Talk for students of Tata Institute of Social Science (School of Educational Studies) 'Gender, Professional Identity and Religiosity Amongst Women Teachers from the Anglo-Indian Community'

Abstract

This is  a qualitative study investigating the career narratives of female school teachers from Bangalore’s Anglo-Indian community. The culturally distinctive, English speaking and predominantly Christian Anglo-Indian community is a bi-racial minority that arose out of domestic relationships between European men and Indian women in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although they were initially favoured for jobs in the railways and government services, employment opportunities for Anglo-Indian men declined through the 20th century due to the changing policies of the colonial government. By the middle of the 20th century, the economic conditions of the community became more precarious, due to their cultural and social marginalization within the newly independent nation and this forced Anglo-Indian women to seek  employment, mainly in teaching, nursing and stenography.

After independence, the community mobilized its knowledge of English and other forms of cultural capital inherited through its association with Europe to form the All India Anglo Indian Educational Trust and set up schools in cities such as Bangalore and Calcutta, where Anglo-Indian teachers could find employment. In addition to missionary schools, these Anglo-Indian schools were preferred by upwardly mobile Indian middle class families of all religious denominations who sought an English language, westernized education for their children. As a result, more employment opportunities came about for Anglo-Indian women, albeit in a limited number of schools. This study explores the memories of female Anglo-Indian teachers using life-story interviewing techniques, to conclude that Anglo-Indian women have shown agency in strategically drawing on their cultural and social capital but their agency is exercised on behalf of their families rather than for individual interests. The findings from their narrative accounts suggest that Anglo-Indian women’s professional lives are shaped and limited by a complex relationship between economic exigencies, community loyalties and, in many cases, a deep sense of religiosity.

Initial funding for this project came from the Swedish Arts Research Council via Srishti Institute Bangalore.

Members of the Anglo-Indian Studies Forum whose work has inspired me: Robyn Andrews, Dolores Chew, Harry Maclure, Brent Otto, Uther Charlton-Stevens.