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Anthropology > Desh Bidesh > Flashcards

Desh Bidesh Flashcards

1
Q

What is associated with home?

A

Desh- associated with fertility and spirituality/ religiosity

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2
Q

What is associated with away?

A

Bidesh- associated with economic and political power.

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3
Q

migrant in the UK

Visa needed to migrate

A

Londoni, who has an ‘entry’

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4
Q

spiritual power

A

sakti

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5
Q

quote song sung by women in Sylheti villages

A

“I will fill up a suitcase with dried fish / all the mullas - everyone - have gone to London”

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6
Q

example of economic agency when migrants first went to the UK

Which decade saw a dramatic increase in migration to the UK from Sylhet?

When did migration levels curtail?

A

during the 1930s/40s Sylhetis migrated to Britain in search of jobs in British ship companies

1950s - post-war British economy demanded cheap and plentiful labour from Asia

1960s/70s - new laws made entry more difficult, migrants sent for their wives and children, British industry declined so many entered catering

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7
Q

How is Talukpur considered a Londoni village? How many houses are migrant/non migrant?

A

Lots of migrants: 27 non migrant families out of a total 70 households.

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8
Q

what changes at home?

A

technology, British cloth,
mud and thatch huts replaced with stone houses 2-3 stories high.
Result of remittances

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9
Q

what changes in London

A

fresh Sylheti fish flown into London daily

also chutney/pickled mangues/ dried fish

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10
Q

Stone house?

A

Pakka

The families of migrants can afford them, can be two stories high

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11
Q

What is locality?

Do not confuse with location

A

People’s representations of places and the power associated with those places

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12
Q

What does she argue about international capitalism?

A

That the ‘periphery’ (Bangladesh) is dependent on the ‘core’ (UK)

Meant to be in death bidesh!!!!

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13
Q

What two theories relate to her discussion of capitalism?

A

Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory.

Dependency theory

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14
Q

What is world systems theory?

A

A universalist, structure centred, Neo-Marxist theory. Describes unequal economic and political relationships in which certain industrialised nations and their global cooperations dominate the core of the world economic system.

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15
Q

What is dependency theory?

A

Even as developing countries make economic advances, they remain weak and subordinate to core nations and cooporations

(Shils, 1961)

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16
Q

How are people shown to be connected to desh?

A
  • people are buried in their village
  • they eat food from their homeland to feel a connection with their village/social group
  • ‘desh is viewed as a source of spiritual power, the locus of socialisation and morality’
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17
Q

How is bidesh (the UK) now perceived in Bangladesh?

A
  • The UK is considered clean, peaceful and wealthy
  • ‘in Bangladesh nothing is available, in London everyone is happy’
  • However, many people also believe that it’s plagued by sexual immortality, alcoholism, divorce and a lack of familial duty
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18
Q

Ethnography details

A

Desh-Bidesh: Sylheti images of home and away
Katy Gardner
late 1980s - early 1990s
Talukpur, Sylhet, Bangladesh and London, UK

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19
Q

What is stratification?

A

Unequal society divided into classes or other hierarchical groups

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20
Q

What is migration?

Why does Gardner argue that material objects are important too?

A

The movement of people from one locality to another.

Gardner says that migration is also a form of exchange of goods, images and ideas.

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21
Q

What is the status of Bengali migrants?

A

Depends.
In the UK the Bangladdshi community is portrayed in terms of problems and poverty.
In Sylhet, British migrants are considered successful as the have wider horizons.

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22
Q

How much did price of land rise in Sylhet?

A

When Gardner published this article in 1993, an acre of land in Sylhet was three/four times more expensive than in other, non-migrant districts

23
Q

How has stratification/polarisation occurred?

A
  • Those with access to foreign wages have vastly increased buying power
  • Allowed Bengalis to pay for education
  • pay for religious activities like the performance of Hajj, Lavish sacrifice, of building a new village mosque
24
Q

Is desh just a physical mass of land, trees and rivers?

What shoes the spiritual level of desh?

A

No, it’s the locus of one’s social group. It’s where one’s kinsfolk are.

It doesn’t matter how long migrants have been away, they’ll always be associated with desh. This is why great efforts are made to bury the dead there: landowners are buried in their own fields, the plot being marked by bushes and bamboo fences

25
Q

Why is produce from desh important?

A
  • Village rice is considered more nutritious and satisfying
  • Consumption of this food is a sign of belonging and socialisation (for example, when children eat village rice they become subject to household rules)
  • food/water thought to have healing properties
26
Q

How is Sylhet considered spiritually?

A
  • ‘the land of the Saints’: it’s an important pilgrimage centre within Bangladesh
  • the 360 disciples who accompanied Shah Jalal (Muslim conquered and holy man) are believed to be buried there
  • thought that the sakti of these holy men has been absorbed by the soil
27
Q

How has farming changed in Talukpur?

A

• The fertility of the soil and its capacity to feed everyone is declining

28
Q

How is desh considered economically (within agriculture)

A
  • vulnerable to flooding, particularly bad in 1987 and 1988

* flooding, crop loss and changing river course can sweep whole villages away

29
Q

How is desh (as the nation rather than the village) considered politically?

A
  • poor and politically unstable

* general strikes and civil disruption are common

29
Q

Why is produce from desh important?

A
  • Village rice is considered more nutritious and satisfying
  • Consumption of this food is a sign of belonging and socialisation (for example, when children eat village rice they become subject to household rules)
  • food/water thought to have healing properties
29
Q

How is Sylhet considered spiritually?

A
  • ‘the land of the Saints’: it’s an important pilgrimage centre within Bangladesh
  • the 360 disciples who accompanied Shah Jalal (Muslim conquered and holy man) are believed to be buried there
  • thought that the sakti of these holy men has been absorbed by the soil
30
Q

What quote demonstrates the ideology of villagers, as affected by dependency theory and their position within a ‘periphery’.

A

Labourer: foreign land has strength, not ours

31
Q

What demonstrates ‘migration mania’ and fixation with bidesh?

A

Gardner was often asked to take a child/ adult kin back to Britain.

32
Q

Do villagers want to join British culture?

A

No, they want to join the British-based Bengalis. They move for the materialistic gain, but still want to keep the ideological morality of desh.

33
Q

What kind of theories do Western observers form about this migration?

How does Gardner disagree?

A

Marxist theories which refer to their movement in terms of exploitation and powerlessness

Economic advancement in the village!!

34
Q

How is stratification and polarisation shown in a quote?

A

Wife of a sharecropper: people with bideshi relatives may be able to improve their positions, but we can’t

35
Q

How does Katy Gardner agree with Mary Beth Mills? How does she acknowledge the other side?

A

She says that there has been substantial discussion of how consumption is filled with social meaning, but believes that it’s also an important part of the establishment of group status and power.

She also recognised that the glorification of bideshi commodities reflects the economic dependency on aid and remittances and the hegemonic power of international capitalism

36
Q

What consumption patterns are seen from desh -> bidesh?

A
  • bags of migrants returning to London filled with chutney, pickled mangoes and dried fish
  • brides are often sent to marry British men to improve ties with bidesh
37
Q

With migration, what things from desh are made readily available?

A
  • Amulets containing Quranic texts can be prepared in mosques or madrasas in the UK
  • In London, fresh Sylheti fish is flown in daily
  • Marriages can be made within the British Bengali community
38
Q

What consumption patterns are seen from bidesh -> desh?

A
  • Bideshi saris are highly prized; the cloth is bought abroad and made in India/ South East Asia
  • young women treasure face cream, shampoo and perfume from Britain, displaying the bottles in glass-fronted cabinets
  • Young men prize Western cigarettes, expensive looking watches and jewellery
  • electronic goods such as cassette recorders, televisions and fridges
39
Q

What kind of pakka houses are bought with remittances? Why are they special?

A

They increase status in the village, they have very Western features of architecture :
• indoor bathrooms
• glazed windows
• two stories

40
Q

Why is the nation politically unstable and poor?

A
  • as argued by many anthropologists before Gardner, reliance on international aid may have contributed
  • for example, various leaders have gained popularity by promising to attract foreign aid
41
Q

How is desh considered economically (within agriculture)

A
  • vulnerable to flooding, particularly bad in 1987 and 1988

* flooding, crop loss and changing river course can sweep whole villages away

43
Q

What quote demonstrates the ideology of villagers, as affected by dependency theory and their position within a ‘periphery’.

A

Labourer: foreign land has strength, not ours

44
Q

What demonstrates ‘migration mania’ and fixation with bidesh?

A

Gardner was often asked to take a child/ adult kin back to Britain.

45
Q

Do villagers want to join British culture?

A

No, they want to join the British-based Bengalis. They move for the materialistic gain, but still want to keep the ideological morality of desh.

46
Q

What kind of theories do Western observers form about this migration?

How does Gardner disagree?

A

Marxist theories which refer to their movement in terms of exploitation and powerlessness

Economic advancement in the village!!

47
Q

How is stratification and polarisation shown in a quote?

A

Wife of a sharecropper: people with bideshi relatives may be able to improve their positions, but we can’t

48
Q

How does Katy Gardner agree with Mary Beth Mills? How does she acknowledge the other side?

A

She says that there has been substantial discussion of how consumption is filled with social meaning, but believes that it’s also an important part of the establishment of group status and power.

She also recognised that the glorification of bideshi commodities reflects the economic dependency on aid and remittances and the hegemonic power of international capitalism

49
Q

What consumption patterns are seen from desh -> bidesh?

A
  • bags of migrants returning to London filled with chutney, pickled mangoes and dried fish
  • brides are often sent to marry British men to improve ties with bidesh
50
Q

With migration, what things from desh are made readily available?

A
  • Amulets containing Quranic texts can be prepared in mosques or madrasas in the UK
  • In London, fresh Sylheti fish is flown in daily
  • Marriages can be made within the British Bengali community
51
Q

What consumption patterns are seen from bidesh -> desh?

A
  • Bideshi saris are highly prized; the cloth is bought abroad and made in India/ South East Asia
  • young women treasure face cream, shampoo and perfume from Britain, displaying the bottles in glass-fronted cabinets
  • Young men prize Western cigarettes, expensive looking watches and jewellery
  • electronic goods such as cassette recorders, televisions and fridges
52
Q

What kind of pakka houses are bought with remittances? Why are they special?

A

They increase status in the village, they have very Western features of architecture :
• indoor bathrooms
• glazed windows
• two stories

53
Q

Why is the nation politically unstable and poor?

A
  • as argued by many anthropologists before Gardner, reliance on international aid may have contributed
  • for example, various leaders have gained popularity by promising to attract foreign aid

Anthropology (6 decks)

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