Subaltern Movements in India by Manisha Desai

Author:Manisha Desai [Desai, Manisha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Gender Studies, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781317382799
Google: 0N-PCgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-09-16T03:19:38+00:00

Whither the struggle?

At the end of our conversation, Mr. Gupta, the superintendent of the NWDA office in Valsad, made two telling comments. He said it was short sighted of the adivasis to prevent the NWDA from undertaking the survey. For if they change their minds in the future, they would have the report ready to be dusted off and used. For even when the decision is made to proceed with a project, it takes years to acquire the land and for the project to be completed. Then, in an apparent reversal, he said, in general the way that land is acquired for such projects is highly unfair. So to ensure that people’s rights are not violated, the process should be more transparent and democratic, and such displacements should be undertaken only when there are no alternatives. He then cited the case of the Nirma cement factory, the subject of the next chapter. This factory, he felt, should be relocated to another site, as there is no rationale for building it in that specific place, particularly in the midst of irrigated, productive wetlands. Dams, by contrast, he said cannot be so easily relocated, as they can only be built where the rivers and topography make it feasible.

He was thus highlighting two major factors that represent both an impediment and the potential for subaltern struggles. For one thing, the changing economic calculus might change adivasis’ perceptions. In the face of precarious livelihoods and few viable options, the adivasis might be forced to reconsider their resistance. Already, migration to towns and deeper integration into the outside economy shape the aspirations of young adivasis, some of whom in the future might opt for monetary compensation for their small and marginally productive land. Such divisions among villagers, what Levien (2013) describes as the bargainers versus the barricaders, are not uncommon in other areas where some have sold their land to the state or private corporations, thus increasing the pressure on the others.

Currently, all the villagers are united in their opposition. But this may not always be the case. As Sujataben noted when we met again in 2013, like other groups, adivasis do not have a single ideological position for or against development. They are opposed to development that threatens their livelihoods and land, but welcome development that brings them a better quality of life through health, education, and technology like the mobile phone and computers. Similarly, most want to hold on to a sense of cultural autonomy and identity, but they also incorporate aspects of Hindu identities they encounter. As Shah (2010) notes of adivasis in Chattisgarh, a predominantly adivasi state in Eastern India, the urban adivasi activists often have an agenda at odds with rural adivasis who have a more pragmatic rather than an ideological stance. For example, the new president of the Trust, a non-adivasi Gandhian activist from Ahmedabad, said that he would prefer not to include computer literacy in their schools as the literate adivasi children will not stay in the villages.

The second factor that Mr.

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