Patronage and community in a society of thieves

TY - JOUR

T1 - Patronage and community in a society of thieves

AU - Piliavsky, Anastasia

PY - 2015/6

Y1 - 2015/6

N2 - Patronage is a structural pivot of social life in South Asia. Drawing on the ethnography of relations between a caste of professional thieves in rural Rajasthan, known as Kanjars, and their patron-goddesses, I show that patronage is also, crucially, a normative formula which encompasses a set of values. I examine the nature of these values, and why the Kanjars value them such a lot, to show an alternative sense of hierarchy, based neither on substantive values (like purity or auspiciousness) nor on transactions, but on a set of relational values (like attachment and generosity) that may have cardinal provenance beyond the given context.

AB - Patronage is a structural pivot of social life in South Asia. Drawing on the ethnography of relations between a caste of professional thieves in rural Rajasthan, known as Kanjars, and their patron-goddesses, I show that patronage is also, crucially, a normative formula which encompasses a set of values. I examine the nature of these values, and why the Kanjars value them such a lot, to show an alternative sense of hierarchy, based neither on substantive values (like purity or auspiciousness) nor on transactions, but on a set of relational values (like attachment and generosity) that may have cardinal provenance beyond the given context.

KW - caste

KW - castes of thieves

KW - hierarchy

KW - patronage

KW - popular Hinduism

KW - Rajasthan

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930892328&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0069966715578046

DO - 10.1177/0069966715578046

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84930892328

SN - 0069-9667

VL - 49

SP - 135

EP - 161

JO - CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY

JF - CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY

IS - 2

ER -