Disparate Markets: Language, Nation, and Education in North India

Type of Work

Article

Date

8-2005

Journal Title

American Ethnologist

Journal ISSN

0094-0496

Journal Volume

32

Journal Issue

3

First Page

460

Last Page

478

DOI

10.1525/ae.2005.32.3.460

Abstract

In this article, I explore the ideological underpinnings of the Indian government's language policies in the school setting, and I investigate why they fail to be compelling to residents of Banaras, a city in North India. The multiple language markets that exist in India are incommensurate and subvert the government's language policies in multiple ways. By exploring the uneven quality of these markets, this article illustrates the especially complicated dilemmas in which postcolonial nation‐states are implicated.

Hamilton Areas of Study

Anthropology

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