Critical Analysis of Influence of Globalization among the Rabhas of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Whenever we attempt to define any word having a “global” morpheme in it, that word entails a cognition that the term is affecting the whole world, be it “globalization”, “global market”, “global economy” or “global warming”. So, when we talk about globalization which itself is a process of interaction among people of the whole world (the basis of this interaction may vary from trading of goods to the exchange of revolutionary ideas); then we can’t ignore the diversity of approximately 7.7billion people. When such a diverse population interacts on any level then it is only natural that things are going to advance forward, as only a strong idea or innovation can actually become global. Hence any society coming under its radar is going to go under some kind of transition from its traditional self. This paper attempts to explain whether globalization has stimulated any transition among Rabhas or not?  Rabhas are the tribal people of West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya. In West Bengal Rabhas manly live in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar district. Referring themselves as “Koch”, Rabhas of Jalpaiguri were originally a forest-dwelling tribe, marked by its matrilineality. Scholars like M.K Raha in his book “Matriliny to Patriliny: A Study of the Rabha Society” (1974) and others have argued that Rabhas are undergoing transition. Even though the transition from matriliny to patriliny has been highlighted by several authors and scholars but there is a transition occurring at more than one level and this paper is an attempt to highlight such transitions.