Mobility and Identity: A Study of Jat Sikhs in Chandigarh

By Priya Khanna Mahajani

Social mobility is an important aspect of the process of social change in developing countries like India. As the economy modernizes people tend to change their occupations and also move from rural to urban areas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Nov 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499090086

Priya Khanna Mahajani

Priya Khanna Mahajani; lecturer, wife, researcher and a mother of two young children was born and brought up in a small town in Punjab, India and had to migrate to Chandigarh for Higher Education. As a student of Sociology and Psychology, she was always keen to explore human behaviours and social relationships, hence resulting in her first study on ‘dual roles’ of women in society. This investigation inspired her study on social mobility and struggle between caste and class among the Jat Sikh and subsequently this ground-breaking book. This book is a thought provoking insight into the journey of self discovery and identity of migrants in the modern world.

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Copyright © 2014 by Priya Khanna Mahajani.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Study was conducted between 1999-2001 and data was collected between May 2000 and July 2001.

Rev. date: 04/14/2015

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CONTENTS

DEDICATED

TO MY

MOTHER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research work has been completed under the supervision of Dr Surider S. Jodhka between 1999 and 2001 in Panjab University, Chandigarh. This work would never be what it is today without his constant and immensely valuable guidance. His patience and confidence in me pushed me ahead when I tended to slacken and enthusiastically encouraged me. He kept telling me that I was doing a great job and would definitely contribute something for the society, especially in this field of sociology. I was inspired to get this book published now and share my findings with all as I haven’t been able to find any other study similar to mine that aims to explore and identify the reasons for mobility and its impact on identity among Jat Sikhs.

I’m especially thankful to my respondents, whose names I cannot mention due to confidentiality and various other reasons. They not only answered my questions with outmost patience, but also introduced me to other respondents and opened my eyes to several aspects of their lives that eventually found their way into my work. I am also grateful to them for their hospitality.

Last but not the least, I am thankful to my dearest father, Mr Subhash Khanna, who believed in me and gave me a vision to write this book, and my two sisters, Payal and Simmi, my husband Kedar Mahajani, and two lovely kids Riva and Arya for extending all the support and strength to be able to continue with the work and publication of this book. Without their love, affection, and constant motivation, I could not have completed this work. Their unflinching support and concern during my research work was a source of great inspiration and enthusiasm.

(Priya Khanna Mahajani)

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Social mobility is an important aspect of the process of social change in developing countries like India. As the economy modernises, people tend to change their occupations and also move from rural to urban areas.

There has been a long tradition of studying the processes of social mobility in the discipline of sociology. Sorokin’s, Social Mobility was published in 1927. His work is currently regarded by the students of social mobility as a pioneering study. According to him, ‘social mobility is understood by any transition of an individual, or social object, or value from one social position to another’ (Sorokin, 1959; p:133).

One of the conceptions of social transformations views modernisations as a process by which agrarian societies become wealthy industrial nations. This obviously implies a dichotomy of agrarian and industrial societies with its focus on industrialisation as a generic source of modernisation (Sharma, 1988 p:22).

As per this perspective, mobility takes place due to industrialisation, that is, people move from agrarian-based rural societies to industrial urban societies. In modernisation theory, this view of mobility is understood in terms of mobility in one direction only, that is, from rural to urban, traditional cultures to modern or secular societies. People not only change their occupations, but they also experience a complete change in their lifestyles and values. However, this has happened neither in the west nor in India. Even in the United States, which was predicted to be a melting pot; studies have shown that ethnic identities have been much too strong or significant to have melted in the national pot (Glazer & D. P. Maynihan, 1975).

Blua and Duncann (1967) were chiefly concerned with the process involved in the inter-generational transmission of status. Their interest in social mobility was restricted to determining the actual status of individuals. Hope (1974) devoted his efforts to the constructions of a multidimensional model for the study for mobility. Boudon (1973–74) was most concerned to explain that individual mobility was changing by relating it to