Marginality is a widely used concept in the literature on inequality and development. It has gain... more Marginality is a widely used concept in the literature on inequality and development. It has gained momentum, especially in the context of rising inequality in the post-liberalised and globalised world. This article looks into the evolution of marginality, analyses its role in the developmental discourse and argues that the interrelation between objective and subjective aspects of marginality constitutes the idea of it. This discussion identifies marginality as a measure of inequality in a given social context and time and indicates the degree of inequality experienced by individuals or groups. The article is divided into four parts. The first part looks into the change in meaning and components of marginality. The second part discusses marginality with other closely related concepts such as exclusion, poverty, the culture of poverty and precarity. The third part engages with the constituents of the marginal situation, and the fourth part discusses different typologies available to ...
Routledge Handbook of Gender, Culture, and Development in India, 2024
Social inequality is a complex reality linked to social, political and economic factors. Believin... more Social inequality is a complex reality linked to social, political and economic factors. Believing that education, a socializing institution, alone can undo social inequality would overestimate its potential. However, it is true that if used wisely, it can act as a catalyst in the process of deliberate and targeted political interventions that may progressively change the inequalities. However, education can also be used to maintain the status quo. Thus, education is neither neutral nor progressive; but depends on how societies set their direction and content. The National Education Policy unveiled in 2020 by the government of India marks its departure from similar policies in India on many counts. It includes its silence about caste and gender questions to the introduction of a new term, ‘Socially Economically Disadvantaged Groups’ to club multitude of inequalities. This chapter attempts to reflect upon the implication of such departures for the question of social justice in the Indian society. It combines reflections on National Education Policies over a period of time and recent empirical studies on the question of Education.
This paper is an attempt to reflect on the ways in which the ideas like 'adivasi' and 'education'... more This paper is an attempt to reflect on the ways in which the ideas like 'adivasi' and 'education' have been conceived in the Indian context and its implication on the policies and programmes related to the social transformation of the adivasi communities including schooling. A critical reflection on the existing literature on these two themes in relation to the life context of adivasi communities is attempted in this paper. Inputs from the interventions in schooling, especially from the state of Kerala, have been used to demonstrate the arguments. This article explores the contours of possible future course of action especially in the context of a democratic education in a multicultural society.
Tina Uys and Sujata Patel (eds.): Exclusion, social capital and citizenship: Contested transition... more Tina Uys and Sujata Patel (eds.): Exclusion, social capital and citizenship: Contested transitions in South Africa and India. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2012, xv+670 pp., in Sociological Bulletin 61(3), May- August 2014
Biswajith Ghosh (eds.): Interrogating development: Discourses on development in India today. Jaip... more Biswajith Ghosh (eds.): Interrogating development: Discourses on development in India today. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2012, xiv +352 pp. in Sociological Bulletin, 61(3), September – December 2012.
Marginality is a widely used concept in the literature on inequality and development. It has gain... more Marginality is a widely used concept in the literature on inequality and development. It has gained momentum, especially in the context of rising inequality in the post-liberalised and globalised world. This article looks into the evolution of marginality, analyses its role in the developmental discourse and argues that the interrelation between objective and subjective aspects of marginality constitutes the idea of it. This discussion identifies marginality as a measure of inequality in a given social context and time and indicates the degree of inequality experienced by individuals or groups. The article is divided into four parts. The first part looks into the change in meaning and components of marginality. The second part discusses marginality with other closely related concepts such as exclusion, poverty, the culture of poverty and precarity. The third part engages with the constituents of the marginal situation, and the fourth part discusses different typologies available to ...
Routledge Handbook of Gender, Culture, and Development in India, 2024
Social inequality is a complex reality linked to social, political and economic factors. Believin... more Social inequality is a complex reality linked to social, political and economic factors. Believing that education, a socializing institution, alone can undo social inequality would overestimate its potential. However, it is true that if used wisely, it can act as a catalyst in the process of deliberate and targeted political interventions that may progressively change the inequalities. However, education can also be used to maintain the status quo. Thus, education is neither neutral nor progressive; but depends on how societies set their direction and content. The National Education Policy unveiled in 2020 by the government of India marks its departure from similar policies in India on many counts. It includes its silence about caste and gender questions to the introduction of a new term, ‘Socially Economically Disadvantaged Groups’ to club multitude of inequalities. This chapter attempts to reflect upon the implication of such departures for the question of social justice in the Indian society. It combines reflections on National Education Policies over a period of time and recent empirical studies on the question of Education.
This paper is an attempt to reflect on the ways in which the ideas like 'adivasi' and 'education'... more This paper is an attempt to reflect on the ways in which the ideas like 'adivasi' and 'education' have been conceived in the Indian context and its implication on the policies and programmes related to the social transformation of the adivasi communities including schooling. A critical reflection on the existing literature on these two themes in relation to the life context of adivasi communities is attempted in this paper. Inputs from the interventions in schooling, especially from the state of Kerala, have been used to demonstrate the arguments. This article explores the contours of possible future course of action especially in the context of a democratic education in a multicultural society.
Tina Uys and Sujata Patel (eds.): Exclusion, social capital and citizenship: Contested transition... more Tina Uys and Sujata Patel (eds.): Exclusion, social capital and citizenship: Contested transitions in South Africa and India. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2012, xv+670 pp., in Sociological Bulletin 61(3), May- August 2014
Biswajith Ghosh (eds.): Interrogating development: Discourses on development in India today. Jaip... more Biswajith Ghosh (eds.): Interrogating development: Discourses on development in India today. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2012, xiv +352 pp. in Sociological Bulletin, 61(3), September – December 2012.
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Papers by Charles Varghese