Doctoral Dissertation Research: Group Marginality, Internal Differences, and Status Negotiations

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Brown University doctoral student Bhawani Buswala, supervised by Dr. Lina Fruzzetti, will undertake anthropological research on the everyday negotiations of status order by low-status groups. This research is important because it will contribute to the social scientific understanding of how marginalized groups relate to dominant structures and how internal differences within these groups affect these relationships.To explore these issues effectively, the research will be carried out in a particularly marked context of institutionalized low status, that of so-called "untouchables" in India. Indian law abolished untouchability long ago, yet many untouchables continue to experience material and symbolic discrimination. The researcher will undertake 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork with untouchable butcher (Khatik) caste people in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Although butchers challenge their low social position, they also invoke dominant values to explain their dislike of their own work. This research will examine this simultaneous acceptance and rejection of caste values; collect data on the particular exclusions and inclusions faced by Khatik women; and explore the interaction between Khatik and other untouchable castes. Data will be gathered through participant observation and semi-structured informal interviews on three aspects of the lived experience of caste: (1) butchers' material and symbolic conceptualization of their caste occupation; (2) gender differentiation within this occupation; and (3) butcher interaction with Chamars, another untouchable caste. This research will provide new data for understanding the reproduction of inequality in society. This data can inform public policies to counter caste practices. Funding this research also supports the education of a graduate student.