This research project will investigate the systems of social exchange in a rural Tamil village in southern India. The PI will analyze the exchange system from the inhabitant's viewpoint and discover how exchange works within the local social context. Specifically, she will see how exchange is perceived and used by individuals to either maintain or change social relationships, their own social identities, and the institutions of the local community. This project, by using new theoretical tools from pragmatic theory and ethnosociology, will enlarge our understanding of ranked relationships in Hindu society. It will also contribute to the current debate on systems of exchange in relation to issues of power and rank.
