Social group disparities ethnicity and poverty in India

Abstract

This thesis provides a profile of disparities in levels of living between scheduled newlinecastes, scheduled tribes and other social groups in India and analyzes the factors newlineunderlying these social group disparities. It then focuses on evidence for ethnic group newlinedisparities within the scheduled tribe category and describes the dimensions of these newlinedisparities. The thesis also analyzes the link between belonging to a particular scheduled newlinetribe ethnic group and associated socio-economic outcomes. newlineThese issues are addressed using secondary data on social groups from the newlineconsumer expenditure surveys of the National Sample Survey and primary data collected newlinethrough a field study among three scheduled tribe ethnic groups in Western Maharashtra. newlineThe methodological approach of the thesis is cross-disciplinary, in particular drawing on newlineconcepts and methods from economics and anthropology, and involves a use of both newlinequantitative and qualitative research tools and techniques. newlineThe results indicate that the factors underlying disparities in levels of living newlinebetween scheduled castes and other social groups are different from those between newlinescheduled tribes and other social groups and may be interpreted in terms of their newlinehistorically determined different patterns of exclusion. The field study indicates socioeconomic newlinedisparities between the three scheduled tribe ethnic groups, with the relative newlinesocio-economic level of the groups corresponding with their position in the social newlinehierarchy. The link between ethnic group identity and socio-economic outcomes is newlineexamined with regard to the differences in the educational outcomes of the three newlinescheduled tribe ethnic groups, and indicates the role of inter-linked factors such as newlineposition in the social hierarchy, ascribed occupational and social status, geographical newlinespread of kinship networks, initial conditions given by historical factors, and the cultural newlinecapital of the groups. The processes underlying persistent poverty and deprivation among newlinea particular scheduled tribe ethnic group are analyzed,