Oral Democracy and Women?S Oratory Competency in Indian Village Assemblies: A Qualitative Analysis

56 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Paromita Sanyal

Paromita Sanyal

Cornell University, Dept. of Sociology

Vijayendra Rao

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Umang Prabhakar

Cornell University

Date Written: September 21, 2015

Abstract

In democracies, innovative political institutions have opened up scope for direct public participation often in the form of talk: citizens talking to the state and mutual talk among citizens on matters concerning community development. A prominent example is the Indian gram sabha, or village assembly, which occurs in a highly stratified context. This paper undertakes a talk-centered analysis of the gram sabha with a focus on examining the oral participation of women in general and women affiliated with microcredit self-help groups who have access to an associational life. The qualitative analysis of 255 gram sabha transcripts from four South Indian states finds that women associated with microcredit self-help groups employ a wider variety of narrative styles and utilize a more multilayered structure to convey their messages compared with all women taken together. Thus, the difference is not so much in the numerical instances of talking or in the types of issues raised, but rather in the quality of participation. The paper makes an important theoretical contribution by proposing the concept of oral democracy as an alternative to deliberative democracy, and urges an analytical focus on the oral or oratory competency of subordinated groups as they participate in these important institutions.

Keywords: Social Development & Poverty, Inequality

Suggested Citation

Sanyal, Paromita and Rao, Vijayendra and Prabhakar, Umang, Oral Democracy and Women?S Oratory Competency in Indian Village Assemblies: A Qualitative Analysis (September 21, 2015). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7416, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2663798

Paromita Sanyal

Cornell University, Dept. of Sociology ( email )

Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Vijayendra Rao (Contact Author)

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States
202-458-8034 (Phone)
202-522-1153 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://vijayendrarao.org

Umang Prabhakar

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
103
Abstract Views
859
Rank
469,563
PlumX Metrics