Mining, Displacement, and Matriliny in Meghalaya: Gendered Transitions

196 Pages·2022·11.227 MB·English

by  Bitopi Dutta

MINING, DISPLACEMENT, AND MATRILINY
IN MEGHALAYA
This book studies how Development-Induced Displacement (DID) radically
restructures gender relations in indigenous tribal societies. Through an in-
depth case study of the Indian state of Meghalaya, one of the few matrilin-
eal societies of the world, it analyses how people cope with conflicts in their
perception of self, family, and society brought on by the transition from
traditional modes of living to increased urbanisation, and how these experi-
ences are different for men and women. It looks at the ways in which this
gendered change is experienced inter-generationally in different contexts of
people’s lives, including work and leisure activities. The book also investi-
gates people’s attitudes towards matrilineal structures and their perception
of change on matriliny where mining has played a role in building their
view of their matrilineal tradition.
Drawing on extensive interviews with individuals directly affected by this
phenomenon, the book, part of the Transition in Northeastern India series,
makes a significant contribution to the study of DID. It will be useful for
scholars and researchers of urbanisation, gender studies, Northeast India
studies, development studies, minority studies, public policy, political stud-
ies, and sociology.
Bitopi Dutta is an Assistant Professor at the School for Liberal Studies at
the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies(UPES), Dehradun, India. She
has a PhD from the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University,
Ireland (2020), her Master of Arts in Social Work from the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai and her BA Hons. in Sociology from Lady Shri
Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. She has been an Irish Research
Council Awardee Scholar by the Government of Ireland and has four books
on displacement studies including one on one traditonal method of conflict
resolution to her authorship. Prior to joining UPES, she has taught in TISS
and continues to be associated with film-making with her production house
called Vortex Films, whose first feature film production has won the National
Films Award in 2021. She is one of the pioneers of the Queer Movement in
Northeast India and was the co-organiser of the first Queer Pride walk in
Assam which took place in 2014. Her research interests include Gender and
sexuality, Indigenous people, displacement studies, qualitative research.
TRANSITION IN NORTHEASTERN INDIA
Series Editor: Sumi Krishna,
Independent scholar, Bengaluru, India
The uniquely diverse landscapes, societies and cultures of northeastern
India, forged through complex bio-geographic and socio-political forces,
are now facing rapid transition. This series focuses on the processes and
practices that have shaped, and are shaping, the peoples’ identities, out-
look, institutions, and economy. Eschewing the homogenising term ‘North
East’, which was imposed on the region in a particular political context
half a century ago, the series title refers to the ‘northeastern’ region to more
accurately reflect its heterogeneity. Seeking to explore how the ‘mainstream’
and the ‘margins’ impact each other, the series foregrounds both historical
and contemporary research on the region including the Eastern Himalaya,
the adjoining hills and valleys, the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. It pub-
lishes original, reflective studies that draw upon different disciplines and
approaches, and combine empirical and theoretical insights to make schol-
arship accessible for general readers and to help deepen the understanding
of academics, policy-makers and practitioners.
LEGAL PLURALISM AND INDIAN DEMOCRACY
Tribal Conflict Resolution Systems in Northeast India
Edited by Melvil Pereira, Bitopi Dutta and Binita Kakati
CONSERVATION LANDSCAPES AND HUMAN WELL-BEING
Sustainable Development in the Eastern Himalayas
Edited by Siddhartha Krishnan
Associate Editors: Soubadra Devy and Neha Mohanty
MINING, DISPLACEMENT, AND MATRILINY IN MEGHALAYA
Gendered Transitions
Bitopi Dutta
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/
Transition-in-Northeastern-India/book-series/TNI
MINING, DISPLACEMENT,
AND MATRILINY IN
MEGHALAYA
Gendered Transitions
Bitopi Dutta
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 Bitopi Dutta
The right of Bitopi Dutta to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-67850-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-71128-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14946-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003149460
Typeset in Sabon
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Dedicated to my late mother Anima Dutta, who taught me courage and re-
silience; my late sister Karabee Dutta, who taught me to dream and fly; and
my father Kusheswar Dutta, who always believes in me more than myself.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements viii
List of abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 A gender analysis of development-induced displacement 7
2 Reinventing narratives of displacement:
Methodological considerations 35
3 The context of Meghalaya 47
4 Gender, mining, and matriliny in the Jaintia Hills 71
5 “Growing up in a mining area”: Gendering labour,
leisure, and mobility 87
6 Intimacies and violence in the mines 114
7 Gendering love, marriage, and reproductive health:
The question of continuity and change 132
Conclusion 149
Bibliography 159
Photographs 176
Index 181
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I was carrying the idea of this research for few years although I did not
know that I would end up doing a PhD on it! This research would not have
been possible without the constant support and guidance of my supervi-
sor Prof. Eileen Connolly. Thank you so much Prof. Connolly for pushing
me to keep exploring the significance of my research question, to critically
engage with my theoretical framework, and most importantly to never give
up on the highest of expectations of how this research project could be
shaped. Your guidance and high expectations encourage me to give my best
and keep pushing my limits as an academic, and this is something that will
always inspire me for the rest of my life.
My deepest gratitude to Prof. Maura Conway for her valuable feedback
on the research throughout this journey, Prof. John Doyle for his constant
support, and Prof. Ian MacMenamin for his constant encouragement.
DCU’s Ireland India Institute has been the most welcoming space and I am
grateful to all my colleagues for all the wonderful memories that they have
gifted me.
I am extremely grateful to Dr. Dolly Kikon (Melbourne University) for
pushing me to write, and for her generous comments on my research ques-
tions. My sincere thanks to Jennifer Shahneen Hussain, for looking through
my reference/bibliography file and helping me organise it!
My friends have been my treasure! Thank you Sweta, for having my
back, reading through my chapters and sharing your comments. Thank you
Hari, Vidushi, Jonathan, Joe, Inga, Clark, Joe, Rachna, Liridona, Arpita,
Denise, Veronica, and Miraj for always being there.
My deepest gratitude to my sister Bornita Dutta and brother-in-law
Abhijit Saikia for always being my rock support, for taking me all around
the UK and Ireland numerous times in those travels, and for those countless
celebrations we had whenever I landed up in your house in Brighton.
Last but not the least, my thanks to spouse Prakash Deka for his utmost
love, care, and support that makes my life meaningful and beautiful, and
especially for accompanying me around those fieldwork days when I felt
I needed someone to travel through those distant roads.
viii
ABBREVIATIONS
AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
APHLC All Party Hill Leaders’ Conference
CPR Common Property Resources
DID Development-Induced Displacement
DLHS District-Level Family Health Survey
DJ Disc Jockey
HALC Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
INR Indian Rupee
KHADC Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council
KSU Khasi Students Union
NCPR National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
NEI North East India
NFHS National Family Health Survey
NGT National Green Tribunal
PAP Project-Affected Person
SHG Self Help Group
SRT Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai
ST Scheduled Tribes
STI Sexually Transmitted Infection
USA United States of America
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