Social Mobility and Peasant Culture in Rural Bangladesh: An Analysis of Institutional Dynamics

Abstract

The society of Bangladesh is expenencmg the transition due to social dynamics and development processes. Social structural dynamics displays various forms of social mobility, like, changes in production organizations, connectivity of places, movement of people and cultural transmissions. By increasing of urban population, more interdependence of urban rural relations has occurred in recent times at national and global perspectives. Peoples' societal positions are varying in a span of time and individual became more important for owns' decisions, while structural conditions like domination and hegemonic situation simultaneously prevailing in the society. The social process also altering the social and development institutions and organizations. This process also affects the cultural traditions of the country, especially the rural or peasant culture. Institutions is not an isolated progression, moreover it develops in response to national or nation building commitments, political articulation, social mobilization, structure agency relations, community dynamics and global influences. Conversely some changes has taken places in isolated so-called 'self sufficient' village community of the past and gradually transformed by the rail and water ways connectivity during the British colonial period, which opened up the opportunities of works and mobility. The series of land reforms acts of British periods dismantled the peasant lives on the other hand peasant grievances turned to political agendas and convulsion of economic, social and political dimensions reached into the countryside. East Bengal Land Acquisition Act of 1950 disbands the seminary system. Peasants or ray oats are awarded to land ownership and brought them under directly linked with the State by revenue collection. This positional changes of the peasants enter to the ownership rights and that displays dynamics. After the liberation war of Bangladesh the whole society is smarten up, that also directly or indirectly altering the rural society of Bangladesh. Subsequently the new State after the sacrifice of millions of blood drops at Bangladesh liberation War in 1971 rapidly opened up new form of social changes and patterns of social mobility. The people's mindset and the level of aspirations have been changed rapidly after peoples organizing the liberation war of Bangladesh. The expectation revolution among the people has been erupted, despite of unfulfilment of the spirit of liberation -an equal based just and democratic society. After 35 years of independence of Bangladesh the rate of urbanization is fastest in the world in one hand and the huge socio economic discriminations on the other forced many people live into below the poverty and vulnerable positions. Living pattern of the non-agricultural laborers is better than the agricultural laborers due to former overcome the seasonality of agricultural work. Credit from informal sources comes down from 36 percent in 1987 to 16 percent in 2000. The small farmer’s losses the land and the land concentration in the few hands in rural areas. The document of the land is the source of getting the loans from the institutional sources, where the sharecropping are neglected to receive loans due to they have no document on land of ownership. The land reforms of 1984, the act is in paper but not in the implementation stages due to conventional social relations. Institutions are oppressive and poverty aggravating. In contrast, community based organizations were regarded as the most effective and most trusted organizations whether in rural or urban areas Every political and social movements of Bangladesh got momentum from the support of rural people. Bangladeshi peasants and farmers feed the millions of Bangladeshis without any fruitful recognition, the unsung conqueror of food security in Bangladesh. It is indicating that the society of Bangladesh is a dynamic in nature, and it may be the open society rather closed society where the social positions are changed in intervals of times. Land, water and people are three major interdependent elements of village communities in Bangladesh. People making living with the use of natural endowments. Agriculture cannot provide year round employment as expected at the peasant societies. The people prefer outside employment. So village is increasing dependent on the outside for survival. The socialization process of the village life encompasses the new value formation; new forces came in social spaces. At these perspectives, crosscutting relations reflects simultaneously strong bondages or weak bondages on institutional lives at the village level. The dynamic of Bangladesh society reveals that the society of Bangladesh is occupy visible mobility character. The state provides the social development that is inadequate in nature and still huge people are in excluded. The goal of national state is not fulfilled yet. Institutional linkages for peoples' welfare are weak and invisible in many cases, particularly the resources poor households, marginal people. The NGOs came to join the social development movement and that is also manifests top down approach. Therefore, many partners in development and modernization of the agrarian society, but displaying the lacking of integration. Many standards are now playing at the power exercises. Beside the state authority, the political parties, the INGOs (International Non Governmental Organizations), the NGOs, the local elites, the civil society the and extortionist are playing their roles. Press or media also ply important role for the country. The goal of development is diversified, contradictory, target oriented, competitive, and project document based. Peasant grievances acted as political agenda in the past. In recent business class, civil society has gathered influences over the state functionaries. In spite of some achievements in the way to development, like rise of life expectancy, decline of fertility rate, near to self-sufficiency in cereal production, peoples' willingness to democratic process, wider coverage's of water and sanitations, etc., on the other hand, expatriate remittances, garments workers, women mobility, peasants productive oriented culture, small traders contributed progress of Bangladesh. Equally, Bangladesh is at a crucial stage in its development particularly in ensuring in genuine human security and accomplishing human capabilities for all. At the same time individual, households and the community interactions shifted in the new dimensions. The general objective of the study was to analyze the dynamics of village communities of Bangladesh in relation with modernization aspects of peasant life, cross-cultural process, social relations and development outcomes. The study based on observation, discussion and interview at community levels. Besides data information on social trends collected from the consult of documents, newspapers, books and other printed documents. To know the field level village lives under changing circumstances the study collected data from 12 different agro ecological sites and cultural regions. The study villages are given below: The list of study villages and areas ………………