SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

3. To study the impact of sericulture on different sections of rural
population and assess the mobility status with special reference to
the weaker sections.
Concerning this objective, the study aims at examining the nature of,
as well as the opportunities and constraints for social mobility, with
special reference to the weaker sections. It also examines the social
consequences of the transition of a primarily subsistence-oriented
economy to a market-oriented economy, concerning changes in
socio-cultural values and beliefs.
4. To study the type of changes in the mutually interdependent
traditional relations and the nature of social networks in the context
of sericulture.
Regarding the above objective, the study examines the interactional
situations and network relations among individuals and households,
both within and across caste, family, kinship and village identities.
These objectives thus comprise several inter-related issues. In
seeking answers to them, the study finds it necessary to examine family,
kinship and caste dimensions, at different levels in the process of
analysis.
Conceptual Fonnulations and Research Focus
In carrying out the above stated objectives, the research involves
certain concepts, the meanings and the operational implications of which
need to be clearly stated. These mainly concern family, socio-economic
mobility, and value dynamics and social and network relations.
Family: Family is an institution that has been highly subjected to
socio-anthropological investigation (Oube 1974; Kolenda 1986).
However, in understanding the structure of family, it is important to
comprehend it through classification of family types. The typology that
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