Gender, power and legal pluralism: Rajasthan, India
Moore, E.P.
American Ethnologist 20(3): 522-542
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0094-0496 DOI: 10.1525/ae.1993.20.3.02a00040Document Number: 331389
Villagers in rural north eastern Rajasthan, India, most frequently take their disputes to either the local village councils or the state courts. However, as both the councils and courts are controlled by powerful men, women and low-status men cannot find justice in these fora. Stretching the boundaries of the law to include the work of the Muslim spiritual teacher and healer, or maulavi, can help in understanding the victims of the central legal systems. Both men and women may seek remedies to social and physical problems by visiting a maulavi, and for women, a trip to the healer may become a form of resistance to male ideological hegemony. Attention to spirit possession, stress-related illnesses and traditional healers gives new insight into cultural concepts of justice, resistance, and the role of gender in legal pluralism.