TY - JOUR
T1 - 'Everyone must give': Explaining the spread and persistence of Bridegroom Price among the Poor in Rural Telangana, India
AU - Jakimow, Tanya
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Bridegroom price is extracting a heavy toll on the poor in rural Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India. Poor
households are becoming indebted and losing assets to pay the increasing amounts demanded by grooms at
the time of their daughters' weddings. Bridegroom price is a relatively recent phenomenon in the area, first
practiced amongst scheduled and backward caste groups less than two decades ago. This article draws upon
practice theory and cultural neo-institutionalism to offer an alternative explanation for the emergence and
persistence of bridegroom price as a time, space and socially specific institution. Using empirical material
from in-depth qualitative interviews in two villages in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh in 2010, it suggests that
bridegroom price emerged as a result of shifts in the subjectivities of low-caste men, and in particular the
evaluation of the self in relation to the social whole. The article seeks to contribute to existing explanations
for bridegroom price and dowry, while also arguing that theoretically informed approaches are necessary in
order to develop effective measures to combat these institutions.
AB - Bridegroom price is extracting a heavy toll on the poor in rural Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India. Poor
households are becoming indebted and losing assets to pay the increasing amounts demanded by grooms at
the time of their daughters' weddings. Bridegroom price is a relatively recent phenomenon in the area, first
practiced amongst scheduled and backward caste groups less than two decades ago. This article draws upon
practice theory and cultural neo-institutionalism to offer an alternative explanation for the emergence and
persistence of bridegroom price as a time, space and socially specific institution. Using empirical material
from in-depth qualitative interviews in two villages in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh in 2010, it suggests that
bridegroom price emerged as a result of shifts in the subjectivities of low-caste men, and in particular the
evaluation of the self in relation to the social whole. The article seeks to contribute to existing explanations
for bridegroom price and dowry, while also arguing that theoretically informed approaches are necessary in
order to develop effective measures to combat these institutions.
U2 - 10.1177%2F0021909612444397
DO - 10.1177%2F0021909612444397
M3 - Article
SN - 0021-9096
VL - 48
SP - 180
EP - 194
JO - Journal of Asian and African Studies
JF - Journal of Asian and African Studies
IS - 2
ER -