Poverty and Public Celebrations in Rural India

Rao, Vijayendra

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGED;    ANTHROPOLOGY;    ANXIETY;    CITIES;    COMMUNITIES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2528
RP-ID  :  WPS2528

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The author examines the paradox of verypoor households, spending large sums on celebrations. Usingqualitative, and quantitative data from South India, theauthor demonstrates that spending on weddings, and festivalscan be explained by integrating an anthropologicalunderstanding of how identity is shaped in Indian society,with an economic analysis of decision-making underconditions of extreme poverty, and risk. The author arguesthat publicly observable celebrations have two functions:they provide a space for maintaining social reputations, andwebs of obligation, and, they serve as arenas forstatus-making competitions. The first role is central tomaintaining the networks essential for social relationships,and coping with poverty. The second is a correlate ofmobility that may become more prevalent as incomes rise.Development policies that favor individual over collectiveaction, reduce the incentives for the networking function,and increase the incentives for status-enhancing functions -thus reducing social cohesion, and increasing conspicuousconsumption. Market-driven improvements in urban employment,for example, could reduce a family's dependence on itstraditional networks, could reduce incentives to maintainthese networks, and could reduce social cohesion within avillage, and thus its capacity for collective action. Incontrast, micro-finance programs, and social funds try toretain, and even build a community's capacity forcollective action.