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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Being Ladakhi and Becoming Educated: Childhoods at School in the Western Himalayas A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Bonnie Olivia Richard 2015 © Copyright by Bonnie Olivia Richard 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Being Ladakhi and Becoming Educated: Childhoods at School in the Western Himalayas By Bonnie Olivia Richard Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor Nancy Levine, Chair Young Ladakhis experience markedly different childhoods from those of their parents and previous generations. In this rural region of the western Himalayas, a transition has occurred since the 1990s wherein education is now widely supported among Ladakhis as a priority for children, and economic provisions from the government and NGOs make school accessible . While financial returns on education are not guaranteed due to slow job growth, being educated has become a valued social marker that is important for full personhood. This dissertation explores what is at stake for Ladakh young people in light of significant socioeconomic transformations. Data derive from ethnographic research with pre-teens, teenagers, and parents of school-age children, carried out over ten months between 2011 and 2014 in villages and towns of Leh District, Jammu and Kashmir state, India. Because many Ladakhi parents received only primary schooling or none at all, the responsibility for learning and academic achievement falls ii on children, with parents perceiving that they have very limited agency in educational processed. Preteens and teenagers aspire to achievements that their parents support—to earn a higher education credential and then a professional career. But also, Ladakhi children must balance aspirations for modern lifestyles with popular narratives that lament the purported loss of traditional practices. Thus, they are actively engaged in developing contemporary Ladakhi identities that incorporate valued attributes of both the modern and the traditional. The persistence of the family as the central economic and social organizing unit in Ladakhi culture means children grow up learning to prioritize obligations to family. Therefore, the end result of education is not just about individual betterment; teenagers also hope to be able to support their families and improve their communities. However, family obligations can lead to friction with teenage students’ individual hopes and dreams. Children from poor families are more likely to struggle to complete enough education to compete for good jobs that will move them out of poverty due to their cultural obligations to assist their families, suggesting the persistent reproduction of economic class despite widespread access to education and consistent belief in its transformational value. iii The dissertation of Bonnie Olivia Richard is approved. Thomas S. Weisner Edith Omwami Nancy Levine, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv Dedicated to all of the Ladakhi young people who so graciously gave their time and energy to participate in this research. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ix ACRONYMS ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x VITAE xi CHAPTER ONE . STUDYING CHILDHOOD , WELLBEING , AND CHANGE IN LADAKH , INDIA 1 Introduction to the Project 1 Background 2 Why Study Children? 2 Theorizing Wellbeing from an Anthropological Perspective 8 Ladakh in Context 12 Ladakh: Past to Present 12 Economic and Political Context 15 Research Methods 19 Overview 19 Previous Research 20 Household Survey 20 Children’s Wellbeing Group Interviews 24 Preliminary Analysis and Revising Methods 25 After-School English Tutorials 26 Participant Observation 28 Supplemental Data Collection 29 Overview of the Dissertation 32 CHAPTER TWO . DEVELOPING AN EDUCATED SOCIETY : THE HISTORY OF SCHOOLING IN LADAKH 35 Introduction 35 Educational Opportunities Prior to the British Raj 36 The Colonial Period 38 Education Policy in British India 38 Education Enters Ladakh 39 Slow Improvement in Education 43 Cultural Politics and Reform Movements in Ladakh 45 Independence and the Spread of Ideologies of Education 47 vi Poor Quality Schools 50 Indian Education in the Late twentieth Century 52 The Rise of Schooling in Ladakh 54 Political Struggles 54 Renewed Calls for Educational Reform 55 Economic Changes 56 Education in Ladakh Today 60 Ladakh as an Outlier 65 Disparities within Ladakh 67 Affording Education 70 Monastic Education 74 Higher Education and Other Options Beyond Matriculation 75 Discussion 76 CHAPTER THREE . THE MEANING OF EDUCATION IN LADAKH : ECONOMIC EXPECTATIONS AND SOCIAL IMPORTANCE 77 Introduction 77 School Attendance and Educational Priorities 78 Ladakhis’ Educational Practices 80 Ladakhi Perspectives: Why and How Education Enables Wellbeing 82 Education for Economic Betterment 83 The Social Importance of Being Educated 86 Jobs and Economic Realities in Ladakh and India 95 Education as Ladakhi and Non-Ladakhi 99 Discussion: Education and A Good Life 100 CHAPTER FOUR . MAKING THE MOST OF EDUCATION : RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONSTRAINTS 102 Introduction 102 Parents’ Hopes and Uncertainty 103 Contextualizing Uncertainty about Outcomes 104 Karma 105 Parents’ Everyday Experiences 109 Layering Responsibility for Educational Attainment 113 Parents’ Involvement: Financial, Not Pedagogical 113 Intrinsic Traits of Children 116 A Studious Environment 121 Good Parents 125 Problem Parenting 126 Student Motivation 130 Constraints on Academic and Career Pathways 132 Discussion 136 vii CHAPTER FIVE . TRADITION AND DEVELOPMENT : THE PARADOXES OF BEING A 21 ST CENTURY LADAKHI 139 Introduction 139 The Global Development Project 140 Education and Development 141 Backwards Ladakh in Need of Development 143 Education for Ladakh’s Development 147 Ladakhi Children’s Views of “Development” 150 Development as the Problem 155 Critiques of Education for Development 157 “Traditional” Ladakh – The Anti-development Narrative 160 Education as a Problem in Ladakh 163 Making Sense of Development and Tradition in Ladakh 167 What is “Tradition”? 170 Performing Tradition for Consumption 173 Pride in Ladakhi Culture 179 What and How to Be: Implicit Traditional Practices 182 Discussion: Being Ladakhi 185 CHAPTER SIX . PRIORITIZING FAMILY : LINKING MODERN LIVES TO TRADITIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE 188 Introduction 188 Ladakhi Family Roles and Responsibilities 189 Ladakhi Kinship Organization 190 Teens from Rural Families 194 Complications in Urban Families 195 Education and Modern Aspirations 199 Choices, Opportunities, and Independence 199 Being Depended Upon 203 Schools, Socialization, and Individuals 206 The Power of Socio-economic Background 209 Discussion: Family and Class 210 AFTERWORD 212 APPENDIX - INSTRUMENTS 215 REFERENCES 219 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 2008 Annual Per Capita Income Table 1.2 Literacy Rates, age 7+ Table 2.1 Leh Government Boys Secondary School (co-educational) – Enrollment by family location, 2012 Table 2.2 Leh Government Girls Secondary School (girls only) – Enrollment by family location, 2012 ACRONYMS ALUYA All Ladakh Unemployed Youth Association INR Indian Rupee ISEC Local Futures/International Society for Ecology and Culture LAHDC Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council LBA Ladakh Buddhist Association LBES Ladakh Buddhist Education Society NFHS National Family Household Survey NGO Non-governmental organization PDS Public Distribution System SECMOL Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UT Union Territory YMBA Young Men’s Buddhist Association ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am immensely grateful to my dissertation chair, Nancy Levine, as well as my committee members Thomas Weisner, Linda Garro, and Edith Mukudi Omwami. Their willingness to share their time and experience, continually providing constructive guidance, meaningful insight, and genuine encouragement during all phases of my doctoral studies has been a great benefit to me. I also owe gratitude to my former professor Roy Richard Grinker, for his continued mentorship and confidence in my abilities. This research was funded by the UCLA International Institute and the UCLA Department of Anthropology. In addition, the UCLA Graduate Division Margaret Bonner Dissertation Year Fellowship provided funding during the write-up phase. At UCLA, the members of Central Asia Workshop and Mind Medicine and Culture (MMAC) weekly groups have listened to my research many times and offered thoughtful and engaging commentary, which helped to move my ideas forward. I thank Ann Walters and Tracy Humbert at the UCLA Department of Anthropology for making things come together in all the important ways, and for always being there to help graduate students like me. Friends and colleagues have been crucial support along the way. Thank you to Hannah Reiss, Keziah Conrad, Kirsten Thompson, Anoka Jung, Janell Rothenberg, Marjan Wardaki, Ali Hamdan, Andrew Grant, Rick Miller, Mia Bennett, Naomi Caffee, Lana Martin, Dylan Smith, Casey Dong, Alex Xiang, Jody Rudy, Dolkar Tsering and the Palu family, Vera Tam, Jenny Lind, Raissa Gerona, and Darlene Sritapan. I thank my parents, Mary Richard and Joel Richard, for raising me to believe that I could do this. My grandparents taught me to be persistent with my goals—I would not be here without their influence as well. Finally, Eriq Christensen has been my rock, and I am grateful beyond words for his unwavering selflessness and care. x