Course Name: Sociology Minor Course: Indian Society Images and Reality
Course Code: SOC MIC 101
Unit 4: Tribal Economy Characteristics, Classification, and Changes

Tribal Economy Characteristics, Classification, and Changes

Meaning of Economic Activities and Economic Characteristics

George Dalton (1926 – 1991, an American Economic Anthropologist, developed a framework to distinguish between different types of economies, particularly contrasting (1) market economies (like modern capitalism) with (2) pre-industrial or non-market economies (tribal, peasant, or primitive economies).

Key ideas of the "economy" according to Dalton:

 
There is no universal "economy" The economy in modern Western society (based on market exchange, price-making markets, money, supply-demand pricing) is historically unique and relatively recent.

Two ideal types of economic systems: 

(1) Market-dominated economies (like today), Integration through market exchange, Prices set by supply and demand, Profit motive, Wage Labor, Capital Accumulation

 
(2) Non-market or pre-market economies (primitive and archaic economies) Integration through reciprocity (gift exchange) and redistribution (central collection and re-allocation, e.g., by a chief) No price-making markets. Production and distribution are embedded in social and kinship relations. Motives are social status, obligation, and prestige rather than profit.

George Dalton says, “The market system is not just a type of economy; it is a special kind of economy which organises material life differently from all preceding economies.”

In short, According to George Dalton, the "economy" in most of human history was not a separate sphere driven by markets and profit, but a set of activities embedded in social relations, organised mainly through reciprocity and redistribution rather than buying and selling.

Thus economy can be understood as an institutional arrangement that functions acquisition, production, and distribution of material means of survival for individual and community life.

The tribal economy was a non-market or non-market economy.

We have two kinds of production and consumption: (1) Goods, and (2) Services.

Now the tribal economies are moving towards the market economy, because of a change in economic structural arrangement and division of labour.

Structural Features of Tribal Economy in India

1) Forest-Based Economy

2) Domestic or Familial Mode of Production

3) Using Simple Technology

4) Absence of Profit Motive in Exchange

5) Community: As a Co-operative Unit

6) Gift and Ceremonial Exchange

7) Periodical Market

8) Interdependence and Helping Each Other (But not like the Jajmani System)

9) Economic Institution of Dhangar (Batai/ Share Crop) What is Dhangar? The big landlord employed a fellow Tribal on a semi-permanent basis for cultivating their land. He is from the same tribe and more often belongs to the same village. The person who is employed is known as a Dhanger among the Oraon, Munda and Ho, the predominant tribe in India.


Economic Classification of Tribal Economy

1) The Forest Hunting

2) The Hill Cultivator or Shifting Cultivation

3) The Plain Agriculture Tribe

4) The Simple Artisan Craft

5) The Pastoral (=Village) and Cattle Herder (= Cattle Rearing/ Pashu Palak)

6) The Folk Artist (Singing, Dancing, Snake Charmer (=Sapera)

7) The Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Labour

8) The Skilled White Collar Job and Traders: - Because of Educational Development, the spread of Christianity, Reservation/ Representation Policy in Government Educational Institutions and Services.

Economic Change in Tribal India

1) Occupational Change: Modern Occupations Replacing the Traditional Ones

2) Substances to Commercialisation

3) Market Integration and Commoditization

4) Barter to Monetary Exchange

5) Overall Economic Modernisation by Changing the Mode of Production and Applying Technology, and

6) Global Integration: Local Becomes Global and Global Becomes Local.


Social Change in Tribal India

1) Social Stratification (Class Society)

2) Increasing Non-Agricultural Occupations

3) Migration

4) Political Awareness and Participation

5) Become Part of Globalisation

Modern Factors of Tribal Transformation

1) Changing the Government’s Attitude towards Tribes. (For Inclusive Development)

2) Government Initiative for Social Inclusion (Reservation/ Representation, Education, Economic Support, Occupational Training, etc)

3) Christianity and Its Missionary Activity. Because they open the door for modern education, which leads them to modern occupations and professions.

4) Industrialization and Urbanization

5) Expansion of Education and Media

6) Tribal Elites as Agents of Modernisation

Tribe: Its Other Equivalent Terms and Usage

1) Adiwasi, this is the popular term to identify themselves. It means the old habitats.

2) Aboriginals by Sir Herbert Hope Risley (1851–1911) was a British ethnographer and colonial administrator, and Harry Verrier Holman Elwin (1902–1964) was a British-born Indian anthropologist and tribal activist. They were prominent figures in Indian anthropology, though from different eras and with contrasting approaches to tribal communities.

3) The Hill Tribe by Sir Jervoise Athelstane Baines CSI FRGS (1847 – 1925). He was an administrator in the Indian Civil Service in British India. He was in charge of the 1891 census. He adjusted the classification system. Note Abbreviation CSI FRGS is a kind of honour which stands for “Companion of the Order of the Star of India and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society”. It was used historically as a post-nominal title for individuals who received these honours.

4) Primitive Tribe by Robin Horton (1932 - 2019) an English social anthropologist and philosopher.

5) Backwards Hindu, by Dr. Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893–1983), who is also known as the "father of Indian sociology."

6) Indigenous People by International Labour Organisation (ILO)

7) Girijan, by Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948)

8) Scheduled Tribe – by the Constitution of India, originally the term was introduced by the Simon Commission in 1928 by and later implemented by the Government of India Act, 1935

Anil Kumar ~ Student of Life World | Stay Social ~ Stay Connected | Keep Visiting ~ Stay Curious | Study With Anil | StudyWithAnil | #StudyWithAnil | @StudyWithAnil |