Daily Lives Struggles and Negotiations

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the everyday lives of Pardhi women in the Satara district. Their newline everyday lives comprise several acts of resistance, pliancy, and adjustment. Thus, this newline exploration was receptive to these aspects. The Pardhi is one of the De-notified Tribes newline (DNTs) that was declared quotborn criminalsquot through the Criminal Tribe Act (CTA), newline 1871, by the British government. The CTA, 1871, was repealed, and converted to the newline Habitual Offenders (Control and Reform) Act (HOA), 1952, after which communities newline such as these came to be known as the quotDNTsquot in India. Even after 75 years of newline independence, the situation of Pardhi women in the country is deteriorating. Pardhi newline women are victims of violence. Their subjugation worsens their plight due to criminal newline stigma, social exclusion, gender discrimination, the role of the caste council, and ill newline spiritual, customary, cultural, traditional, and social practices. newline The major findings of the study revolve around the everyday lives of Pardhi women newline and their resistance, pliancy, and adjustments within the family, community, society, newline and state institutions through the exploration of socioeconomic and demographic newline background, challenges, struggles, impact of criminal stigma, gender, and newline socioeconomic position. The study has followed an exploratory research design. It has newline used qualitative methodology and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to newline collect the data. The findings are placed within feminist standpoint theory and analysed newline and interpreted using structural violence and stigma theory. newline The study provides an understanding of how structural violence and criminal stigma newline relegate Pardhi women to subordinate position in the family, community, society, and newline state institutions. The study found that criminal stigma, migration, residence, newline citizenship, customary and traditional practices, and rules and regulations of the caste newline council govern the Pardhi women s everyday lives. Due to these six major factors, newline Pardhi women s lives pose various challenges and put them in a vulnerable, oppressed, newline and marginalised situation within the family, community, society, and state institutions. newline Keywords: Pardhi women, customary practices, criminal stigma, resistance, caste newline council, adjustments newline