Masterji’s Resistance in Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower: An Embodiment of the Struggle of the Marginalized Class

Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower, published in 2011, is a trenchant critique on the effects of globalization, urbanization, privatization and capitalism in the post-colonial era in India. All these changes in the contemporary society have effectively bifurcated the entire country into two groups—the rich and the poor, the centre and the margin, the privileged upper class and the underprivileged lower class. In the novel Dharmen Shah, a real estate mogul represents the first group of people who are socio-politically and economically highly influential, whereas Yogesh A. Murthy, aka Masterji, is the embodiment of the marginalized class that are constantly dominated and exploited by the former group. My present paper aims to analyse in detail how far Masterji is able to resist the scabrous sufferings unleashed by the rich realtor Dharmen Shah, and how far Masterji’s resistance becomes an incarnation of the resilience of marginalized people in the contemporary society

Analisis Potensi Tangkap Sumberdaya Rajungan (Blue Swimming Crab) di Perairan Demak

Pengelolaan perikanan merupakan hal yang berperan penting dalam kelestarian sumberdaya perikanan. Potensi tangkap didefinisikan sebagai besaran nilai yang dapat diupayakan dalam pemanfaatan sumberdaya perikanan tangkap. Sumberdaya Rajungan sebagai salah satu komoditas penting perikanan tangkap banyak dieksploitasi berlebih, salah satunya di Perairan Demak. Desa Betahwalang Kabupaten Demak, Jawa Tengah menjadi salah satu pusat pendaratan perikanan Rajungan dari berbagai wilayah, termasuk dari perairan Jepara, Semarang dan Kendal. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengestimasi biomassa, kepadatan stok, MSY dan rekomendasi kebijakan pengelolaan perikanan Rajungan di Perairan Demak. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif. Pengambilan sampel menggunakan metode swept area. Hasil penelitian diketahui Rajungan ditangkap menggunakan alat tangkap arad. Berdasarkan hasil Perumusan diperoleh estimasi biomassa sumberdaya Rajungan di perairan Demak dengan luasan 189,46 km2 adalah sebesar 9,64 ton. Kepadatan stok Rajungan pada lokasi sampling adalah 0,0418 ton/km2. Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) sumberdaya Rajungan sebesar 8,47 kg per tahun. Hasil tersebut menunjukan potensi sumberdaya Rajungan yang semakin kritis karena nilai Produksi pertahun melebihi nilai MSY. Untuk itulah perlu adanya pengelolaan yang berkelanjutan berupa pembatasan penggunaan alat tangkap, pembatasan ukuran rajungan yang ditangkap, kontrol terhadap musim penangkapan, kontrol terhadap daerah penangkapan, pengaturan terhadap penggunaan alat tangkap, perbaikan sumberdaya Rajungan, penentuan jenis dan kondisi Rajungan tertangkap dan penyadaran terhadap masyarakat tentang pentingnya menjaga kelestarian Rajungan. Fisheries management is an important role in maintaining of fisheries resources sustainability. Potential stock is defined as a value of stock that could be explored by fishing operation. Blue swimming crab resources have been exploiting excessively, Betahwalang can be an example of the matter. Betahwalang waters located in Demak , Central Java. The village became one of the center of the crab fishery landings of various regions include Betahwalang, Jepara, Semarang and Kendal waters. The purpose of this study is to estimate the biomass, stock density, MSY and recommendation crab fishery management policy in Demak waters. The method which used in this research descriptive method. To obtain sample, we used the swept area method. Results of a study using a small crab catches gear Arad. Based on the results obtained biomass estimates formulation crab resources in the waters area of 189.46 km2 was 9,64 tons. Then, the crab stocks are 0.0418 ton/km 2 in the sampling location density. The Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) of crab resource is 8.47 per year. These results show the potential of the crab resource is increasingly critical. That is why the need for sustainable management in the form of restrictions on the use of fishing gear, restrictions on the size of the crab is caught, the control of the fishing season, control of fishing areas, regulation of the use of fishing gear, crab resource improvement, determination of the type and condition of crab caught and awareness of the public about the importance of preserving the crab

Incorporating perceptions and experiences of violence into livelihood decision-making

This paper analyses the influence of perceived violence on livelihood decisionmaking of indigenous households in post conflict Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh following a formal peace treaty in 1997. The study results suggest that households perceiving high risk of violence spend less on consumption expenditure and are sending children to school more, cultivating more land and engaged more in producing mixed subsistence and cash crops. Using both quantitative and qualitative data this study finds decreasing emphasis on present consumption, long term investment in human capital, using land more intensively to earn more cash and move towards creating surplus instead of producing for subsistence, which suggests perceived violence is producing decisions which are similar to those advocated in a classical ‘modernization process’. Findings of this paper are similar to the argument of ‘post traumatic growth theory’ and indicates a post-conflict ‘phoenix’ factor may be in operation at the household level in which some income raising livelihood decisions are made as a consequence of fear of renewed violence. In the short run, the ‘phoenix’ factor appears to operate through both increased land use and cash crop cultivation and in the long run through increased human capital

Household Decision-making under Threat of Violence: A Micro Level Study in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

We analyze rural household livelihood and children’s educational investment decisions in a post-conflict setting located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The study represents a contribution to the microeconomic analysis of conflict. Another innovation of the paper lies in the fact that we employ information about subjective perceptions of violent experiences, which is in turn used to explain household economic decision making. Heightened subjective perceptions of violence lower consumption expenditure, but it can raise land use intensity, and more risky mixed crop cultivation. In some case experiences of displacement and other violence raises the likelihood of households sending children to school. This indicates that a specific postconflict ‘phoenix’ factor may be in operation, even without substantial infrastructure reconstruction. Also, the trauma emanating from actual past experiences combined with current high perceptions of risk of violence after an imperfect accord ending a lowintensity conflict may make people bolder and more risk taking in order to enhance their long-term future. We, therefore, also make a contribution to the literature on a non-linear relationship between violence and the temporal patterning of livelihood decision-making.

Child school enrollment decisions, perceptions and experiences of conflict in the chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh

AbstractWe analyze rural household children’s school enrollment decisions in a post-conflict setting in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The innovation of the paper lies in the fact that we employ information about current subjective perceptions regarding the possibility of violence in the future and past actual experiences of violence to explain household economic decision-making. Preferences are endogenous in line with behavioral economics. Regression results show that heightened subjective perceptions of future violence and past actual experiences of conflict can increase child enrollment.</jats:p