Patriarchy


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Patriarchy

Patriarchy: Literally, rule by father, this concept is used to refer to a system that values men more and gives them power over women.Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male .

Family laws: Laws that deal with family related matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance etc. In our country, different family laws apply to followers of different religions.

Communalism: It is a situation when a particular community tries to promote its own interests at the cost of other communities. This problem becomes more critical when

  • ·   Religion in politics is expressed as exclusive and in partisan terms.
  • ·   One religion and its followers are pitted against another.
  • ·   Beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions.
  • ·   The demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another.
  • ·   State power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.
  • This manner of using religion in politics is communal politics. Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of a social community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines

    1.  The followers of a particular religion just belong to one community.

    2.  Their fundamental interests are the same.

    3.  Any difference in them may have is relevant or trivial for community life.

    4.  The people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community.

    5.   If the followers of different religion have some commonalities these are superficial and immaterial.

    In its extreme form, communalism leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. Either,  one of them has to dominate the other groups or they have to form different nations.

    Form of Communalism in Politics: Communalism can take various forms in politics

    1. The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. This involves religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and beliefs in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions.

    2.  A communal mind often wants to dominate one’s own religious community. For majority community, they adopt the majoritarian dominance and for minority, they have a desire to form a separate political unit.

    3.  Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and also plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.

    4. Sometimes, communalism takes its ugliest form in communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of partition. The post-independence period has also seen large scale communal violence.

    Sample Questions
    (More Questions for each concept available in Login)
    Question : 1

    Which one of the following is not a cause of communalism ?

    Right Option : C
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    Explanation
    Question : 2

    India has a :

    Right Option : A
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    Explanation
    Question : 3

    Political mobilisation on  ________  lines is another frequent form of communalism.

    Right Option : C
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    Explanation
     
     


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