Overcoming Socio-Cultural Exclusion Through Skill Execution: A Case Study of the Minority Biharis in Dhaka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/sh.v16n1.2073Keywords:
Minorites, Marginalized communities, Biharis, Benarasi, Socio-cultural exclusionAbstract
Minority communities often face economic struggles. It becomes even worse when they are socially marginalized. For their survival, they adopt different methods to overcome it. There are destructive methods and constructive methods. Community-based entrepreneurship that allows for the execution of particular skills has proved to be one suitable constructive method to overcome their struggle. However, most research does not go further to check whether that method can sustain their existence for good. This study is on a particular group of minorities called Biharis, which refers to the people from the state of Bihar, India, residing as a marginalized group inside a particular sector in Dhaka, Bangladesh. To survive, they have adopted a particular crafting skill of making Benarasi Saree. Saree refers to a traditional garment worn by women in South Asia, while Benarasi refers to something related to the city of Benaras in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. After a couple of generations, who not only helped overcome the economic struggle to some extent but also brought social inclusion, they faced a new struggle that threatened to make them give up that skill. The aim of the study is to find out what they are thinking to overcome this new struggle. The researchers adopted the qualitative method, searching for a grounded theory by collecting data through participant observation. Later, immersive techniques were applied to extract the implicit themes. Findings suggest that even though they have the passion to keep the skills going, they are ready to give them up without prejudice in order to survive, which brings to attention how significant the intervention from the top is if such rare skills develop in marginalized societies and later cease to exist.
References
Ahmed, J., Alam, A., Shakirullah, Shah, I., and Rani, T. (2023) Social inclusion of minorities in Pakistan: The case of Sikh community, Sikh Formations, 19(1), 74-94, DOI: 10.1080/17448727.2022.2056788
Ahsan, R. M., and Hussain, S. H. (1990), “A review of socio-economic and nutritional issues of Bihari Camp Dwellers in Bangladesh: a micro study”. GeoJournal, 20(3), 285–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642993/METRICS
Bates, T. (1997), “Financing small business creation: The case of Chinese and Korean immigrant entrepreneurs”. Journal of Business Venturing, 12(2), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(96)00054-7
Bates, T., Jackson, W. E., and Johnson, J. H. (2016), “Advancing Research on Minority Entrepreneurship”, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 612(2), 10–17, https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716207303405
Bourdieu, P. (1986), “The forms of capital”. In: Richardson, J., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, 241–58. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Chatterjee, S. (1973), “Import minimization and import substitution for the Bangladesh economy: a programming model”. New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
Dasgupta, R. (2023). Geneva Camp, Dhaka: “Bihari” Refugees, State of Exception, and Camouflage. Journal of Borderlands Studies. 1-19. 10.1080/08865655.2022.2164044.
Defourny, J. and Nyssens, M. (2008), "Social enterprise in Europe: recent trends and developments", Social Enterprise Journal, 4(3), 202-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/17508610810922703
DNCC, (2023), Dhaka North City Corporation, http://www.dncc.gov.bd/, accessed on February 5, 2023
Ebewo, P. (2014), “Establishing Community-Based Enterprises for Sustainable Development of Impoverished Communities: A Theoretical Perspective”, SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014: 1-11, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2419044
Farzana, K. F, (2008), The neglected Stateless Bihari Community in Bangladesh: Victims of Political and Diplomatic onslaught, Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2(1), 1- 19, ISSN 1934-7227
Ferdous, J., Shawal, S., & Badhon, T. T., (2014), Mirpur Benarasi Palli of Bangladesh: Living and Livelihood of Weavers. International Journal of Chemical and Process Engineering Research, 1(6), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.18488/JOURNAL.65/2014.1.6/65.6.87.97
Federman, M. N., Harrington, D. E., and Krynski, K. J. (2016), Vietnamese Manicurists: Are Immigrants Displacing Natives or Finding New Nails to Polish? ILR Review, 59(2), 302-318, ISSN 0019-7939
Fischer, M. M., and Nijkamp, P. (2009), Entrepreneurship and regional development. Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories, 182–200. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781848445987.00017
Foster P. L. (2010), Mechanisms of stationary phase mutation: a decade of adaptive mutation. Annual Review of Genetics. 1999, 33:57-88. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.33.1.57. PMID: 10690404; PMCID: PMC2922758.
Haider, Z. (2016), Rejected people in Bangladesh: If the Biharis were counted. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 36(3), 427-443.
Hashmi, T. (1996), The ‘Bihari’ minorities in Bangladesh: victims of nationalisms. In 20th Anniversary Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA), Melbourne, 8-11.
Hashmi, T. (2022). Problematic Integration of Minorities: A Case Study of Bihari Muslims. In Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021: Crises of Culture, Development, Governance, and Identity (pp. 243-268). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Hennink, M., and Kaiser, B. N. (2022), Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests, Social Science & Medicine, 292. ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523
Hertel, C., Bacq, S., and Belz, F. M. (2019), It Takes a Village to Sustain a Village: A Social Identity Perspective on Successful Community-Based Enterprise Creation, Academy of Management Discoveries, 5(4), Published Online:29 Dec 2019https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2018.0153
Imai, K. S., Gaiha, R., and Kang, W. J. (2011) Poverty, inequality and ethnic minorities in Vietnam, International Review of Applied Economics, 25(3), 249-282, DOI: 10.1080/02692171.2010.483471
Johnstone, H., and Lionais, D. (2006), Depleted communities and community business entrepreneurship: revaluing space through place. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 16(3), 217–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/0898562042000197117
Khatoon, A. (2022). Bihari Struggle to avoid Dismemberment of East-Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of History & Culture, 43(1): 135-147
Khanna T. (2023), A Study of Drafting and Implementing the Indian Independence Act, 1947, Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research, 5(2), ISSN: 2582-8878
Lu, S., & Fine, G. A. (1995), The presentation of ethnic authenticity: Chinese Food as a Social Accomplishment. Sociological Quarterly, 36(3), 535–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1533-8525.1995.TB00452.X
Morse, J. (1995). The significance of saturation [Editorial], Qualitative Health Research, 5 (1995): 147-149, 10.1177/104973239500500201
Muquim, N. (2017), Strangers to citizenship: an analysis of the deplorable conditions of the Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh. The University of British Columbia.
Parwez, S. (2017), Community-based entrepreneurship: evidences from a retail case study. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 6(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/S13731-017-0074-Z
Peredo, A. M., and Chrisman, J. J. (2006), Toward a Theory of Community-Based Enterprise, Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2006.20208683
Rabeya, S. and Hossain, M. (2017), Critique of ethnic nationalism in the teachings of Said Nursi: A study of nationalism and the question of Islam in Bangladeshi identity. IIUC Studies, 14, 71-84. 10.3329/iiucs.v14i2.39881
Rahaman, A., Uddin, A. J., and, Hossain, M. S. (2020). Origin and socio-cultural formation of Bihari identity: A study on Bihari community in Bangladesh. International Journal of Social, Political and Economic Research, 7(4), 879-903.
Rao, V. M. (2002), Women Self Help Groups Profiles from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Kurukshetra.
Sattar, N. (2013), The rejected Biharis. Hydra Interdisciplinary Journal of Social Sciences, 1(2), 13-24
Schermerhorn, R. (1996), Ethnicity and Minority Groups, in John Hutchinson & Anthony D. Smith (Ed), Ethnicity, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sen, S. (1999), Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: The Bihari Refugees of South Asia Part 1. International Journal of Refugee Law, 11(4), 625–645. https://doi.org/10.1093/IJRL/11.4.625
Shahid, J. and Sen, A. (2018), Decline in the handloom cottage industry: A case study of handloom bunkars of Varanasi. The Geographer, 65(2), Print ISSN: 0072-0909. Online ISSN: 0975-9522.
Shetu, S., Khan, S. A., and Uddin, S. N., (2018), Checklist of Angiosperms extant in Mirpur area of Dhaka city, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Biological Sciences, 7(2), 47, DOI:10.3329/jujbs.v7i2.40746
Suresh, S. S., and Saravanan, S. (2013). Women Empowerment through Self Help Groups: A Case Study, Economic Affairs, 58, 147-154
Sandelowski, M. (1995), Sample size in qualitative research, Research in Nursing and Health. 18: 179-183
Talbot, I., and Singh, G (2009). The partition of India, 224. Cambridge University Press.
Yunus, T. E., Tariq, N., Callahan, R. E., Niemeyer, D. J., Brown, O. W., Zelenock, G. B., and Shanley, C. J. (2008). Changes in inferior vena cava filter placement over the past decade at a large community-based academic health center. Journal of Vascular Surgery, 47(1), 157-165.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JVS.2007.08.057
