Saturday, November 6, 2010

Escaping Muscular Humanitarianism

I thought I had begun my fellowship with no expectations, with a clear, open mind, but really, that was not the case. Once I got to my project sight, I realized I had been imagining myself doing Swades* style- muscular humanitarianism**, involving big muscles, big bucks, and big technological and political knowledge. Guess how many of those things I have? None. I did, however, bring a certain sense of determination and ambition, and some very silly subconscious daydreams.

I envisioned myself creating a study group for girls, bringing vocational and art classes to the village, bringing women into the public arena: ‘arre wah!’ I saw myself transforming a small town! I am the hero in my own Bollywood superhit! These subconscious reveries began to break down as I realized how village pace worked. No one would come to my meetings, people already knew about child marriage laws and just chose to ignore them, and even my host mother was a corrupt ex-president of the Gram Panchayat. Despite these deeply troubling issues, the biggest obstacle I felt I faced was housework. Housework, of all things. I hated those two words more than anything. Girls are often restricted in their activities because their mothers need them to do house work. Then I began to actually observe my surroundings, to see that in my own host family’s home, housework was central to every day life. From drinking chai to turning on the TV, the work that women do in the house is essential to every drop of water I drink and every morsel I consume. When I had to bring the water in myself, in a giant pot balanced on my hip, it began to sink in that housework was not just feather dusting the windowsill. It is about survival.

Survivalists! What an epiphany (I hope my sarcasm conveys itself on paper)! People work so they can eat, so they can drink, so they can raise children. I have never had to work this hard for a cup of water. A month and a half in, I still don’t do a fraction of the house work the average village woman does every day.

I wondered if technology could liberate women (i.e. washing machines, dishwashers), I wondered if education would allow women to be seen differently, if higher incomes would gain women the legitimacy they deserved, but deep inside, I know that the only way for women to break the shackles of patriarchy is a change in mentality, and that’s the most difficult change to catalyze. I was blaming housework for women’s limitations because it was easier than attempting to conceptualize and implement solutions for a less tangible culprit. Housework was not my enemy. Really, would a washing machine solve women’s problems? It certainly didn’t serve as a sustainable weapon for battling patriarchy elsewhere.

My sister asked me if my idealism is being ripped to shreds here. I said no, but I had to think about it first. The hesitation comes from the recognition that while I still cling to my idealism, I must modify it to fit with the needs of the community and not my own egotistical, impatient visions for change. Muscular humanitarianism loves the dam that generates clean water, loves the solar panels, and the paved roads, the quick, easy-to-recognize signs of development. But MH is silent in the face of social norms, patriarchy, and invisible oppression. I need to re-design my ideas of change and transform the Swades daydreams to fit with my capabilities, and most importantly, with Ukkali’s reality. As obvious as this conclusion may seem, it took me a while to shed these egotistical vision of change and opt for a subtler, and infinitely more powerful approach to development, in which the development of the self is necessary to occur.

*Swades: We, the people, is a Bollywood film starring Shah Rukh Khan in which an NRI returns to India and ends up building a small hydro-electric plant through his own personal funds and initiative in a small village.

**Note: Muscular humanitarianism is a term used by Political Scientist Anne Orford in her critique of humanitarian military intervention. I am utilizing the term in relation to international service work.

6 comments:

Kabir said...

So happy to see PWandD back!

My experience working in Indian villages for the past few months (a very short time to be sure) has been quite different. My bias was toward the "development of the self" side, but I feel now that the muscular aspects of development are equally important. Serious positive change in the life of people seems to have two dimensions - personal agency ("inner development") and opportunity structure (a combination of the "muscular" side, and policies/enforcement of these). Without schools, roads, irrigation systems, there seem to be huge limits on the development potential of people and villages. Just as roads etc without personal empowerment would also be insufficient for change.

A quick look at Bijapur district data (could not find village level data for Ukkali) indicates that it's economically much better off than villages in the North, so it could be that the opportunity structure is already in place and needs to be complemented by personal agency.

Another thought is that MH and self development are intricately intertwined.

Anyway sorry if the above makes little sense. I'm extremely tired and sleepy at the moment!

Chummilu said...

I agree with your assessment, that opportunity structure must be in place in order for the personal agency to occur, but more likely, the two are intertwined.

I guess I am wary of the paternalism inherent in the MH approach, so I was also referring to my own personal development as well, or evolution of thought and approach to development work (or as I like to call it, empowerment work). Development work/empowerment work is not always thought of as a two way exchange, but I truly believe that I'm benefiting so much more than I'm contributing (at this point). Hopefully the exchange will balance out at some point, and I will also be able to contribute in some manner, as long as both MH and more sustainable mindset change are both involved.

Thanks for commenting! Keep me updated with your village experiences as well. We can exchange notes...

Unknown said...

I love you guys!

We seriously need to have a group skype about this sometime... Suma is working independently in a rural area, Kabir is working for in an Indian consulting org for a big DFID project, and I am working in the DC-based HQ of an int'l NGO on small, education-based projects funded by the good ol' USAID. Talk about different perspectives on what "development work" can look like!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I just discovered your blog Suma. I think the muscular aspects of development are important but what I have learned this past semester at TISS and from my experience at Eklavya the year before is that this approach has been applied(to varying degrees of success) in various parts of India. I don't think the muscular approach will go very far in achieving what development ideally should unless there is a transformation amongst the people involved. The example I keep falling back on is land reform in the case of India. It was only successful in one state - Kerala - a state which had a strong people's movement that demanded land reform and ensured that it was carried out. The same movement was involved in social reform before independence which is perhaps the biggest reason why Kerala is the only state in the country which has achieved universal primary education enrollment.

Without the personal agency part of it I think very many muscular development programs would neither be effective nor sustainable. This was something I saw in my experience at Eklavya last year as well. Education in India (atleast in north India) is still seen as an activity for the upper-caste,the urban-dwelling, and for men. Of course you need better schools, teacher training, books, but without a transformation in terms of agency girls will still be pulled out of schools while their brothers go on to college.

Kabir said...

I'm pretty sure it's KabCity and not Kab City