On the Edge of the Auspicious- Gender and Caste in Nepal

Author:
Mary M. Cameron, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Florida Atlantic University
SO 176
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
561.297.1207
561.297.0084 (FAX)

Pub Date: 1998
Pages: 328 pages
Illustrations: 12 photographs, 13 Line Drawings
Price: $ 30 US.

People of so called lower caste live throughout the villages of Nepal but have been noticeably absent from ethnographic accounts of the Himalayan region. Starting from the perspective of lower-caste Hindu women, Mary M. Cameron offers a long-overdue study of artisans and farmers in western Nepal.

On the Edge of the Auspicious skillfully shows the connections between caste hierarchy and gender relations leading to domestic, economic, and religious power of lower-caste women. Situating her study in the history of land ownership and contemporary family and work relations, Cameron explains how and why patriarchal ideology associated with high-caste families in Nepal does not apply to women of the so called lower caste. Drawing on data from work, family, and religious domains, this ethnography goes further than other current studies of caste hierarchy in South Asia to show the everyday material and ideological dimensions of domination and lower-caste people’s resistance to them.

One can buy the book, by visiting the web link is http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/52pnq5fk9780252067167.html