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Role of tribal movements in maintaining their cultural and social identity.

1. Tribal People: Generally the term tribe is used for those people who are referred to as the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in our country. They are also known (popularly) as Adivasi or aboriginal.

2. Tribal communities are found throughout the country but their population is in good number in the north-eastern region.

3. In fact, in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland tribals are in a majority. Similarly, the states of Chittisgarh and Jharkhand have sizeable tribal population.

4. As far as total population of STs is concerned, it constitutes 8.08 per cent of the total population of the country.

5. Different tribal communities of India have their distinct culture, language, social structure, values etc. These communities have maintained their cultural and social identities.

6. Movements taking place among those communities are included under tribal movements. These movements have been directed towards numerous issues.

(a) While some of them have had agrarian content, (b) others addressed cultural, and (c) some of them political questions.

7. Historically speaking, tribal movements of our country have a rich tradition. The nature of struggles and issues involved in these movements differed considerably and therefore they have been sometimes referred to as ‘tribal uprising’, ‘tribal insurrection’ or ‘tribal revolts'.

8. (a) V. Raghvaiah in his book Tribal Revolts lists seventy tribals between 1778 and 1971.

(b) A survey of tribal movements undertaken by Anthropological Survey of India reported thirty-six ongoing tribal movements in India in 1976.

9. In nineteenth-century many uprisings and revolts took place in the tribal belts of eastern India as well as in central India.

(a) The Kol and (b) Bhumij revolts of 1831-33, (c) the Santhal uprising of 1855-56, and (d) the Birsa Munda movements during 1874-1901 are some of the major tribal insurrections reported by different historian.

10. Ethnic identity and economy tribals faced serious challenges due to the imposition of new revenue law by the British government. Imposition of enhanced rents, heavy interests charged by money lenders and the atrocities of British and other officials forced the tribals to become tenants on their own lands. All these factors produced a series of tribal revolts.

11. It is very significant to refer here that unrest and tension among the tribals did not subside even after Independence of the country. Several new movements have emerged during the last six decades (1947-2004). Most of these movements are directed against issues of land alienation, forced labour, minimum wages and exploitation by non-tribal landlords.

12. As time passed, the tener of tribal movements changed considerably and acquired political character.

13. The tribal movements of last five to six decades have been differently described by the sociologists. These are called as (i) the tribal political movements, (ii) ethnic movements, (iii) sub-national movements, and (iv) solidarity movements.

14. The Jharkhand Movement of Chhotanagpur was spearheaded by the tribals demanding a separate state to protect them from diku (outsiders).

The demand has finally been met and a separate state called Jharkhand was created in the year 2000 AD.

15. The Naga Movement for a separate State outside the Indian Union is the oldest of all tribal movements in India. It assumed a militant character from the very beginning and continues till date.

Conclusion : In short, we can say that it is quite clear from record and history that the tribal movements before and after the freedom have not only been widespread but also they have been diversified in terms of issues, organisation and leadership.

There is a strong tendency towards consolidating tribal the ethnic identities. This trend reflects the dynamism of these tribal communities.

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Classification of social movements:

(a) Social movements have been classified on the basis of numerous criteria.

1. Nature of change intended, 2. organisational mode and strategy, 3. nature of demands and 4. groups and collectivities involved, are four major criteria used for this purpose (i.e., the classification of social movement).

(b) Rao’s classification: Among the Indian sociologists M.S.A. Rao’s classification of movements is widely accepted. Rao classifies social movements into three types:

(1) Reformist Movements, (2) Transfor-matory Movements, and (3) Revolutionary Movement.

1. Reformist Movements: Reformist movements may be identified with partial changes in the value system and consequential changes in the quality of relationship.

2. Transformatory Movement: This type of movement aims at middle level structural changes in the traditional distribution of power.

3. Revolutionary Movements: Revolutionary Social Movements lead to radical changes in the totality of social and cultural systems.

(c) Classification done by Parth N. Mukherji:

(i) Parth N. Mukherji has put a classification of social movements based on nature and extent of changes that these movements intend to bring about in social systems.

(ii) Based on the criteria of change, he classifies three types of social movements.

1. Social movement,

2. Revolutionary movement, and

3. Quasi-movement.

1. Social Movement: Any collective mobilisation for action directed explicity towards an alteration or transformation of the structure of a system can be properly, understood as a social movement.

2. Revolutionary Movement: When the collective mobilisation aims at affecting widerange of and far-reaching changes in the major institutional systems comprising the entire society, we can rightly term it as a revolutionary movement.

3. Quasi-Movement: Collective mobilisation, aimed at social changes or within a particular social system, is a quasi-movement.

(d) Classification suggested by T. K. Oommen:

(i) The typology of T. K. Oommen is based on the process of movement crystallisation, the life cycle and the phases of social movements. For him the movements are :

1. Charismatic, 2. Ideological and 3. Organisational.

(ii) T. K. Oommen adopts another criteria for classification of social movements. He refers to this classification of movements on the basis of:

1. locality, 2. language, 3. issues, 4. social categories and 5. sects.

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(i) Introduction: It is a fact that in the historical context new social movement but from the different old social movement. Once there was a historical period when nationalist movements were overthrowing colonial powers. And working class movements in the capitalist west were wresting better wages, better living conditions, social security, free schooling and health security from the state. That was also a period when socialist movements were establishing new kinds of states and societies. The old social movements clearly saw reorganisation of power relations as a central goal.

(ii) Old movement functioned within the frame of political parties: The old social movements functioned within the frame of political parties. The Indian National Congress led the Indian National Movement. The Communist Party of China led the Chinese Revolution. Today some believe that ‘old’ class-based political action led by trade unions and workers' parties is on the decline. Others argued that in the affluent West with its welfare state, issues of class-based exploitation and inequality were no longer central concerns. So the ‘new’ social movements were not about changing the distribution of power in society but about quality-of-life issues such as having a clean environment.

(iii) Main or Central role of political organisation in old movements: In the old social movements, the role of political parties was central, Politican scientist Rajni Kothari attributes the surge of social movements in India in the 1970s to people's growing dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy. Kothari argues that the institutions of the state have been captured by elites. Due to this, electoral representation by political parties is no longer an effective way for the poor to get their voices heared.

(iv) Joining of people to known political organisation or groups to carry on social movement: People left out by the formal political system join social movements or non-party political formations in order to put pressure on the state from outside. Today, the broader term of civil society is used to refer to both old social movements represented by political parties and trade unions. And to new non-governmental organisations, women's groups, environmental groups and tribal activists.

(v) New movements are international in scope: lt is a hard fact that globalisation has been re-shaping peoples' lives in industry and agriculture, culture and media. Often firms are transnational. Often legal arrangements that are binding are international such as the regulations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Environmental and health risks, fears of nuclear warfare are global in nature. Not surprisingly therefore many of the new social movements are international in scope. What is significant, however, is that the old and new movements are working together in new alliances such as the World Social Forum that have been raising awareness about the hazards of globalisation.

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I. Meaning of Social Movements:

1. Social movements are of great sociological interest because they are a major source of social change.

2. A social movement is sustained collective effort that focuses on some aspect of social change.

3. Defining social movement well-known sociologist M.S.A Rao says that a social movement essentially involves sustained collective mobilisation through either informal or formal organisation and is generally oriented towards bringing about change in the existing system of relationship. Rao considers ideology as an important component of a social movement.

II. The Features of Social Movement.

Following are the main features of social movements:

(a) Social movement is a collective mobilisation as against occasional individual efforts. Groups and collectivism launch movement, but it is different from crowd.

(b) A crowd has no group identity and no movement is possible without a group identity.

(c) A crowd is neither organised nor does it possess permanancy.

(d) Social movements are organised collective endeavours. Thus the first significant feature of a social movement is its collective nature.

III. Organisational Structure and Leadership:

(a) Distribution of tasks is required in every movement. These tasks are assigned to different persons and units of the group depending upon personal qualities and commitments of individuals. In this manner, some kind of organisational structure emerges to fulfil the goals of a movement.

(b) When a persuasive leader, called charismatic in sociological literature, leads a movement, support of the masses tends to be spontaneous.

(c) We can give a good example from our own country’s freedom movement. M.K. Gandhi was a spontaneous leader.

(d) Decentralised democratic leadership may also be a popular strategy. In such an organisational structure elaborate system of local and regional level units and branches are established to strong them the organisation. These units (at different levels) are required to be formed for mobilising the people, communicating messages and implementing action programmes.

(e) While at different levels, organisations are defined on the basis of movements aims and objectives, they also express the collective will of the people.

IV. Development of ideological frame and identity:

(a) Social movement cannot keep itself alive unless it develops its ideological frame and identity. An ideology of a social movement relies on sets of ideas that explain and justify its objectives and methods.

(b) Ideological framework articulates aspirations and defines levels of expectations of the people.

(c) Moreover, ideology provides legitimacy to the action programmes of a movement.

(d) The ideological underpinnings gives the movement acceptability and recognition among people at large.

(e) Ideology also assists to generate involvement to the cause and becomes a rallying print to assemble people of consolidate the gains of collective mobilisation.

(f) We should not forget that several times every social or other movement may work under any powerful and already established ideology, Gandhiasm and Marxism for example, have influenced many social and political movements in our country.

V. Change-oriented:

(a) Lastly, change-orientation is another important aspect of social movement. Every movement is directed towards some changes according to its aims and objectives.

(b) The relationship between social movements and soical change is well-established.

(c) The nature and extent of change intended may not be identical in all movements. While some movements strive for partial change, others may attempt to bring about large scale transformation of the social structure.

(d) Likewise, while some movements are change promoting, others are change resisting.

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The origin and sources of socical movements: There are three popular explanations about the origin and sources of social movements. They are:

1. Relative Deprivation Theory,

2. Structural Strain Theory and

3. Revitalisation Theory.

The above mentioned theories tell us about the genesis of a movement. A brief explanation of all these three theories is given below:

1. Relative Deprivation Theory.

(a) Deprivation refers to a condition in which people lack what they require.

(b) A condition of relative deprivation, however, is based on a perceived difference between what people have in comparison with other. In this sense, relative deprivation exists when individuals or groups feel that they have received less than what they should have in view of their capabilities.

(c) In other words, relative deprivation is a discrepancy between legitimate expectations and actual achievements.

(d) The discrepancy may be in terms of economic conditions, social status or political power.

(e) We can give an example to explain the Relative Deprivation Theory. For instance, an educated unemployed youth may feel deprived compared to a similarly educated but employed person. Thus, a feeling of relative deprivation generates dissatisfaction against the prevailing conditions and gives rise to a movement.

2. Structural Strain Theory:

(a) This theory argues that contradiction, conflict and strain in a society produce anxiety and uncertainly.

(b) Structural strain occurs at the level of norms, values and facilities. This strain provide s a motivation for collective behaviour akin to movement.

(c) Although Neil Smelser was one of the first to theories that social movements incorporate sociological factors, he has been criticised for placing too much emphasis on psychological motivation.

3. Revitalisation Theory:

(a) This theory was put first of all by A.F.C. Wallace. He postulated that social movements, develop out of a deliberate, organised and conscious effort on the part of members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture for themselves.

(b) This explanation of genesis of social movement substantially departs from the already (or above) mentioned both explanations (i.e., 1. Relative Deprivation Theory and 2. Structural Strain Theory). Both the relative deprivation and the strain theories are based on negative conditions. They argue that social movements emerge because people experience deprivation and discrimination.

(c) The Revitalisation Theory's approach suggests that social movements offer a positive programme of action to revitalise the system.

(d) According to this theory, social movements not only express dissatisfaction and dissent against the existing condition but also provide alternatives for resurgence of the system.