Page 168 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes 1. Circulation of Money
In joint family system, currency was not in circulation before the British period. Everybody’s
main occupation was “agriculture” only. Barter was a tradition. Guest sum was a custom and
through this, people used to feed their needs. It is important that, before, British Period, pro-
duction unit was a joint family. When Britishers started currencies or exchange of goods and
services to money payment system, people started working outside the joint family unit. Brit-
ishers started giving employment for their govt. jobs. More interestingly, those who were some
what literate, got those govt. jobs and started working there, some got work in the workshops. It
result that the people left joint families. If they were “married”, they took their wives, children
or some relatives with them. In British period, the money system or economic reason was one of
the reasons of disintegration of joint family system.

2. Diversification of Occupations

In the British period, occupations were limited in the country. Most population was into agricul-
ture, rest were artisans, who were into family business. Every caste had their definite occupation
and people simply adopted them. British came to India, many occupations started and so did
industries—workshops and expansion of market took place and these new products diversified
the traditional economic system. This diversification jolted the joint family system. Now joint
family was a production unit, but in limited quantity. In fact, production was started in the fac-
tories where exchange of goods were been in the family premises. Now it came in the market.
As the occupations are concerned, joint family system started shuttering.

3. Employment to women
Now, we are discussing the changes came to joint family in the British period. English were
democratic in nature. Their reign effected Indian society too. So far as, employment is con-
cerned, in British India, male and female started to treat as equal.
The female were promoted to take part in freedom movement. Now for the first time, women to
identified their power, possibilities of getting a job as well as partnership in freedom movement.
These type of changes results in, men and women started going out for work which affected the
relationships between the family members.

4. Educational Factor
When British rule changed the education system, it affected family system. The persons who got
an opportunity of changing education through English medium protested the acts perpetrated
against widow customs of child marriage, women education, the law which deprive female
from wealth inheritance, bad behaviour towards Indians etc. Educated young men started mar-
rying at an elder age against the family tradition. Moreover, they started to marry educated
females as their life partner.
In family affairs, educated females influenced more than the illiterate or less educated females.
Panikkar says, “Joint family surpassed females. This was British rule that promoted individual-
ism in women for the first time. Now daughter-in-laws had clashes with mother-in-laws. It was
inevitable as one was educated and the other was illiterate. So, these thoughts of individualism
affected joint family very much..

5. Impact of law
From the British rule to independent India, laws affected joint family system at most in the
social concern. It is so that the Britishers made many laws related to joint family matters. After
independence, it was definite that women cannot be exploited for long in a family. If we judge

162 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY