DOI: 10.5507/ff.23.24463476.14

CASTE, GENDER AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE TIMES OF THE PANDEMIC

Madhu Madhu (A.)

The present chapter discusses the meaning of social distancing amid the pandemic with patriarchy and caste in the foreground. It revisits the idea of social distancing, normally understood as the physical distance between any two individuals. In Indian caste-based society, social amalgamation is an alien concept and practicing social distancing from certain castes is a norm. With over 95% of Indians observing endogamy (marrying within their caste/clan groups), ”permanent social distancing” has prevailed in India for centuries, with now many of them thinking science has offered them one more reason for holding the beliefs they do. With the help of reports and data from various government and non-governmental organizations, the chapter focuses on the extreme exclusion and discrimination faced by Dalits, 1 especially Dalit women, who comprise the majority of the informal sanitation workforce, having a low income and almost no social security. These women experience triple oppression by the men and women of the dominant castes for being Dalits, by the rich and affluent for being poor, and face patriarchal oppression from men of all communities, including their own. 

stránky: 413-436



Reference

  1. Agha, Eram. 2020. "COVID_19 displaced caste from our social discourse to secondary level, says academic." News 18, June 6, 2020. https://www.news18.com/news/india/covid-19-displaced-caste-from-our-social-discourse-to-secondary-level-says-academic-2656853.html.
  2. Armstrong, David, and Christian Davenport. 2010. "Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive study of Practices and Conditions in 1589 Villages." Working Paper in eSocialSciences. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://ideas.repec.org/s/ess/wpaper.html
  3. Arnold, David. 1998. "Touching the Body: Perspectives on the Indian Plague, 1896-1900,". In Subaltern Studies V. Writings on South Asian History and Society, edited by Ranajit Guha, 55-90. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  4. Ashraf, Ajaz. 2015. "Bhangi Darwaza: Why did the ASI notify an offensive name for a gateway in a Madhya Pradesh fort?" Scroll.in, November 16, 2015. https://scroll.in/article/769536/bhangi-darwaza-why-did-the-asi-notify-an-offensive-name-for-a-gateway-in-a-madhya-pradesh-fort.
  5. Bala, Poonam. 2016. 'Restructuring' Indian Medicine: The Role of Caste in Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Century India. In Medicine and Colonialism: Historical Perspectives in India and South Africa, Empires in Perspective, edited by Poonam Bala, 1-11. London and New York: Routledge. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  6. Bhatnagar, Gaurav Vivek. 2021. "Across Waves of COVID-19 in India, Sanitation Workers Remain Most Ignored." The Wire, May 31, 2021. https://thewire.in/rights/across-waves-of-covid-19-in-india-sanitation-workers-remain-most-ignored.
  7. Bhardwaj, Srishti. 2018. "Building Dignity and Well-being for Sanitation Workers." WaterAid India, Annual Report, 2018. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.wateraid.org/in/sanitation-workers-a-repository.
  8. British Broadcasting corporation (BBC). 2020." Anger as Migrants Sprayed with Disinfectant in India." BBC, March 31, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52093220.
  9. Butalia, Urvashi. 2020. "How Has the Pandemic Changed Work and Life for Women in Publishing (and for Feminist Publishers)?" Scroll.in, 17 July, 2020. https://scroll.in/article/967706/how-has-the-pandemic-changed-work-and-life-for-women-in-publishing-and-for-feminist-publishersUrvashi?fbclid=IwAR2qD_DT7UkBwqIk55Gc32qDWDM8Bw8ZexmR3dN_EpFc51074oQPFUpwxrI
  10. Chakraborty, Debadrita. 2020. "The "Living Dead" within "Death-worlds": Gender Crises and Covid-19 in India." Gender, Work & Organization 28, no. 2: 330-339. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12585 Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  11. Chakravorty, Sujoy. 2019. "How the British Reshaped India's Caste System." BBC News, June 19, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48619734.
  12. Cohn, Bernard. 1996. Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  13. Counterview. 2020."Caste Discrimination of Dalits, Adivasis in Quarantine Centers: Demand for Inquiry." Counterview, May 28, 2020. https://www.counterview.net/2020/05/caste-discrimination-of-dalits-adivasis.html.
  14. Cucinotta Domenico, and Maurizio Vanelli. 2020. "WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic." Acta Biomed 91, no. 1:157-160. doi:10.23750/abm.v91i1.9397. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32191675/ Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  15. DSpace. 2016. Papers Relating to the Outbreak of Bubonic Plague in India with Statement Showing the Quarantine and Other Restrictions Recently Placed upon Indian Trade, up to March 1897. GIPE Digitized Books. Accessed May 14, 2022. https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/21452
  16. Das, Ritwajit. 2020. "How Caste Is Disproportionately Affecting the Dalits of South Asia in COVID-19 Pandemics." Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/IDSN_paper.docx
  17. Dirks, Nicholas. B. 2001. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  18. Economic and Political Weekly, Engage. 2020. "COVID-19, Domestic Abuse and Violence: Where Do Indian Women Stand?" EPW, 2020. https://www.epw.in/engage/article/covid-19-domestic-abuse-and-violence-where-do
  19. Gatacre, W. Forbes. 1897. Report on the Bubonic Plague in Bombay, 1896-97. Bombay: Times of India Steam Press. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/khj77cu3/items?canvas=11
  20. Geetha, V. 2013. "Bereft of Being: The Humiliations of Untouchability." In Humiliation: Claims and Context, edited by Gopal Guru, 95-107. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  21. GluteDesk. 2020. "Caste-wise Quarantine Centres." August 15, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2021. https://www.gulte.com/political-news/19846/caste-wise-corona-quarantine-centers
  22. Gupta, Charu, K. Satyanarayan, and S. Shankar. 2020. "The History of Caste Has Lessons on the Dangers of Social Distancing." TheWire, 01 May 2020. https://thewire.in/caste/social-distancing-dangers-india.
  23. Guru, Gopal. 2013. "Rejection of Rejection: Foregrounding Self-respect." In Humiliation: Claims and Context, edited by Gopal Guru, 209-25. New Delhi: Oxford University Press
  24. Harper, Edward B. 1964. "Ritual Pollution as an Integrator of Caste and Religion." The Journal of Asian Studies 23, no. 1: 151-197. https://doi.org/10.2307/2050627. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  25. Hunter, K.M. 1898 "Fighting the Bubonic Plague in India." The Nineteenth Century: A Monthly review 43 (1898): 1008-1016.
  26. Ingole, Prashant and Dyotana Banerjee. 2020. "Coronavirus and Caste: Is Our Response to the Pandemic Casteist?" The Quint, March 21, 2020. https://www.thequint.com/voices/blogs/coronavirus-outbreak-india-social-distancing-caste
  27. Ilaiah, Kancha. 2020. "Practice Disease Distancing-How India Can Use Corona Crisis to Kill its Caste Virus." The Print, April 3, 2020. https://theprint.in/opinion/practice-disease-distancing-india-corona-crisis-kill-caste-virus/394162/
  28. International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN). 2020. Annual Report. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IDSN-Annual-Report-2020-21-.pdf
  29. International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). 2021. "Dalit Women in India and the Socio-economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic." HRC47, July 6, 2021. Accessed May 12, 2022. https://imadr.org/dalit-women-india-covid19-hrc47-2021-os/
  30. Iyer, A. K.1981 [1909]. The Cochin Tribes and Castes. Vol. I. London: Higginbotham & Luzac & Co.
  31. Inzamam, Qadri and Haziq Qadri. 2022. "In India, Digital Snooping on Sanitation Workers", UNDARK, February 5, 2022. https://undark.org/2022/05/02/in-india-digital-snooping-on-sanitation-workers/
  32. Jain, Anurodh Lalit. 2012. "Scourge of Manual Scavenging." The Hindu, October 28, 2012.
  33. Kidambi, Prashant. 2016. The Making of an Indian Metropolis Colonial Governance and Public Culture in Bombay, 1890-1920, London and New York: Routledge.
  34. Jyoti, Dhrubo. 2021. "Crime against Dalits, Tribals Increased in Covid Pandemic Year: NCRB." The Hindustan Times, September 16, 2021. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/crimes-against-dalits-tribals-increased-in-covid-pandemic-year-ncrb-101631731260293.html
  35. Khaira, Rachna. 2020. "Surveillance Slavery: Swachh Bharat Tags Sanitation Workers to Live-Track their Every Move." Huffpost, March 5, 2020. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/swacch-bharat-tags-sanitation-workers-to-live-track-their-every-move_in_5e4c98a9c5b6b0f6bff11f9b
  36. Klein, Ira. 1988. "Plague, Policy and Popular Unrest in British India." Modern Asian Studies 22, no. 4: 723-55. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0026749x00015729. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  37. Kumar, Awanish. 2020. "Reading Ambedkar in the Time of Covid-19." EPW 55, no. 16 (May). https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/16/perspectives/reading-ambedkar-time-covid-19.html.
  38. Louis, Prakash. 2007. "Dalit Christians: Betrayed by State and Church." EPW 42, no. 16 (April). https://www.alliance.edu.in/anukarsh/archives/vol-2-issue-4/en/Dalits-into-Dalit-Christians.pdf
  39. Malkani, N.R. 1961. "Report of Scavenging Conditions Enquiry Committee Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Secretariat Library, Government of India." Accessed August 14, 2023. http://cslrepository.nvli.in/handle/123456789/1080
  40. Maragakis, Lisa Lockerd. 2020. "Coronavirus, Social and Physical Distancing and Self-Quarantine." Johns Hopkins Medicine, July 15, 2020. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-social-distancing-and-self-quarantine.
  41. McQuade, Aidan, and Ritwajit Das. 2020. "Opinion: COVID-19 Poses New Risks to India's Enslaved Waste Pickers." Thomson Reuters Foundation, April 27, 2020. https://news.trust.org/item/20200427135156-gblkz
  42. Mehra, Sushant. 2021. "Covid-19 Takes Heavy Toll on Delhi Sanitation Workers, 49 Dead since March." India Today, May 28, 2021. https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/delhi/story/covid-takes-heavy-toll-on-delhi-sanitation-workers-mcd-1808010-2021-05-28.
  43. Mirror Now Digital. 2020. "Jharkhand: Five Brahmins Lodged at Quarantine Facility Refuse to Eat Food Prepared by SC Cooks." Times now news, May 25, 2020. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/crime/article/jharkhand-five-brahmins-lodged-at-quarantine-facility-refuse-to-eat-food-prepared-by-sc-cooks/596825.
  44. Moon, Vasant. 1979. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra.
  45. Momin, A.R. 1975. "Reviewed Work: Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims by Imtiaz Ahmad." Economic and Political Weekly 10, no. 14: 580-582.
  46. Nagaraj, Anuradha. 2020. "Municipal Workers in India Are Protesting against GPS Watches that Link their 'Efficiency' to Wages." Scroll.in, 20 March, 2020. https://scroll.in/article/956563/municipal-workers-in-india-are-protesting-against-gps-watches-that-link-their-efficiency-to-wages
  47. National Family Health Survey. 2006. NFHS -3, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Accessed May 15, 2022. https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/frind3/frind3-vol1andvol2.pdf
  48. Narayan, Badri. 2020. "Has the Pandemic Changed How Caste Hierarchies Play Out in India?" The Wire, June 20, 2020. https://thewire.in/caste/covid-19-pandemic-caste-discrimination
  49. Pant, Manasi. 2021. "Sanitation Workers During the Pandemic: India's Neglected Frontline Workers." Feminism in India, July 28, 2021. https://feminisminindia.com/2021/07/28/sanitation-workers-during-the-pandemic-indias-neglected-frontline-workers/
  50. Rukmini. S. 2020. "How COVID-19 Locked out Women from Jobs." Livemint, June 11, 2020. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/how-covid-19-locked-out-women-from-jobs-11591772350206.html.
  51. Sagar, Vidushi. 2020. "Can India Ignore Caste Realities while Relaxing Labour Laws?" News18, May 26, 2020. https://www.news18.com/news/india/can-india-ignore-its-caste-realities-while-relaxing-labour-laws-2638135.html
  52. Saha, Subhomay, and Vikas Upadhyay. 2021. ""The Missing Manual Scavengers of India." Down to Earth, January 18, 2021. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/water/the-missing-manual-scavengers-of-india-75104#:~:text=Whereas%2C%20the%20SKA%20estimated%20that,country%20at%20around%2026%20lakh.
  53. Salaryexplorer. Sanitation Worker Average Salary in India 2022. Accessed 14 August, 2023. http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=100&loctype=1&job=1699&jobtype=3
  54. Salve, Pradeep S., and Suresh Jungari. 2020. "Sanitation Workers at the Frontline: Work and Vulnerability in Response to COVID-19." Local Environment 25, no.8: 627-630, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342900527_Sanitation_workers_at_the_frontline_work_and_vulnerability_in_response_to_COVID-19. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  55. Sanchita. 2021. "Glorified as 'COVID Warriors', Sanitation Workers Suffer Worst of All in the Pandemic." The Wire, July 6, 2021. https://thewire.in/labour/glorified-as-covid-warriors-sanitation-workers-suffer-worst-of-all-in-the-pandemic
  56. Satam, Mrunmayee. 2019. "Governing the Body: Public Health and Urban Society in Colonial Bombay City 1914-1945." PhD diss., University of Leicester. https://doi.org/10.25392/leicester.data.11335856.v1. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  57. Sarkar, Natasha. 2011. "Fleas, Faith and Politics: Anatomy of Indian Epidemic, 1890-1925." Ph.D diss., National University of Singapore. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48655733.pdf.
  58. Saxena, Anjuri, and Chahat Gautam. 2020. "Sanitation Workers Amidst COVID-19: Indispensable Yet Disregarded." RGNUL Student Research Review (RSRR) 8, no.2. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://rsrr.in/2020/09/01/sanitation-workers-amidst-covid/
  59. Senthalir, S., Abhilasha Nagarajan and Srinithi Sudhakar. 2020. "COVID-19: Sanitation Workers Require Access to Menstrual Health." The Wire, June 9, 2020. https://thewire.in/rights/women-sanitation-workers-menstruation
  60. Shah, Ghanshyam, Harsh Mander, Sukhaedo Thorat, Amita Baviskar, and Satish Deshpande. 2006. Untouchability in Rural India. New Delhi: Sage.
  61. Shaikh, Junaid. 2014. "Imaging Caste, Photography, the Housing Question and the Making of Sociology in Colonial Bombay, 1900-1939." South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 37, no. 3: 491-514. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  62. Shruti, I, and Madhurima Manjumdar. 2021. "How Caste Oppression is Institutionalized in India's Sanitation Jobs." Janata Weekly, May 30, 2021. https://janataweekly.org/how-caste-oppression-is-institutionalised-in-indias-sanitation-jobs/.
  63. Sorensen, Kristine. 2020. "Let us carry out #socialdistancing with a focus on #distantsocialization keeping us closer rather than bringing us apart #mentalhealthliteracy #healthliteracy #distantparticipation." Twitter. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://twitter.com/k_srensen/status/1238188317637828615.
  64. Sunandan, K. 2015. From Acharam to Knowledge: Claims of Caste Dominance in Twentieth- Century Malabar. History and Sociology of South Asia 9, no.2: 174-192. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  65. Susewind, Raphael. 2017. "Muslims in Indian Cities: Degrees of Segregation and the Elusive Ghetto." Environment and Planning A 49, no.6: 1286-1307. Přejít k původnímu zdroji...
  66. The Newsminute. 2020. "Number of Deaths Due to Manual Scavenging Rose by 62% in 2019." Thenewsminute, February 12, 2020. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/number-deaths-due-manual-scavenging-rose-62-2019-118018html
  67. WaterAid India. 2020. "Health, Safety and Social Security Challenges of Sanitation Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India." Water Raid, September 28, 2020. Accessed May 12, 2022. https://www.wateraid.org/publications/wateraid-india-annual-report-2019-20