Anthropology Matters

Dr Monty Badami spent 3 years conducting Ethnographic research with a marginalised Indigenous community, called the Paniya, who live in the mountains of southern India, and who were slaves until very recently. His research explored how public policy, primary health practice, and interaction with mainstream institutions influenced the mental, physical and cultural well-being of the that community.

Being a classical ethnography, his work looked at how all the different and complex aspects of their lives came together to affect the tensions that arise as they struggle to assert a dynamic and distinctly Paniya identity in the face of public stereotypes about indigeneity. His work covers the areas of: Medical Anthropology, Development Studies, Human Rights, South Asian History and Culture, Indigenous Identity Politics, Religion and Ritual, Ethnomusicology, Human Agency and Global Governance.

It was a particularly challenging field site because there was so much politics and power wrapped up in how indigenous people were treated, that he very quickly learned how to build relationships with diverse groups in highly volatile situations. During his research, he lived with a “black magician”, infiltrated a right-wing Hindu extremist organisation, studied rituals of death, birth, coming of age and spirit possession. He has written on the complex issue of their high rates of suicide as well as how they use rituals, songs, stories, community, objects and the land to make sense of who they are in a world where religious groups, development organisations and political parties all try and tell them how to act and who to be.

It is here that he fully developed his social and ethical foundations and nurtured a deep appreciation for the innovation and resilience of humans all over the world. He uses his experience to bring a uniquely anthropological perspective to the work he does at Habitus.