Grappling with Modernity

Abstract

This article explores the culture of servitude of Kolkata’s (formerly Calcutta) respectable classes against the backdrop of their project of modernity. In societies with long and unbroken histories of domestic servitude such as India, the institution is central to understanding self and society. The relations of paid domestic work are intimately tied to the self-conscious evolution of a modern Indian elite. We highlight three premises with origins in pre-independence Kolkata which continue to shape its culture of servitude today: first, servants are essential to a well-run and well-kept household; second, servants are ‘part of the family’ and bound to it by ties of affection, loyalty, and dependence; and third, servants comprise a category with distinctive lifestyles, desires and habits. Yet at the close of the 20th century, this culture of servitude is no longer hegemonic. The first premise sits uncomfortably with contemporary notions of privacy and ideologies of the nuclear family, especially in the more confined space of the apartment. The second is complicated by the entrance of capitalist and corporate discourses about employers and employees. The third is challenged daily in a political culture where democratizing discourses circulate in both state and civil society.

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