On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

where we may have to take Weber’s explanation of ‘tribe’ and their political
association.
3.2. The notion of political association of the Adivasis
& its place in the nation and state legislations
In this and the following sections I shall focus, firstly on the concept and historical
development of phyle –the political association– by employing Max Weber’s model
of “tribe” for Adivasis’ case in Jharkhand; secondly, the issue of its legitimacy in the
present legislation; the third, importance and scope of this association within the
Adivasis themselves will be discussed towards the end.
According to Weber the government systems can be classified into three broad
categories: Traditional authority of kingship or monarchy, which is gaining that
authority through inheritance of blood line; secondly, the charismatic leadership, who
gains that position through his (/her) own merit, and lastly; lastly the bureaucratic
system which elects their leader through modern elective system. Among, this
bureaucracy is considered to be the best form of government today, combined within
the parliamentary structure. To place the Adivasis, referred to as tribes in the social
and political context of the country, it would be important to place them in a broader
context to be able to point their distinctiveness with other social groups.
If we try to look at what influences the governance of any of the above categorized
government systems we have to see what Weber himself has to say. The case of India,
is obviously the parliamentary democratic bureaucratic system. In this context Weber
observes the Caste and Tribe in his essay 81 , when he says, “As long as a tribe has not
become wholly a guest or a pariah people, it usually has a fixed territory.” But for the
caste he says, “A genuine caste never has a fixed territory”, having differentiated the
two groups on the grounds based on the Veda categorization of the Hindu social
hierarchy system. 82 In this essay Weber further makes an interesting and important
observation on India’s Caste and Tribe’s social organizations, when he says,
81
H.H. Gerth and C.W. Mills, Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, (London: Routledge, [1948], 1991),
398.
82
Ibid., 397.
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