Panel 9.7. Caste and Gender in the Village Commons
co-Chairs: Gummadi Sridevi1 and Amalendu Jyotishi2
1School of Economics , University of Hyderabad, 2School of Development, Azim Premji University. Bangaluru, India.
Traditional agrarian institutions which are intertwined with a hierarchical social order of caste and gender in the governance of the affairs of civil, political and economic structure of the village, are instrumental in the governance of commons including land, water, grazing land, and village forests. Caste and gender permeate a structure of hierarchy in terms of the accumulation of and access to resources so as the traditional governance of commons and their access. Commons and their governance in Global south particularly is deeply intertwined with the institution of caste and gender. The historical evolution of access and control over the productive resources, in its relationship with land had dis-entitled vulnerable groups from having any share of ownership, be it common or private. In this panel, we propose in-depth studies from the global south to bring out and unfold the rights, access and utilisation of commons, their spatial and longitudinal transformation, and how caste and gender play a significant role in these contexts. We also foster the at the arrival of new commons aimed at equalization of access to natural resources in contrast to their denial in the past. Such a process of equalization has positive effects in terms of enhanced agrarian productivity for the depressed castes and women reposing the need for a policy of commonization as a principle of equi-distributive and efficient policy.
Monday, June 16, 2025 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Hasbrouck Hall HASA0124
Caste in Village Commons: Ontological Insights From a Telangana Villages in India
online
Gummadi Sridevi1, Amalendu Jyotishi2, and Dontha Prashanth3
1School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India, 2School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India, 3School of Arts & Science, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India
Traditional rural institutions in India which are intertwined with a hierarchical social order of caste in the governance of the affairs of civil, political and economic structure of the village, are instrumental in the governance of commons including land, water, grazing land, and village forests. Caste permeats a structure of hierarchy in terms of the accumulation of resources so as the traditional governance of commons and their access. Commons and their governance in Global south in general and in India particularly is deeply intertwined with the institution of caste . The historical evolution of access and control over the productive resources, in its relationship with land had dis-entitled marginalised groups (SC and ST ) from having any share of ownership, be it common or private. In this paper, through an in-depth village study in Telangana, India we unfold the rights, access and utilisation of commons, their transformation over a long period of time, and how caste plays a significant role in these contexts. We also analyse the at the arrival of new commons aimed at equalization of access to natural resources in contrast to their denial in the past. Such a process of equalization has positive effects in terms of enhanced agrarian productivity for the depressed castes (marginalised groups) reposing the need for a policy of commonization as a principle of equi-distributive and efficient policy.
