Desh Bidesh Flashcards
What is associated with home?
Desh- associated with fertility and spirituality/ religiosity
What is associated with away?
Bidesh- associated with economic and political power.
migrant in the UK
Visa needed to migrate
Londoni, who has an ‘entry’
spiritual power
sakti
quote song sung by women in Sylheti villages
“I will fill up a suitcase with dried fish / all the mullas - everyone - have gone to London”
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?
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
How is Talukpur considered a Londoni village? How many houses are migrant/non migrant?
Lots of migrants: 27 non migrant families out of a total 70 households.
what changes at home?
technology, British cloth,
mud and thatch huts replaced with stone houses 2-3 stories high.
Result of remittances
what changes in London
fresh Sylheti fish flown into London daily
also chutney/pickled mangues/ dried fish
Stone house?
Pakka
The families of migrants can afford them, can be two stories high
What is locality?
Do not confuse with location
People’s representations of places and the power associated with those places
What does she argue about international capitalism?
That the ‘periphery’ (Bangladesh) is dependent on the ‘core’ (UK)
Meant to be in death bidesh!!!!
What two theories relate to her discussion of capitalism?
Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory.
Dependency theory
What is world systems theory?
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.
What is dependency theory?
Even as developing countries make economic advances, they remain weak and subordinate to core nations and cooporations
(Shils, 1961)
How are people shown to be connected to desh?
- 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’
How is bidesh (the UK) now perceived in Bangladesh?
- 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
Ethnography details
Desh-Bidesh: Sylheti images of home and away
Katy Gardner
late 1980s - early 1990s
Talukpur, Sylhet, Bangladesh and London, UK
What is stratification?
Unequal society divided into classes or other hierarchical groups
What is migration?
Why does Gardner argue that material objects are important too?
The movement of people from one locality to another.
Gardner says that migration is also a form of exchange of goods, images and ideas.
What is the status of Bengali migrants?
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.
How much did price of land rise in Sylhet?
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
How has stratification/polarisation occurred?
- 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
Is desh just a physical mass of land, trees and rivers?
What shoes the spiritual level of desh?
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
Why is produce from desh important?
- 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
How is Sylhet considered spiritually?
- ‘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
How has farming changed in Talukpur?
• The fertility of the soil and its capacity to feed everyone is declining
How is desh considered economically (within agriculture)
- vulnerable to flooding, particularly bad in 1987 and 1988
* flooding, crop loss and changing river course can sweep whole villages away
How is desh (as the nation rather than the village) considered politically?
- poor and politically unstable
* general strikes and civil disruption are common
Why is produce from desh important?
- 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
How is Sylhet considered spiritually?
- ‘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
What quote demonstrates the ideology of villagers, as affected by dependency theory and their position within a ‘periphery’.
Labourer: foreign land has strength, not ours
What demonstrates ‘migration mania’ and fixation with bidesh?
Gardner was often asked to take a child/ adult kin back to Britain.
Do villagers want to join British culture?
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.
What kind of theories do Western observers form about this migration?
How does Gardner disagree?
Marxist theories which refer to their movement in terms of exploitation and powerlessness
Economic advancement in the village!!
How is stratification and polarisation shown in a quote?
Wife of a sharecropper: people with bideshi relatives may be able to improve their positions, but we can’t
How does Katy Gardner agree with Mary Beth Mills? How does she acknowledge the other side?
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
What consumption patterns are seen from desh -> bidesh?
- 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
With migration, what things from desh are made readily available?
- 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
What consumption patterns are seen from bidesh -> desh?
- 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
What kind of pakka houses are bought with remittances? Why are they special?
They increase status in the village, they have very Western features of architecture :
• indoor bathrooms
• glazed windows
• two stories
Why is the nation politically unstable and poor?
- 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
How is desh considered economically (within agriculture)
- vulnerable to flooding, particularly bad in 1987 and 1988
* flooding, crop loss and changing river course can sweep whole villages away
What quote demonstrates the ideology of villagers, as affected by dependency theory and their position within a ‘periphery’.
Labourer: foreign land has strength, not ours
What demonstrates ‘migration mania’ and fixation with bidesh?
Gardner was often asked to take a child/ adult kin back to Britain.
Do villagers want to join British culture?
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.
What kind of theories do Western observers form about this migration?
How does Gardner disagree?
Marxist theories which refer to their movement in terms of exploitation and powerlessness
Economic advancement in the village!!
How is stratification and polarisation shown in a quote?
Wife of a sharecropper: people with bideshi relatives may be able to improve their positions, but we can’t
How does Katy Gardner agree with Mary Beth Mills? How does she acknowledge the other side?
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
What consumption patterns are seen from desh -> bidesh?
- 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
With migration, what things from desh are made readily available?
- 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
What consumption patterns are seen from bidesh -> desh?
- 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
What kind of pakka houses are bought with remittances? Why are they special?
They increase status in the village, they have very Western features of architecture :
• indoor bathrooms
• glazed windows
• two stories
Why is the nation politically unstable and poor?
- 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
