Resisting Subjugation: Law and Power amongst the Santal of India and Bangladesh, 2002-2004

<p>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</p>This is an enhanced qualitative study.<br> <br> The study uses mixed methods and focuses on the Santal adivasi (tribal people) in Jharkhand, India and Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Anthropological and sociological data collection methods were used to collect material in four villages, three courts of law and from academics and activists.<br> <br> The focus of the data collection was to find evidence of how disempowered tribal people were able or not able to use the law to their advantage. A broad definition of law was used which acknowledged that the subjects of the research lived by a plurality of laws (state law, their customary law and norms directing their relationships in the village and the home). The main focus of the study was to understand how individuals related to these different laws and legal orders and the factors that affected their empowerment or disempowerment through law.<br> <br> The collection has been enhanced by the conversion of the qualitative data from Atlas.ti software to RTF format. The Atlas.ti files underwent checks and editing before conversion and are also available for dissemination; enabling data manipulation and querying within the database.<br><B>Main Topics</B>:<br>The quantitative data consist of results from 48 structured questionnaire interviews with villagers with equal numbers of men and women, divided by age into two categories (20-49 and 50+) and by status (determined by wealth, assets, family size, ability to affect decisions by village chief or other influentials). Data were collected from four villages (two from Bangladesh, two from India) of which one from each country would be a mixed village (where Santal cohabited with Muslims and Hindus and other 'adivasi') and the other a majority Santal village.<br> <br> The qualitative data comprise: transcripts and notes from unstructured interviews with academics and activists working on tribal rights issues in India and Bangladesh; notes from semi-structured interviews with judges hearing Santal cases, and with local chairmen (government representatives) and members of local government administration near to the villages studied; daily journal, recording findings from participant observation while living in each of the villages over a five month period; notes from semi-structured interviews with villagers about their experiences of taking cases to the state courts; notes from semi-structured interviews with Manjhi (chief) of each village