Identity Formation
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- IDENTITY FORMATION Structure: 0 bjectives Introduction What is a Tribe ? What is Identityl Types of Identity Formation of Tribal Identity Tourism's Need To Understand Identity Let Us Sum Up Answers to Check Your progress Exercises A Kaqjar Tribal 25.1 OBJECTIVES i. The objective of this Unit is to make you aware'of the following: what is identitj? , the dynamics of identity formation, the appreciatibn of difference, respect for the others, sense of 'identity', and -0 learning to handle the complications arising out of identity differences. 251 INTRODUCTION ? Our understanding of ourselves and our notions of others affect our every day interaction with people at a11 levels. A sense of the self and of the other based on national, linguistic, religious, tribal or family identities is ofgreat importance in the field ofTourism, a profession which deals with people rather than machines or abstract ideas. I We take our identities, ourssenseof the self for granted. We knowwhere we come from, what language we speak, what our customs are, in other words all our social actions stem from our I ability to know ourselves in relation to others.. However, this apparent simplicity of identitycan lead to enormouscomplioationsof historical magnitude. In many ways, one of history's major contradictions or propelling forces have been the fight for identity. Witnessall the conflicts between religiousgroups, linguistic groups and even caste groups in India alone. Extended to the world, this problem is compounded. Thus,a sense of identity is also an extremely sensitive issue. It is this sensitivity we must show in our dealings with people ofdifferent regions in our countryand with visitors to our country. This is what is important for anyone involved in the field of Tourism. '' 252 WHAT IS A TRIBE? , Etymologically, the term tribe deriws it origin from the Roman word 'tribuzWmeaningthree divisions. .In the Western world, as also in India, the term tribe had totally different connotation than what is prevalent now. The tribe was the highest political unit comprising several districts which in turn were composed of clans. It occupied a definite geographical area and exercised effective control over its people. It is believed that India derived its name "Bharat" from the mighty Bharata tribe. With the growth of nationalism in Europe the term tribe came to denote a race of people within a giwn temtory. Western writers on India, genetally known as Orientalists, followed by some anthropologists andsociologists in India now use the term tribe in that connotation. - -- The popular name used for the tribal~in India are i Vaniati (castes of forest), Vanvasi (inhabitants of forest), Pahari (Hill dwellers), Adivasi (first settlers), Anusuchit Jaqjati (scheduled tribe),and so on.The term Anusuchit Jqjati is the constitutional name covering all of them. Tribal Cultures An important question which follows - what exactly are the criteria for considering a human group, a tribe ? Interestingly but sadly the anthropologists, sociologists, social workers, administrators and such other people who have been involved with the tribes and their problems are still not on the same wavelength on this matter. Lucy Mair calls it Ih independent political divison of a population with a common culture", while G.W.B. Huntingford regards it as a "group united by a common name in which the members take pride by a common language, by a common territory, and by a feeling that all who do not share this nmeareoutSider!'Some Western writers even regard them "as an ethnicgroup, geographically isolated or semi-isolated, identified with one particular temtory and having distinct social, economic and cultural traditions and practices". However, by far the most accepted definition in the Indian context has been offered by D.N. Majumdar. According to him, "a tribe is a social group with territorial affiliation, endogamous,with no specialisacon of function, ruled by tribal oficers, hereditary or otherwise, united in language or dialect, recognising social distances with other tribes orcastes,without any social obloquy attaching to them, as it does in the caste structure, following tribal traditions, beliefs and customs, illiberal of naturalization of ideas from alien sources, above all conscious of homogenity of ethnic and territorial integration." Another very important problem is - what should be the criteria and indices of tribal life ? Scholars differ in their opinion in this regard. In the Indian context the best model is offered by T.B. Naik. According to him, 1) A tribe to be a "tribe" should have the least functional independence within.the community. 2) It should be economically backward which means : a) the full impact of monetary economyshould not be understood by its members, b) primitive means of exploiting natural resources should be used, ! c) the tribe's economy should be at an under-developed stage, and d) it should have multifarious economic pursuits. 3) There should be a comparative geographic isolation of its people from others. 4) Culturally, member of a tribe should have a common dialect, which may be subject to regional variations. 5) A tribe should be politically organised and its community Panchayat should be an influential institution. 6) The tribe's members should have the least desire to change. They should have a sort of psychological conservatism making them stick to their old customs. 7) A tirbe generally has customary law and systemlr of dispensing justice. ?( 253 WHAT IS IDENTITY ? ,&- What are the markers of identitfl How do we understand the concept of identit9 There are several broad categories which are used normally in social science literature. We speak of cultural identities,political identities, linguistic identities, gender identities, ethnic identities, individual identities, professional identities,etc. These will be briefly explained hrther in the next Section. These groupmarkings, within which an individual normally defines himself, can and do change over different historical periods or as societies evolve in relation to each other. For example, the industrial revolution in England changed the way people identified themselves. From being farmers, yeoman or serfs and nobility, modem England created the worker, the industrialist and other professional identities. Similarly, two hundred years of English colonialism created a modem Indian identity quite separate from its traditional variant. When cultures come in contact with each other, they also come in contact with a different value system and a different way of viewing the world. .This implies that above all identity is not unchangeable. Identity formation must be viewed as a dynamic process which changes with historical changes. One significant way in which identity formation underwent a change historically was in the I relationship between the individual and the society. In traditional, pre-industrial societies, it I I ' was the community (whether based on cast;, religion or anyother identity) which formed:the Identity Fomatio basic unit of identity in the society. A person was known primarily by his membership of the community that he belonged to. Individual identities did not acquire a position ofeentrality. But the modem industrialised world has led to the creating ofan atomisd society, where the individuals constitute the basic units of identity, though other forms of identities also persist. Another important aspect of understanding identity is relational. One is aware of one's identity only in relationship to the other. This operates at all levels of identity. Be it national or individual. For example, Indian identity exists only in relation to British or French or some other national identity. Similarly religion's identity exist mainly in relation to each other. Identity is, therefore, not just a simple sense of the self. A study of identity formation means examining the different processes through which this sense of the self is arrived at and how it manifests itself. Thus, we may take the following as a working definition: By identity we mean a tenera1 consensus based on commonly accepted social customs, taboos and wa~sof life that bind together and mark groups of people and individuals therein. EIICheck Your Progress - 1 1. Define tribes in 60 words. 4 , Writ6 a short paragraph about your understaning of identity in 50 words. ................................................. ................................................. 1 : 25A TYPES OF IDENTITY 'J? To complete our picture of wh,at is identity other aspects of identity need to be explored. This is the multi-layered nature of identity. Each individual is a sum-total of the many layers of his identity. Sometimes, the different layers can come in conflict with each other. And at other times, one type may predominate. It would be safe to look upon identities as inherant, inherited and acquired. Certain identities are inherent in us (like those based on gender and ethnicity); we inherit certain others (like those based on language, religion, caste and nationality). Inherited identites are not chosen by us, but they were chosen by our ancestors, we simply inherit them. Unlike inherent identities, it is alwappossible for us to change them : we can change our language, religion, or nationality. Apart from these, we also acquire certain identities (like those related to profession and political associations), these are voluntary identities and we choose them. Let us look briefly upon some of these identities. ~ribalCu~hrres National