Friday, January 11, 2019

India v Pakistan v Bangladesh

India is an extremely genetically diverse nation, with considerable cultural, religious and linguistic diversity. So, what are the common features of India?  English, common law and parliamentary democracy: all legacies of British rule.

Pakistan is a nation with considerable cultural and linguistic diversity. So, what are the common features of Pakistan? Islam, English, common law (being nibbled away by Sharia) and (on a it-comes-and-goes basis) parliamentary democracy. The Middle Eastern Islam (pdf) of Pakistan is eating away at its other institutional commonalities.

Bangladesh ('the country of Bengal') is a country with very little cultural or linguistic diversity. For it, Islam, English, common law and parliamentary democracy are part of a dominant ethno-nationalist identity. It seems to be doing somewhat better than Pakistan, but not as well as India, suggesting that the ethno-nationalist identity is somewhat ameliorating the negative effects of Islam. 

2 comments:

  1. Lorenzo,
    Glad to see you posting again!! I've been toying with the hypothesis that kinship systems, rather than religion or language, are the main divide in South Asia. The jati/caste system (occupational endogamy and village exogamy) is dominant in India and the clan (FBD marriage + polygamy) in Pakistan. Muslims in India have largely merged into the jati socioeconomic kinship system. I don't know enough about Bangladesh, but I hear it's probably closer to the occupational division.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ravi. Thanks! And yes, kinship and marriage systems matter a great deal. (See forthcoming book.)

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