Factions in Indian and Overseas Indian Societies, Part 1: Introduction

Author(s): Raymond Firth

Source: The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec., 1957), pp. 291-295
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The London School of Economics and Political Science
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FACTIONS IN INDIAN AND

OVERSEASINDIAN SOCIETIES
I. INTRODUCTION
RaymondFirth2
OMPARATIVE
STUDY of overseas Asian communities
offersa sociologicalfield of great interest.These communities
may
be compared with one another and with the parent
societiesfrom which many of their numberswere originallydrawn.
Such comparisonswill show how new structuresarise and vary with
the diffiering
environment;they may alsoindicatewhich elementsfrom
the originalsociety are most likely to persistin the new conditions.
Suchcomparativestudycan lookuponthe overseasAsiancommunities
as being essentiallyextensionsfrom the Asiatic mainlandor it can
regard them as essentiallynew creationswith rapidly attenuating
Asiaticlinks. Tloesepoints of view are complementary.The adoption
of one rather than another as an approachmust depend upon the
experienceof the investigatorand the particularcircumstancesof the
communityconcerned.
Comparativestudyof this kindis especiallyimportantat the present
juncturewhen there has hithertobeen no expresspoolingof views in
any formalway about the structureof these communitiesand when
since workon a numberof them is in activeprogress,comparisoncan
furnishactiveleads for furtherresearch.
The essayswhich form this symposiumare a part of the work of
Britishsocial anthropologists,that is, they are based upon intensive
analysis of social situationsstudied at first-hand,by observational
methods.
The overseasIndiancommunitiesin EastAfrica,Fiji and Mauritius,
fromeachof whichmaterialwasavailableforexamination,affordinterestingsimilaritiesand contrasts.But it was thoughtadvisableto bring
in comparativematerialalso fromIndia itselfnot so much to see how
far the overseassituationpresentedelementsfromthe Indian scene,as
to providea furthervarianton a commontheme. It was particularly
appropriatefor this purposeto enlist the help of someonewho had
{

29I

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RAYMOND FIRTH

workedin both India and EastAfrica.For convenience,it was decided

to focusupon the problemsoffactions.
'Faction'has now becomealmosta catchwordin the studyof village
societyin India. An interestingmonographrecentlyproducedfor the
ProgrammeEvaluationOrganizationof the Indian Planning Commission deals very largely with small groups termed factions, and
regardsthe studyof suchgroupsas leadingto the very heartof village
life.3 In anotherset of studiesof Indianruralcommunitiesfactionalism
is describedas the bane of Indianvillages.4For the studyof overseas
Indiancommunitiesthenit is likelyto be importantto knowthe extent
to which factions exist and are significantin the new systems,the
degreeto whichthey are comparableand restupon similarbases,and
the relevanceof Indianexperiencein interpretingthem and predicting
theirfuture.
Despitethe popularityof the term faction,its use at present,as Dr.
Pocockhasshown,is not clearlydefined.In generalacceptanceit refers
to groups or sectionsof a society in relationsof oppositionto one
another,interestedin promotingtheir own objectsratherthan those
of the society as a whole and often turbulentin their operations.If
more sociologicalprecisionbe given to the concept,elementssuch as
the followingseem significant:their basesof recruitmentare usually
structurallydiverse theymayrestuponkinties,patron-clientrelations,
religiousor politico-economicties or any combinationof these; they
are mobilizedand made effectivethroughan authoritystructureof
leaderand henchman,whoserolesare only broadlydefinedand whose
rewardsin many casesdependupon the leader'sdiscretion.Factions,
if seen as structuralunits, are usuallylooselyorderedby comparison
with hereditarygroupssuch as descentunits, or formalorganizations
of a club or other associationaltype. They may be characteristicof
only a part of the society.In such case, as Mr. Morrishas shownfor
East Africa,they may be regularstructuralunits of a sub-society,but
regardedas factionsby the societyat large.
How do factionswork?Theyoperateforthe mostpartin the political
field or with political effect in other fields, bringingto bear powers
and pressureupon the socialorder.Such pressuresare oftendeviously
exercised.They arenot partof the formaloScial machineryof Government, but they may be operationallyactive to a high degree,even to
the extentof engulfingthe formalmachineryof Government.Factions
tend to become activated on specific occasions,not as a regularly
recurringfeature.But they operatefor the mostpart in termsof total
allegiancesor committals,so that the issue is judged not on its own
meritsbut in relationto a totalstrategyof oppositionand alliance.In
all this there is a markedlack of the conceptof consensusas regards
the society as a whole and responsibilityfor the aims of a society.
Opiniqnmay diXerupon the degreeof emphasisto be attachedto any
292

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FACTIONS IN INDIAN SOCIETIES I

of thesefeatures,upon the degreeto whichthe pressuregroupactivities

of standardsocialunitssuch as kin groupsmay be treatedas factional,
and the degree to which certain criteria such as the possibilityof
changingmembershipfrom one factionto anotherare criticalin the
recognitionof factionsas such.
Studiesof East Africa,Mauritiusand Fiji have takenup these and
other points of sociologicalconcern.Comparisonhas shownhow important in factional growth have been the plantation economy of
Mauritiusand Fiji, and the lackof suchdevelopmentas far as Indians
have been concernedin EastAfrica.In their most elementaryexpression, as Dr. Mayer has shown in Fiji, factionsin overseasIndian
societiesmay be merelythe meanswherebydisputescan be organized
and be broughtto public attention.But they soon becomemore than
this, and, as Dr. Benedict'smaterialfrom Mauritiusshows,they can
have significanteconomicand political functions.Lookingahead to
the developmentof political life in the overseascommunitiesit is a
questionhow far it will be necessaryto examinefactionalorganization
in orderto explainthe behaviourof politicalparties.
The negativeaspectsof factions,theirturbulence,the unscrupulousnessof theirmethods,theirdisregardof communalresponsibility,their
expressionof disruptiveforcesin the community,have usuallyreceived
full attention.Whatmay be overlookedare elementsof a morepositive
character.
As far as individualsare concerned,factionsmay providethem with
a socialmechanismfor achievementof many of their ends,in a situation which lacks many types of social unit traditionallyfound in the
parentsocietyfromwhichthey or theirforbearscame. Moreover,as a
social instrumentfor mobilizingsupport,a factionis in variousways
moreflexiblethan a traditionalsocial unit of, say, descentgrouptype.
The flexibilityof factionalorganizationand the way in which small
issuesmaybecomesymbolicof largecleavagesmaybe deleteriousto the
societyas a whole. But one functionwhich factionsmay have is providing a focusfor the developmentand expressionof moral attitudes
about mattersof social concern.On issueswhere the implicationsof
one or other alternativesolutionare less importantthan the fact of
getting a decision,the prospectof mobilizingopinionabout such an
issue may be the nearestpossiblesubstitutefor the developmentof a
socialconsciencein a situationwhererecognitionof politicaland comis still at a low level. The dangerof thisfactional
munalresponsibilities
handlingof alternatesolutionsis, of course,the possibilitythat a stalematemayresultand no decisionat all-or an ineffectivecompromisebe reached.
In some conditionsfactionalmanipulationsmay serveas substitutes
for fully fledgedpoliticaland socialactivity.Wherefor any reasonfull
politicalrepresentationis denied, faciionalorganizationmay serve to
293

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294

RAYMOND FIRTH

let of steam,to providea kind of 'war-game'for the energiesof those

who might otherwiseengagein the moreresponsiblecontrolof public
affairs.The inferencefromthis wouldbe that as morenormalpolitical
institutionsdevelop,factionalorganizationswill be inclinedto wither.
On the otherhand,it is possiblethatfactionsthemselvesto someextent
may providea traininggroundfor politicalaction of a moreorthodox
kind. The qualitiesof efiicient administrationnecessaryto factional
development,if it is to be on any largescale,are to someextenttransferableinto the more orthodoxfield. Again, if developingforms of
governmentrequirethe organizationof politicalparties,factions or
some of them may providerallyingpointsfor allegianceand prototypesfororganization.The dangerhereis, of course,that the emotional
slogans and more turbulent methods of factional dispute may still
be regardedas appropriateto the conductof a politicalparty. The
prospectsof solidificationof factionalorganizationsinto moreorthodox
politicalpartiesor into institutionswith, say, positiveeconomicfunctions of a co-operativecreditkind is, of course,a very open question.
The total committaldemandedby some factionalorganizationsmilitates againstthe morereservedjudicial appraisalof alternativesdesirable in a developingpoliticalfield. In the colonialsocietiesin which
there are substantialoverseasIndian communities,endeavoursare
being made officiallyto create new political outlets geared to the
performancesof more democraticformsof government.How far the
factionswhichexist,particularlyin Fiji and Mauritius,will turnout to
have been experimentalmodesof politicalactionis a problemof great
interest.The criticalperiodwill be when controlof the majorpolitical
machinewill have beennearlyassumedby 'democratic'forces,and the
guiding and directing powers of the external authority will have
becomealmostineffective.
Factionsin overseasIndian communitiesprovideone of the critical
cases for the study of unstablegroups.For the social anthropologist
such study means leaving the well-troddenground of conventional
structuralanalysisfor a type of inquirywhich is from the outset an
phenomena.Muchfurtherresearchis necesexaminationof Cdynamic'
sary before any firm conclusionscan be obtained.But the intensive
studies already begun and their preliminarycomparisonshow how
importantsuch researchis likelyto be for futureunderstandingof the
Indian communitiesoverseas and of the societies in which they
participate.
NOTES
1 This material was presentedat a
conferenceon OverseasIndian Societies
Organizedby the Departmentof Anthropology, London School of Economics,

with
I957,
and held February I5-I7,
ProfessorRaymond Firth in the chair.
Arrangementsfor the conferencewere
made by Mr. H. S. Morris.Participants

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FACTIONS IN INDIAN SOCIETIES-II

were, apart from the presentcontributors, Dr. F. G. Bailey, Mr. M. Caine
Mr. C. M. E. Davson,Miss Ethel Drus
Dr. M. Freedman, ProfessorC. von
Furer-Haimendorf,Mr. N. E. Holt
Mr. E. J. Whittle. I am indebtedto the
BehavioralSciencesDivisionof the Ford
Foundation,for use of partof a grant-inaid to providethe expensesof the conference.
2 For many pointsin this introductory
statementI am indebtedto the authors
of the majorcontributionsand to other

membersof the conference,includingin

particularDr. F. G. Bailey for his final
commentary and comparison with
Indianconditions.
3 Oscar Lewis, Group Dynamics in a
;NorthIndian Fillage-a Study of Factions,

Delhi, I 954, pp. 48. This monograph

contains the appendix 'Guide to the
Studyof Factions'.
4 BernardS. Cohn in Fillage Community: Studies in a Little Community,ed. by
McKim Marriott,Chicago, I 955, p. 65.

II. THE BASES OF FACTION IN

GUJERAT
David Pocock
HE

WORD FACTION has a sufficientsurroundof associations in Englishfor us to know when it is appropriatewhen

discussingan alien societybut, on the otherhand, it has not a
sufficientlyprecisemeaningfor us to be able to apply it in analysis
withoutbecominga little moreconsciousof its implications.The need
for such a self-examination,
if one may so call it, is borne out by the
use of the wordfactionin two publicationswhereits socialreferentis of
the greatestimportance.I referto Redfield'sVillagethatCAhose
Progress
and Oscar Lewis'sGroupDynamics
in a J%orth
IndianVillage.lIn both
thesebooks,but particularlyin the latter,it seemsto me that the acting
groupswhich are describedas factionsare given a kind of substantial
realitywhichtheydonotpossess.Evenwhentheyaremoresociologically
viewed they are elevatedas groupsof the first order,comparableto,
shallwe say, lineagesor castes,whereasI thinkthey are demonstrably
secondarygroupsand even on that account all the more difficultto
discuss.
I shallbeginthis paper,then, with generalitiesbasedupon the common usageof the word.Whenwe use the wordfactionswe arespeaking
of partsof a wholein a specialsense.Obviouslyif thereare two factions
in a village and one secedesto found a new village, it ceasesto be a
faction. These parts are not conceivedof as being complementary,
i.e. they are not necessaryto the being of the whole; on the contrary
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