Suchergebnisse

Jennifer N. Fish, Domestic Workers of the World Unite!: A Global Movement for Dignity and Human Rights. New Delhi, India: SAGE Publications and Vistaar, 2018, 290 pp., ₹895 (hardback). ISBN: 978-93-528-0556-3.

Richard Falk, Manoranajan Mohanty and Victor Faessel (eds.), Exploring Emergent Global Thresholds: Towards 2030. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan, 2017, 371 pp., ₹1,050 (hardbound). ISBN: 978-93-86392-42-8.

Walter Fernandes and Bhaswati Borgohain, Rethinking Autonomy, Self-Determination and Sovereignty: Search for Peace in Northeast India. Guwahati: North Eastern Social Research Centre & New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 2017, 199 pp., ₹200 (paperback). ISBN 978-8189762-57-5.

Female migration has increased globally in the last few decades. Women no longer migrate as passive followers of husbands, family or relatives but as independent migrants, causing various changes in their socio-economic life. Drawing insights primarily from field work data, the paper examines the changing role and status of Kuki women in Delhi, India, and argues that they have moved away from their traditional domestic roles. After migration, they have occupied important positions in various organizations such as the Sum Lom, Prayer Cell, the Church and the Kuki Inpi. They now play an important role in decision-making processes in the public sphere, thereby eroding elements in the traditional patriarchal system.

This paper discusses the role and importance of social networks in the migration process. It explores the formation of social networks among the Kuki migrants in Delhi. Drawing insights from the theoretical and conceptual literature on social networks and based on field observations and personal narratives of migrants, the study analyses the importance of social networks for migrants and explains how social networks help the migrants cope with a new social environment. The Kuki migrants have been classified into two categories, namely 'pioneer' and 'follower' migrants. While pioneer Kuki migrants hardly had any ties and merely depended on 'weak ties', it was follower migrants who took the benefits of ethnic and kinship networks. The study conclusively found that social networks have been instrumental though various pull factors at the place of destination and push factors at the place of origin have contributed for Kuki migration to Delhi. The migrants have formed ethnic clusters, which have turned out to be a survival strategy in a new social milieu. The social networks not only have helped migrants to deal with challenges and constraints in an alien environment but also instilled a sense of confidence in them to overcome psychological stress and isolation.

In recent times, many grassroots micro movements, also known as new social movements (NSMs), have taken off, centring around contemporary issues of importance such as ecology/environment, women empowerment, human rights, sharing of natural resources and the like. Of late, India has also seen a phenomenal growth in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They have contributed handsomely toward these NSMs through their intense campaigns, people's mobilisation programmes and effective networks. In the light of these, this article posits NGOs as a social force that facilitates collective action and people mobilisation. It discusses how, by deploying various people-oriented as well as people-centric strategies, these organisations build a rapport with them. This has been discussed from the NSM perspective. The article portrays empirically the roles that NGOs play in making the people environmentally aware. Based on empirical data from 40 grassroots environmental NGOs in coastal Orissa, the article discusses at length the various measures employed in building awareness and subsequently empowering them to meet the growing environmental challenges. In a strong civil society, it is people who ultimately have to protect and restore the ecosystems/ environment, for this is the key to the survival of the rural population and a sound environmental future in developing countries like India.