title: The Effects of Inequality and Relative Marginality on the Well-being of Low Caste People in Central Uttaranchal.
abstract: Perceived marginality can have a great impact on people's well-being. Using ethnographic material from three different low-caste villages in the Central Himalayas of North India, and based on a survey of Garhwali women conducted in 2002-03, this paper illustrates that marginality and well-being are never absolute but always relative. Discussing anthropological aspects of the bodily experience of oppression, and Public Health studies of the effects of social inequalities on health, it will be argued that the relative marginality of low-caste people within their villages affects their well-being much more than the absolute caste status on the district or state level.
authors.forename: Karin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Polit