized by ethnic heterogeneity. The people engaged in Nepalese agriculture are ethnically heterogeneous.


43

• Ecological diversity: Nepalese agrarian society is characterized by ecological diversity. Ecological diversity has led to a difference in the pattern of agriculture in three ecological regions of Nepal-Mountain, Hill and Terai. For example, maize, wheat and paddy are grown in Hilly regions of Nepal. Paddy is grown in terrain regions. Barley (jaun) and buck-wheat (fapar) are grown in Mountains.

• Small amount of agricultural land: There is not extremely large amount of arable land in Nepalese agrarian society. Only 18% of total land of Nepal is cultivable.

• Decreasing demographic size of Nepalese agrarian society: The number of people engaged in agriculture as their primary occupation is decreasing gradually. In 1991, the people engaged in agriculture as their main occupation accounted for 81% of total population; in 2001, it decreased from 81% to 78%. Now, it is estimated to have decreased to 65% from 78%. Thus, the extent of dependence of the people in Nepal upon agriculture is decreasing gradually as a consequence of economic globalization.


44

Why Land reforms in Nepal?• Due to the various state-led land grants, unequal socio-economic relations

and growing population density, little "free" land is available today, and large numbers of Nepalese people are close to being landless, without access to sufficient productive land to provide for their own livelihood.

• The characteristics of land owning households in Nepal shows that a large majority of households in need of agricultural land do not own land, whereas, those who own do not make use of their land

• The inefficient use of land and labour that comes with a highly inequitable distribution of productive resources limits the ability of the agricultural sector to contribute to national development goals.

• successful Land Reform and agrarian reform in Nepal, is a “must” for equitable development and economic prosperity and thus a necessity for the economic, political and social transformation of Nepal as a whole


45

Land reform in Nepal• Nepal has been attempting to reform rural land relations for more than 55 years.

There have been successes, such as the early removal of land authority from local overlords, and most recently land allocations to some ultra-poor and fee waivers successfully encouraging women to register land in their own names.

• Until the 1960s, land was held under various forms of tenure, such as raikar, birta and guthi or under the customary kipat system

• The emergence of the Rana oligarchy than give a rise to granting land and taxation rights to the members of nobility, Rana families and their accomplices such activity did not introduce any measures to positively change agrarian relations that could ensure the rights and livelihoods of ordinary people.

• Land reform began immediately on the fall of the Rana regime in 1951, with a first attack upon the Jagirdar who were mainly members of the Rana family, and plans to improve the conditions of their tenants in the Tarai (first moves towards which had actually begun 50 years earlier). The conversion of all Birta grants into formal private property was also an early objective, achieved in the 1950s.


46

• From 1961 reforms entered more classical agrarian reform, delivered in land laws between 1962-64 which sought to

(i) do away with the last land tax-collecting intermediaries; (ii) fully privatise land rights as private property; (iii) unify and modernise land ownership and taxation in a system of survey-

based registration managed by de-concentrated government offices in each district;

(iii) improve tenancy conditions; (iv) achieve more equity in land ownership by imposing ceilings on farm

size and redistributing the surplus to needy farmers; (v) enforce saving by farmers and create a credit source for them at the

same time; and (vi) impose measures to improve farming practices.


47

• Then a distinct programme of settlement schemes was run in Terai paralleled the land reform with the objectives of increasing provision of plots to some landless and land poor. This was mainly through the necessity to regularise squatter settlements stimulated by planned forest clearance and settlement schemes, these geared to wealthier farmers

• Little was achieved from the 1963 reforms. Following restitution of democracy in 1990s a more exacting land to the tiller reform was recommended (Badal Commission, 1994/95). This was to be delivered principally in a programme to abolish tenancy altogether, by enforcing partition of tenanted lands to registered tenants, given legal force in 1996/97. Ceilings were further lowered but not enforced. Sister plans to modernise agriculture and support services also failed (Agricultural Perspective Plan, 1995). A non-government driven initiative to provide land to bonded labour finally unfolded after 2002.


48

Results• Broadly, after 55 years of reformism (1951-2006) main results have been –a) removal of intermediary and local overlord powers over land relations into the hands of the central state, with

subsequent de-concentration of administrative powers to district offices;b) reshaping but limited demise in the classical alliance of landlordism and bureaucracy;c) conversion of feudal forms of land assignment and allocations of Kings/State land into fungible private

property rights; d) repossession of uncultivated Birta and Jagir land into the hands of the state as public land; e) nationalisation of other pastoral and forest land held collectively by indigenous communities as de facto state

property (public land); f) slight limitation on the use of endowment of land for religious purposes( Guthi) as a tax haven and repository

for above-ceiling land holding;g) formal abolition of already sidelined and largely individualised customary landholding systems; h) final entrenchment of the well-advanced distinction between those who own and those who till through new

survey and registration which turned poorest households on marginal lands into permissive squatters of large holdings or public land;

i) some real and some spurious reduction in concentration of land ownership through mainly advance disposal of above-ceiling property by transfers into names of other family members, friends or caste-mates;

j) an early successful land-taking from elites through nationalising their forest and wasteland areas, but reneged on in part through subsequent survey and registration processes favouring large owners at the cost of the poor


49

a. limited state-engineered redistribution including (i) official retention of above-ceiling land of only 29,124 ha (0.85% of cultivated land), around half of which was actually redistributed, the remainder still in the custody of owners; and (ii) commitment to redistribute 180,600 ha of tenanted land to 541,802 registered tenants, but delivery upon which is uncertain and bogged down by disputes; addition of a welfare provision of 1,602 ha of public land to up to 14,000 former bonded labourers in one part of the country;

b. contribution to real rising agricultural daily worker wages;c. abolition of compulsory labour for the state or royals;d. liberation of landlord responsibilities to tenants and workers and de-securing tenant occupancy and

conditions, as result of partial registration of tenants, limited delivery of a share of tenanted land and failure to enforce legal

e. tenancy conditions against wrongful eviction, labour conditions and share returns;f. a continuing absence of accessible and affordable credit for landless and land poor farmers;g. sustaining indebtedness and polarisation with an equal or greater proportion of landless households

than in 1951;h. almost total absence of supporting agricultural reforms particularly as reaching small and marginal

farmers, who remain the vast majority; andi. a dramatically raised level of politicisation around land rights, with hardening of polarisation of

interests along political party lines.


50

Land-based struggles in Nepal• Before 1950• 1950-1960

– Land struggle of Bhim Dutta Pant– Land Struggle in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur– Ji Kaho struggle– Land struggle in Pyuthan– Expansion of land struggle in Tarai– Land right struggle in Dang

• 1960-1990– Jhoda land right struggle– Jhapa struggle– Bhakari Phod struggle in Dhanusha– Chhintang movement– Piskor movement, Sindhpalchok, 1983

• Post 1990– 1993 – Kanara movement in Bardiya: – 1995 – No grain payment movement in Rasuwa: – 1996 – Movement led by CSRC and NLRF: – 1997– Bagdari and Pitmari movements: – 1997– Formation of The Kamaiya Concern Group: – 1998– Land capturing at Gijara Faram in Banke.– 2000– Liberation of Kamaiyas: – 2000– Encirclement by peasants in Sindhupalchok: – 2004– Case registration: More than 73,000 cases

were filed (CSRC, 2004).

– 2004– Hunger strike at Rajbiraj: (CSRC, 2004).– 2004– Case registration: More than 21,000 cases

were filed (CSRC, 2006).– 2006– Relay hunger strike at Sunsari: (CSRC, 2006).– 2006– Padlocking the district land revenue offices

(CSRC, 2006).– 2007– 'Sit-in' programmes: (CSRC, 2007).– 2007– Badi women's protest


51

ISSUES FACING EQUITABLE LAND OWNERSHIP IN NEPAL TODAY

• The real picture of land ownership is not known:Data from land survey, registration records,and from censuses and surveys are thoroughly inconsistent.

• Faith in the capacity of the State as land reformer is low: Due to political vested interest of their own

• The rule of (land) law has been seriously undermined:through repeated failure to enforce thelegal land reform provisions enacted


52

Challenges for Land Reform in Nepalese Context

1) Defining land reform (land reform is much more than land re-distribution)2) Defining land rights (As the state has the responsibility for food security, it

musthave the right to control the distribution and use of land than solely giving to all)

3) Defining a farmer(wrong thinking is that all Nepalese are farmers ,farmer is that whose max family members are involved in farming whose max income source also comes from farming)

4) Debate on the efficiency of small size (land reform involving distribution of small pieces of land cannot be the only measure of poverty reduction as it reduces profits)

5) Finding a modality of land reform:market-based v/s state-led land reform(The present debate in Nepal revolves around which modality to follow with regard to land reform, careful analysis of the pros and cons of these two dominant models is needed)

6) Determining the land ceiling (There has also been a debate as to what should be the appropriate land ceiling atPresent between the political parties after the janaandolan 2)

7) Determining the viable size of land holding(Asthey are selling land more frequently and given the chance to go for non-farm employment, they have left their land.


53

I. Developing non-farm activities and guaranteedemployment v/s access to land (farming alone cannot support all the rural population in the country, non-farm opportunitiesare essential to absorb growing population and poor and the marginalized people. people must go out ofthe agricultural sector into non-farm employment.)

II. Protecting the rights of indigenous people and women(not all indigeneous people are poor)

III. Developing and improving the capacity of institutionsand human resources for land reform programmes (Land reform is not successful in the countries where there is no political commitment.)

IV. Local v/s foreign investment in land (Investment by foreigners in land, forest or othernatural resources may undermine the local needs of the communities for their survival it’s a debate)

V. Land reform for food sovereignty:Considering this loss of control in agriculture due to globalization, the concept of food sovereignty is growing. Therefore, now the focus should be not only on managing local problemsin agriculture but also the external factors. )

VI. Developing a feeling of security of property (land) :One of the common factors for makingland reform producing good impact is the provision of security of land rights or the land as a property. If this security is not provided, or if there is a feeling that, landownership is not secured, even those who obtain land from land reform programmewill not use the land properly.


54

Solution• strong political commitment and advocay is important by civil society• Participationof concerned groups in the discussion and policy-making is essential.• Land distribution or access to land alone is not enough. There should also be overall

support for agricultural production and marketing• There is a need to take external environment into consideration.

Agriculturalproduction has been affected more by external factors, especially after the WTO. Inthis context, the framework of food sovereignty needs to be taken into account for land reform

• It is critical to build capacity of the institutions meant to implement land (agrarian)reform. The established institutions may not be effective because of lack of skills or due to vested interests in maintaining the status quo as administrators also come from the landed groups

• Strengthen civil society groups concerned with land rights and improving theaccess to land and develop networks between people’s organizations andthese societies.


55

Globalization and Nepalese peasantry(small farmers and small scale farming)

• Globalization has had its influence all over the world. Nepal cannot be an exception.• As international economies become more integrated because of progressive reduction, and eventual elimination, of the

barriers created by national borders against the flow of goods, capital, information and ideas. With globalization world has been moving for industrilization and opportunities arising in non-farm sectors, it may be argued that the land is no more the only basis for livelihood. But for the developing country like Nepal agricutural development is an essence thus policy has been focused on industrial agriculture.

• Industrial agriculture relies on large-scale food production through extensive mechanization, monoculture, and high levels of external inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, pes-ticides, and insecticides. Of the 1.5 billion hectares of crop-land in the world, close to 90 percent are used for annual crops with mostly monocultures of rice, wheat, maize, soy-beans, and cotton. These agricultural practices are highly dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as copious amounts of irrigation water (Altieri and Koohafkan 2008). Excessive use of these inputs contributes to the loss of agro-biodiversity, soil organic matter, and increased greenhouse gases. Due to these negative aspects of modern agriculture, in recent years growing focus has been placed on small-scale agriculture, which has also been the advo-cacy agenda of the food sovereignty movement that coordinates peasant organizations of smallholders, farm workers, rural women, and indigenous peoples (Pimbert 2009).

• A large body of literature reveals that many small-holders and indigenous peasants across the world continue farming, which supports local livelihoods and promotes sustainable agro-ecosystems. These farmers often downplay the role of modern industrial agriculture promoted by some developed na-tions and their multinational companies.

• Despite various policy to renew their focus on peasant agriculture, agriculture in Nepal is predominantly characterized by peasant ways of farming. There are about 4.2 million peasant households, cultivating about 85 percent of the total agricultural land (CBS 2011)An average landholding size of these households is only about 0.7 ha (ibid); however, the contribution of smallholders to their own household and local economy is significant.

• Overall, industrial agriculture creates environmental and social problems, as evident in many developed and devel-oping countries. For sustainable and resilient agriculture, peasant agriculture offer better prospects. Since the agri-cultural policy of the Nepali government aims to acceler-ate agricultural growth in an industrial and commercial mode, critical lessons from other countries such as India may lead policy makers and other policy actors reconsider such a policy.


56

• Therefore, they suggest that other non-farm or non-land- based opportunities are becoming important and landless people should develop skills and capacities to tap these newly emerging opportunities. But the reality is that globalization has made land reforms more necessary than any time in the past if we are to improve the livelihood security of the poor, the socially excluded, the indigenous peoples and women.

• Researchers had argued that the economic system in Nepal is highly dependent on agriculture and the farmers are divided in to different strata.Vast majority of the population of Nepal are peasants producing primarily for their own consumption…The poor almost totally depends of their livelihood on working for others

• In the context of Nepal, Land provides income, food, status, stability and security. Having land means having recognition and bargaining power in society, and this also helps guard land-owners from potential repressions and discriminations.

• On one hand people who have land ownership has sound education, social and political power and access to opportunities arising in other sectors.

• On the other hand, a large number of poor and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers do not have access to land. This skewness has distorted the distribution of other opportunities

• This has posed threats and opportunities to Nepalase peasentry


57

3 ways globalization is affecting small-scale farmers strength and weaknesses

• For agriculture, it is now possible to run global supply chains that supply perishable (often called non-traditional) agricultural exports across the globe.

• Secondly, globalisation has put significant pressure on countries to liberalise their economies and to relax regulations on areas such as capital flows.

• Thirdly, globalisation creates a cultural shift. Small-scale farmers live a life that is very far from the ideals portrayed in this packaged “good life,” deepening the pressures on rural communities because success is often measured by a move to the city, if not abroad, to an industrialised country

• These three aspects of globalisation interact and reinforce one another. They have created significant, distinct but not unrelated, challenges for developing countries.

• The globalization has affected on following grounds


58

Threats from globalization to peasants

• Increased vulnerability of poor, marginal farmers, and agricultural labourers:Farm wage labourers, do not have access to opportunities of globalization within the country, thus they have high probability of sliding into the poverty as compared to other groups. Therefore, poverty continues to remain high among the agricultural wage labourers, who roughly constitute one tenth (about 9%) of all rural households in Nepal

• Possibility of corporate agriculture utilizing the state land:Because of the globalization and policies supporting it, such as, the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) in the WTO, agriculture is going unstoppably into the hands of big multinational companies. Developing countries like Nepal that depend on farming have been importing more food than they export. Moreover, prices of what the small farmers produce have been fluctuating and declining around the globe.

• Nepal will also have to abide by the AoA, which limits domestic support that a member can provide to agricultural sector, except for some exceptions like ‘green box subsidies’ and support to low income resource poor farmers

• Nepal’s subsistence nature of farming and lack of competitiveness is clearly a disadvantage in the context of the WTO. This is a most crucial factor that will hamper Nepal and her food security

• Shift from agricultural to non-agriculture• Heavy migration


59

• Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is another contentious issue within the WTO framework. This grossly violates the farmers’ rights in the developing countries. Under TRIPS, persons or agencies developing new idea, product or technology will have the right to use it commercially, while others should pay for using it. If this is implemented, farmers and users in the developing countries will have to pay for using the technology developed in advanced countries, including seeds

• hybrid rice seeds are becoming popular in the Terai. The farmers know that yield of the paddy from this seed will be high, but it does not produce seed. This essentially means that in a few years time, local seeds will be lost and farmers will become dependent on seeds import from India.


60

Opportunities from globalization to peasants

• Globalization also provides opportunities for increasing access of the poor to land and other resources. For example, globalization has made it possible to develop alliances among the like-minded developing countries facing similar problems

• The present focus on human rights and democratic governance, among others, has direct and positive impact on the poor people’s access to resources. With the respect of these rights, the deprived people can develop ‘collective action’ of various types to increase their rights.

• The sharing of experiences of different countries on the issue of providing access to land will also be beneficial. Globalization has been facilitating this sharing process also.

• Moreover, with the influence of WTO, transfer of skill and knowledge is also enhanced

• Given that there are both advantages and disadvantages of the globalization process, it is necessary that countries, including Nepal, focus on getting more advantages and reducing the adverse impact of globalization


61

Different Approaches of Social changes

• Social changes can come from the top level the policy maker or the people themselves

• Some people combine bottom up and top down approaches, doing both grassroots organizing and lobbying elected officials. The approaches of social change are:

1. Evolutionary approaches;2. Cultural approaches:3. Structural approaches:4. Dialectical-historical approach.5. Conflict Approach6. Integrated Approach


62

• Evolutionary Approaches:In the evolutionary approach, gradual development is studied from sim ple to complex form through a long series of small changes. Each change results in a minor modification of the system, but the cumulative effect of many changes over a long period of time is the emergence of new com plex form. Within the evolutionary approach, the four sub-approaches used by different scholars are uni-linear, universal, cyclical, and multi-l inear.

• Cultural Approaches:In the cultural approach, change is studied by analysing changing cultural elements of society. Within this approach, change is studied through parochialisation , universalisationand westernisation processes.

• Structural approach:This approach analyses change in the network of social relationships and in social structures (like castes, kinship, factory, administrative structures, etc.) These social relationships and structures are compared intra-culturally as well as cross-culturally. According to Yogendra Singh, a structural analysis of change consists of demonstrating the qualitative na ture of new adaptations in the patterned relationships.


63

• Dialectical-historical approach: In Marx’s view social development is a dialectical process: the transition from one stage to another took place through a revolutionary transformation, which was preceded by increased deterioration of society and intensified class struggle .Since by its very nature there is a struggle and confrontation between thesis and anti-thesis which may be resolved by diverging or breaking away from the current or existing system.

• Conflict Approach: According to this approach, economic change produces other changes through the mechanism of conflict between different parts of the social system. The reasoning behind viewing conflict as the cause of social change is that if there is consensus in society and if various sectors are in tegrated, there is little pressure for change.

• Integrated Approach: Integrates the series of concepts relating to social change and de veloped a new approach or paradigm, what he calls an ‘integrated approach’.


64

Oppression(cruel/unfair treatment) and empowerment

• Organizing for social change effort also embody the dialectic between opression and empowerment

• The dialectic tension implies that the process of social change is seldom linear or uni-directional, a person may act in a way that is empowering in one context but simultaneously oppressing in another

• Alternatively a plan that seems to have the potential to empower actually backfires and a person becomes further oppressed

• External forces may deny access to power no matter how well a strategy for Empowerment is devised

• So to understand social change requires us to look at the tension that pull people back and forth between forces that both empower and oppress

Rural social structure,Social change and continuity

Education

Transcript of Rural social structure,Social change and continuity