Youth and the Structural Denial of the Right to Human Dignity: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Epistemological Approach

Abstract

There are discriminatory, structured, opaque human rights violations that keep the socioeconomically vulnerable subservient, a social problem that goes against the core Christian principle: humans are created in the image of God and all share equal dignity. Studies show that sociocultural, political, and economic elements are available in society, which form into clusters, namely social representations, helping people to categorize others and interact with her/him. They carry with them the historical consciousness, providing the people with social-living tools such as social identity and the like. The qualitative empirical research conducted among the Catholic youth of Tamil Nadu, India, showed that the enslaving semantic elements contained in the social knowledge facilitate the youth to affiliate with a group and to disaffiliate from another. Caste-ridden endogamic semantic elements are part of this knowledge. This affects individual as well as social cognition. Therefore, besides conceptual understanding, epistemological approaches are necessary to eliminate the enslaving elements contained in social knowledge. This is possible through the Ego–Alter dialogue. Ego stands for an individual, group, institution, movement, or anything similar. Alter can stand for social knowledge, which is available in society.

1. Introduction

Continued atrocities against the so-called lower caste people of India take place in various forms. Ilangovan Rajasekaran, in his recent book, Saathiyin Peyaraal (In the Name of Caste), documented seven inter-caste marriages that ended up in “honor killings” that took place in Tamil Nadu. Casteism is hierarchical and treats the people of lower strata as inferior and subhuman. Killing a boy from the lower caste for loving a girl from the upper caste is considered the rightful act of retaining the “honour” of the family as well as the caste group. This oversteps the social ethic that murder is inadmissible. A boy from a lower caste, in this way, is denied dignity and the right to life. And the girl from the upper caste is denied the freedom to choose her life partner and the embedded dignity. In Indian society, when brought to the public attention, under the existing law, the perpetrators of such crimes are punished, and, in a way, the rights of the victims are reinstated. But Ilangovan Rajasekaran sees this sense of “honour” as deeply rooted in the society, which is invisible but is passed on to the next generation through patriarchal norms and male chauvinism (Rajasekaran 2023).

In sociopsychological terms, it can be named a social psyche, which the members of a community share in common, having group-binding inhibitive elements. The social psyche, unlike the individual psyche, is shared by everyone in that particular community and is part of their social cognition. They are like religious beliefs that demand blind adherence and obedience. It is structured in the society; thereby, lower caste people feel that they are destined to be treated as subhuman, and the upper caste people treat them discriminately. This is applicable to women as well, adversely affecting their freedom and equality. The denial of dignity, equality, and opportunity envisioned by the Indian constitution is reflected in the sociopolitical life of people. Structurally sanctioned subhuman treatment and denial of dignity are not always visible, as is the case with “honour killings.” That is only the tip of the iceberg. Since it is structured, its perpetuation happens very naturally. Thereby, denial of dignity takes place. Caste stratification and its nexus with marriage, dowry, and caste obsession are natural, such that the denial of dignity happens spontaneously. Their spontaneity is normalized, such that condemning and eliminating them is not a felt need in the public sphere. Structural denial of the right to dignity denies equal opportunities for all. This is found among the Christians in general and also among the Catholics.

Louis Nivedita’s Christhavathil Jathi (Caste in Christianity) research-based study shows it (Louis 2023). The much-appreciated Bama’s biographical work of Karukku (Sharp Edge) speaks about the caste discrimination that she had to undergo within a Catholic religious institution (Bama 2014). There are other writings (Dorairaj 2011) that bring to light the casteism that is prevalent within the Catholic Church. These are not open and publicly reported caste discrimination or the violation of human dignity. A known Tamil Nadu politician and Ambedkarite—the one who follows the ideology of Ambedkar, known as the father of the Indian Constitution—Mr. Thirumavalavan said, “the roots of caste have nourished Christianity (in India)” and it failed to spread the “roots of Christian values” (Kumar 2024).

Casteism is perpetrated through patriarchy and thereby denies equal dignity to women. Further, it is taken forward through dowry—the caste-patriarchy-woman-dowry nexus (Venkatanarayanan 2020) and gethu1 (superiority complex). That is, caste is consolidated and kept alive through patriarchal norms that keep women subservient to men. Through dowry—via paying money to the bridegroom to marry the bride—women are objectified. Keeping the women subservient and feeling proud of safeguarding the ‘caste honour,’ a feeling of superiority (gethu) is also present. Casteism has consolidated itself structurally through various other forms of slavery and human rights denials. Caste, as a system of hierarchical stratification of society, has paved the way for other types of stratification: male chauvinism, women’s subservience kept alive through the marriage-dowry nexus, and rich–poor class division. They are structured and are part of social cognition. The author of this paper, having worked as a Catholic Youth minister for several years, was disturbed by this phenomenon and became inquisitive about looking deeper into this structural denial of the right to human dignity found among the Catholic College Students of Tamil Nadu. The author limited himself to the Catholic Youth, who conducted their studies in a multireligious, multi-caste student environment. Therefore, it is studied as a social phenomenon and is not restricted to caste groups or particular religious groups. Caste and its ramifications are socially present and inflict pain and deny the right to dignity to the socially subjugated.

This phenomenon of structural denial of human rights, as citizens of India, every Christian should treat as a democratic problem affecting the healthy public life, not only theirs but also the people of every religion (Patrick 2020, p. xii). For, every Christian is called to treat “joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age” as their own (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 1). It is part of the prophetic role that God’s Kingdon preached by Jesus contains (Moltmann 1999, p. 5). In this respect, this paper brings to the public the Christian vision of the other with an interdisciplinary theoretical and epistemological approach aimed at treating the differently other dignified, thereby contributing to public theology.

Since this study has a Catholic perspective, the Catholic theoretical foundations of human dignity are included. In order to explore these issues, the following questions were formulated:

• What is the impact of Catholic culture on youth that upholds the image of God visible among humans?
• What is the status and amount of structural denial of the right to human dignity and cognition that is operative among the youth?
• What are the ways to enhance authentic living and contribute positively to the formation of humane social structures?

In order to answer the above questions, the qualitative empirical method was chosen. The data was collected using semi-guided narrative interviews. Since the interviewees were Catholic, the theological foundation is dealt with in a bit of detail, touching on the basics. In view of interpreting the collected data, the theory of Social Representations, which is part of social psychology, is also dealt with in this paper. Then the thematic presentation of themes is presented, followed by their interpretation and conclusion, having public theological prospects.

2. Structural Sin and Human Dignity—Catholic Foundations

Since this paper studies the phenomenon of structural denial of the right to dignity found among the Catholic Youth of Tamil Nadu, India, it is fitting to lay Catholic theoretical foundations. The selected 16 interviewees are Catholics and are studying in Catholic institutions. The data collected from them form the primary source for this research paper as well. Therefore, the Catholic theoretical foundations that follow will set frameworks in two ways. Firstly, it will facilitate data interpretation and bring out the elements that contribute to the structural denial. Secondly, it will help us establish prospects that will gradually eliminate unhealthy structures and introduce healthy ones.

Human rights denials, and thereby denial of human dignity, are direct attacks on the neighbour and go against the commandment, “love your neighbour.” It is a sinful act that needs sanctification. In this act, there are three dimensions: individual attacks, group attacks, and nuanced structural attacks that often go unnoticed. This moral principle is theologically founded. Simply put, the Catholic understanding is that humans are created in the image of God and possess inviolable human rights. It is the rationale that is followed in this part on Catholic Foundations.

If the denial of the right to human dignity is a sinful act, then it is fitting to know about sin. Catechism of the Catholic Church defines: “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbour caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods” (Catholic Church 1994, n. 1849). Accordingly, the function of reason is to know the realities of the world in accordance with the ultimate order of things (John Paul II 1998, n. 20). If the human reason’s searches and findings go against this order, that is called as Divine law, then it becomes a sinful act: an act of perversity. When it works accordingly, it finds the truth that enhances individuals as well as the whole universe. Again, the Church says: “It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity” (Catholic Church 1994, n. 1849). The effects are twofold: personal and social. Therefore, every sin is, from one point of view, personal and, from another point of view, social, with social repercussions. In social wounding, there are individual attacks, group attacks, and structural attacks. The theological understanding goes as follows.

In theologising on the cause of sin, Pope John Paul II states that every sin is a personal act. In this vein, he writes that an individual cannot attribute the causes of sin to external factors and evade her/his responsibility. For this would deny the freedom she/he enjoys that is attached to human dignity and the fact that he/she is created in the image of God. However, Pope also asserts that every sin is also social because of the solidarity that every person enjoys with the whole of humanity. In explaining further, the nature of sin, he connects it to the self-understanding of the Church that she is both a saint and a sinner needing constant purification (Vatican Council II 1964, n. 8). Pope juxtaposes communion in saintliness with communion of sin. If the first is one of human ascent, the latter is one of descent. In this trajectory, the Pope explicates the notion of social sin and says that every sin, even if it is committed very secretly, has social implications because of human solidarity. Secondly, some sins are direct attacks on the neighbor. However, the third meaning touches on the structural aspect of sin, which is why this paper is busy: “[t]he third meaning of social sin refers to the relationships between the various human communities. These relationships are not always in accordance with the plan of God, who intends that there be justice in the world and freedom and peace between individuals, groups and peoples” (John Paul II 1984, n. 16). The social sin can make humans “accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to divine goodness. ‘Structures of sin’ are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to perform evil deeds in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a ‘social sin’” (Catholic Church 1994, n. 1869). Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis, says that certain ideologies can kill human solidarity and enforce imperialism subjected to “structures of sin.” They, consequently, can grow, become stronger and can produce other sins having the capacity to influence people’s behavior (John Paul II 1987, n. 36). As vindicated by the modern human sciences, which the Church encourages (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 36), structural sin is capable of becoming part of the social psyche affecting social cognition of individuals and society. Thereby, human persons become victims of structuralized sin and, as it happens in the case of patriarchally linked caste discrimination and denial of equal rights to women, they perpetuate it. In this vein, an institution, a structure, or a society itself, which comprises persons, can promote social sin and systematically deny equal dignity to the other. Explaining further, though Pope repeatedly reiterated the personal aspects embedded in it, firmly holds that these sins leave a lasting impact on the society, creating enslaving, unjust, unequal, undignified, sinful structural layers, going against the very “will of the Triune God, his plan for the humanity, his justice, and mercy” (John Paul II 1987, n. 36).

The above-said moral principle is founded on the theological anthropological understanding that humans are created in the image of God. Creation is an act of the Trinitarian God who lives in perfect love and communion as persons. There is pure giving—gratia—of one another, and the Trinitarian God’s existence is perfect relational existence. His very substance is love, structured to love and share. John the Apostle defines: “God is love” (1 Jn 4, 8). Being created by God who lives in perfect communion, humans received their image and inviolable dignity from God. Pope Benedict states that faith in the Trinitarian God is “the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny” (Benedict XVI 2005, n. 1). Michael Purcell talks about the transition from the Trinitarian doctrine of God to Christian anthropology. He makes use of the concept of perichoresis.2 The relationship that exists among the three persons of the Trinity is interpenetrative but never annihilates the other. God, who is resplendent with love, “created the world out of his overflowing love” (Catholic Church 2016, n. 5). Inner love that God enjoys is not “being-locked-in-self-identity” but rather whose identity is revealed and understood by humans as “being-for-the-other” (Veling 2005, p. 51). “Being-for-the-other” is expressed in creation. Thereby it becomes a “‘community project’ of the Trinitarian God” (Catholic Church 2011, n. 44). Among the creation, humans created in His image (Gen 1: 27), with dignity, are endowed with the gift of intellect and freedom to acknowledge God and love Him in return. God, who created humans in His image, continued to protect them. The incarnation of the second person of the Trinity is theologically understood as an act of restoration of the dignity lost through sin.

Purcell, while explaining the third person of the Trinity, taking in the philosophy of Levinas, who insisted on infinite responsibility for the other, speaks of the Holy Spirit as the excessive responsibility between the Father and the Son. That is, I am responsible for the other before anyone else. Purcell writes: “the I is the one who … is elected to bear all the responsibility for the World. Messianism is the apogee in Being—a reversal of being ‘persevering in his being’—which begins in me” (Purcell 2006, p. 162; Levinas 1998, p. 60).3 God reached out to humans with ineffable love and mercy that would overcome human and societal dysfunctionalities and restore her/his dignity. He sent his Son, and he, through his words and actions, lived God’s love tangibly. “He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart.” And “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 22). “Supreme calling” meant her/his union with God as being created in the Trinitarian image.

Based on these Trinitarian and Christological foundations, the Church categorically asserts that “man … is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself.” Thereby, humans are above all things and “his rights and duties are universal and inviolable” (Vatican Council II 1965, nn. 24, 26). Speaking about equal opportunities for all says: “Therefore, there must be made available to all men everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the upright norm of one’s own conscience, to protection of privacy and rightful freedom even in matters religious” (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 26).

In this vein, although the Council speaks much about culture and its ties to the message of salvation (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 58), with a sense of caution, admonishes the faithful that culture should serve humanity and have to be subordinate to human perfection (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 59). Instead of protecting and liberating humans, if the culture enslave them, it has to be purified. The Church should promote the removal of what is sinful and strive to elevate the morality of people (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 58). There is a need to break the “structures of sin.” Everyone is called to combat this evil and contribute constructively to eliminate it. The Church understands structures of sins as being contributed by personal sins. Therefore, the Church comes out with the warning. It is a case of the very personal sins of those who cause or support evil or who exploit it; of those who are in a position to avoid, eliminate or at least limit certain social evils but who fail out of laziness, fear or the conspiracy of silence, through secret complicity or indifference; of those who take refuge in the supposed impossibility of changing the world and also of those who sidestep the effort and sacrifice required, producing specious reasons of higher order. The real responsibility, then, lies with individuals (John Paul II 1984, n. 16). Casteism and the structural affliction inflicted on certain groups of people and the endogamic practices attached to it that deny equal dignity to women have to be amended. The Christian call to act proactively is addressed not only to the visible members of the Church but also to “all men and women of goodwill” (Francis 2015, n. 3; John XXIII 1963, n. 1). The call is clear: instead of condemning and retreating from the society that bears the brunt of structural sin, act proactively. Bringing in the aspect of personal responsibility, Pope John Paul II states that, if a person supports this sort of evil or exploits it, or a person who is in a position to rid of it or abolish it or lessen it and, fails by being lazy or he/she is complicit about it, or is unwilling to make sacrifices to uphold the justice, is committing a sin (John Paul II 1984, n. 16). Therefore, the responsibility is binding.

There is another important face of the Church, which is touched by the suffering of the other. There is a sentient consciousness about the other, promoted by continental philosophers, which is often reflected in the writings of Pope Francis. In his recent encyclical, the Pope speaks of Jesus’ proximity to the suffering. When he heals someone, he prefers to stay close to them, touch them, (Mt 8: 3; Mt 8: 15; Mt 9: 29). He says: “The Lord knows the fine science of the caress. In his compassion, God does not love us with words; he comes forth to meet us and, by his closeness, he shows us the depth of his tender love.” (Francis 2024, n. 36). To be moved by the presence of the other, a sentient experience, the Pope calls everyone to fill hearts with faces. He writes: “[w]e achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our hearts are filled with faces and names!” (Francis 2013, n. 274; Francis 2020, n. 195).

We have seen that the denial of human dignity is a sin that wounds the person and society. The structural sin that affects society makes the members of society silent accomplices; consequently, the denial of rights to dignity also takes place. This goes against the very plan of God, who created humans in His image. Being created in God’s image, humans possess inviolable dignity. We also saw that Christians are called to purify the cultures that perpetuate the sinful structures. Therefore, the Catholic theological foundations provide the basis for data interpretation and guidelines to form prospectives.

In the following section, we will examine the conceptual tool, the dialogically based Theory of Social Representations, which is useful for data interpretation.

3. Dialogically Based Theory of Social Representations: Theoretical Tool for Research

Since this paper deals with the structural denial of human dignity, it is apt to look into the aspects that contribute to this sin. The best way is to analyse the social interactions that the youth make. For this, the conceptual tool, the Theory of Social Representations, proposed by Serge Moscovici and further developed by Markova, emphasizing the aspect of dialogicality, is employed. Individuals cannot exist without communication: human existence is communicative. Therefore, ontologically, human existence is dialogical. Dialogue cannot be solipsistic. It involves the other. Therefore, the objects or knowledge used for social interaction involve the other and are shared by more than one. In this sense, epistemologically, social knowledge available to the public is co-constructed and is not an individual construct. In this section, the ontological and epistemological aspects will first be dealt with. Secondly, various aspects of dialogical epistemology will be dealt with to draw instruments and predictors for the interpretation of the data. The instrument drawn is that social representations contain core meaning and peripheral aspects, and the corresponding predictor is how their content and meaning are structured in society. The last paragraph will provide the dyadic dialogical aspect, a tool for social intervention that would eliminate structural sins.

Social life is possible only through day-to-day social interactions. For social interactions, people need social knowledge that is readily available in society. Social knowledge comprises verbal and symbolic elements, namely social representations, which enable an individual to interact with others and with society at large. They are not static but transform with additions, deletions, and modifications. Transformation is indicative of its dynamicity, which explicates the cognitive elements it contains. Social representations, having verbal and symbolic elements, can carry with them enslaving elements. They are often invisible and accepted as the normality of life. Because of their invisibility, they can promote structural denials of human rights. Therefore, this section is important to understand and interpret the verbal interactions that youth make. The elements contained in verbal communication help us to understand the structural enslaving aspects present in them. Since social representations are dynamic, well-designed interventions can alter the verbal and symbolic elements contained in them. For this, we need to understand the nature of operational dynamicity in social interactions. The Theory of Social Representations, proposed by Serge Moscovici and further developed by Markova, emphasizes the aspect of dialogicality and can help us. Dialogicality is explained with the triadic model: Ego—self, Alter—other, and the Object; therefore, the Ego–Alter–Object triad.

In every communication, Ego and Alter are already there. Communication constantly takes place in this Ego–Alter in social life. Human life, in this sense, ontologically, is communicative (Markova 2003, p. 83). But, in communication, there is always an Object. In scientific inquiry, the individual and the object are involved. But in social life, there is a triad, Ego–Alter–Object (see Figure 1). This model escapes dualistic thinking and insists upon relationship and interaction (Markova 2023, p. 195). This model helps us to understand the interaction process taking place among humans systematically (Moscovici 2001, p. 109). Viewing it from the perspective of this paper, the objects that youth use to communicate could contain enslaving sociocultural elements.

The dialogical approach, in the ontological sense, can situate the person in a sociocultural context and help us to understand their nature. It touches, first of all, the ontological aspect. For Wagner and Hayes, dialogue is the way of communication with the environment, and this leaves “the individual level—the processing of social information in the heads of people as an exclusive level of investigation—and … place[s] social processes, as a right, … precondition for individual psychic existence” (Wagner and Hayes 2005, p. 219). These are called collective conditions, and they remain inevitable in the study of the individual structures of social representations. Therefore, it is also, speaking from an individual point of view, existentialistic or ontological, since it touches the very existence of an individual. Secondly, while speaking about the epistemological approach that is necessary in order to understand social knowledge, Markova writes: “Dialogical epistemology … is at present the only viable alternative to traditional individualistic and static epistemology, which, as many have argued, it totally inappropriate to social scientific investigation” (Markova 2000, pp. 420–21).

This dialogical epistemology is multifaceted. Firstly, there is the Ego–Alter dialogical situation. They could be I–specific group, I–another person, I–nation, and group–community, etc. In a single Ego–Alter dialogue, several relations can happen. Those who take part in the dialogue will bring with them their present, traditions, and future projects. Depending on their life-driven needs, priorities can change. There would be continuities and discontinuities, self-oriented dialogues, and Alter-directed dialogues. In this regard, there can be asymmetric knowledge between the Ego and Alter. That is, the ego has knowledge about a particular object, but the Alter may not know anything about it. Consequently, there can be coexistence of different types of thinking at the same time, which is named polyphasia. For example, Moscovici argues that, in every society, there is scientific knowledge and common-sense knowledge. Technically, they can be called a consensual and reified universe. This knowledge prompts a cognitive process called polyphasia. An example would be the representations around madness. There is irrational thinking that sees madness as the possession of ghosts, and rational thinking that gives medical reasons. Both of them can coexist in one person, who may undergo treatment and also will approach a sorcerer to rid the possessed ghosts. Contradictory thinking can take place in Ego–Alter dialogue (Wagner et al. 1999a; Moscovici 2001, p. 238). This can lead to heteroglossia as well. It refers to different types of voices. They can appear when Alter speaks under the influence of an external Alter who is not directly involved in the dialogue. For example, a politician can be influenced by the Alter-president of a political party, or a particular ideologue. Alter’s voice can thus become the voices of more than one, sometimes contradicting as well (Markova 2003, pp. 156–61). There is also another phenomenon called “thinking through the mouth” (Markova 2003, p. 89). There is a cognition that is taking place while conversing. This can be seen in any public debate, where during the exchange of ideas a new sort of can creep in, driving the same person to make new statements, which he did not intend previously.

Another epistemological aspect of social representations, proposed by Moscovici, to bring out historical and cultural aspects of Ego–Alter dialogues, is themata or thematization. Themata, Markova employs as the plural form of thema. It refers to dyadic oppositions such as freedom/opposition, hard/soft, light/dark, and good/bad. It refers to dyadic oppositions such as freedom/opposition, hard/soft, light/dark, and good/bad. It is something different from theme, which refers to the subject matter of a text (Markova 2023, p. 166). Moscovici and Vignaux argue that themata are “systems of oppositions (i.e., terms which are contrasted in order to be related) relative to the body, to being, to action in society and the world more generally; every language bears witness to this” (Moscovici 2001, p. 179). He likened it to concept images, primary conceptions, or primitive conceptions (Moscovici 2001, p. 177). Moscovici, while elaborating further, says that all the discourses and exchanges of symbols and words through language come from many other discourses that took place in the historical–cultural context. Thus, in order to reach the meaning and content of any social representation, this approach to reality or the Ego–Alter–Object triad becomes important. Because these contents and meanings are structured and are found in everyday language, the usage of binaries such as justice/injustice and freedom/oppression carries with it historically and culturally structured meanings and contents. Now, when someone shares this thema, she/he does not conceive its full meaning. It can vary from person to person as well. How are they structured? Markova writes: “social representations are organized into a structured body of information, beliefs, attitudes and opinions, which consist of the central core and peripheral elements” (Markova 2003, p. 179). The central core is that which unifies and consists of the core meaning. It is resistant to change and is the stabilising organ. For example, in the case of social representations around POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences), the categories would be minor/major, touch/non-touch, trauma/rehabilitation, good touch/bad touch, male/female, and exploited/exploiter. The peripheral elements protect the central core. It can be said to be the manifestation of social representation and can be found in discourse. In POCSO, much awareness is created through new media and metamedia. They are part of the discourse among the parents of children and teachers, especially girl children. For the interpretation of data, the instrument drawn is social representations that contain core meaning and peripheral aspects, and the corresponding predictor is how their content and meaning are structured in society.

The concept of themata touches another important dimension in social representation theory, which affects the reflective-authentic selfhood, i.e., a self that is not carried away by the things around it. Most importantly, this affects the Ego–Alter relationship or the self and the other relationship. Markova argues that, for the survival and enhancement of humankind, there is another type of dialogicality, namely, dyadic Ego–Alter. This is a projective and aimed at advancement that Markova names, the basic themata. One example of this would be social recognition and its denial. This forms the basic thema, because it is the basic drive of the Ego to treat her/him with dignity by the Alter. In this sort of dialogue, there is no external object; Ego and Alter are themselves the object. These social representations focus on self-identity, personal responsibility, morality, and rights. These are judgmental and are the communication about the self and others. Although these are affected by many external ‘objects’ in the world regarding recognition or denial, the active part is that it happens then and there (Markova 2003, p. 188). In the projective phase, the dyadic dialogical aspect provides a tool for intervention that would eliminate the structural sins.

The dialogically based Theory of Social Representations, as we have seen, describes that social knowledge people use daily contains sociocultural elements, which can possess enslaving elements as well. People cannot live without using them, because philosophically, it is ontological. Epistemologically, they are not solipsistic constructs but dialogical co-constructs. Their basic nature has provided the instrument and the predictor. The instrument is that social representations contain core meaning and peripheral aspects, and the corresponding predictor is that their content and meaning are structured in society. The last paragraph will provide the dyadic dialogical aspect, a tool for social intervention that would eliminate structural sins.

4. Research Method

Within the empirical method, there are two: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research arrives at findings through statistical procedures or any other means of quantification. Qualitative research analyses a person’s life stories, behaviour, functioning of an organization, social movements, or some interactional relationship. It is also suggested to a researcher who adheres to a philosophical orientation, that of phenomenology. This research explores the phenomenon of interpersonal relationships that are facilitated by social representations about the other. It is an exploration into the Ego–Alter–Object triadic dialogue, which is dynamic. This brings out the fresh slants on social objects, which are part of interpersonal relationships (Strauss and Corbin 1990, pp. 17–19). Within qualitative research, there are different types, and one among them is narrative analysis (Riessman 1993, pp. 1–6).

Speaking about the nature of narrative, Riessman says that personal narrative is impulsive and natural to all across the globe (Riessman 2007, p. 2). Graham Swift sees storytelling as the ontological nature of humans. He writes, “man—let me offer you a definition—is the animal” (Swift 1983, p. 53). Broadly speaking, narrative is a way of storytelling. In an attempt to give it a precise meaning, Riessman says: “a speaker connects events into a sequence that is consequential for later action and for the meanings that the speaker wants listeners to take away from the story” (Riessman 2007, p. 3). For what she/he feels is important, the speaker picks up those events, connects them in an organised manner, and expresses them meaningfully to the listener. The capacity of the narrated story occupies the primacy rather than the narrator or the storyteller. In the US circles, the narrative was an indicator of the personal trait of the individual. This is, however, not true in the complex context. In the complex context of South India, Riessman says: “where a singular feeling self is not necessarily the primary axis of signification” (Riessman 2007, p. 2), the narrative is often polyphasic and is expressed in heteroglossia. The first single expression can be contradicted by the second expression, which in turn can be contradicted by the third. Narrative, from the researcher’s point of view, is a process of dealing with the research materials and the way the storyteller interacts with the researcher (Riessman 1993, p. 1). The story itself becomes the object of the study.

Concerning this work, it focuses on individual narrative stories. That is, it is restricted to the first-person accounts of the narrator. Therefore, the personal narratives become the data for the research. Language cannot be understood as a mere transparent medium that conducts ideas; it carries socially constructed realities and creatively authored content. Relying on Riessman’s approach, this research work takes an “interpretive thrust” in dealing with the data, and she names it the “systematic interpretation of their interpretations.” It can bring out the symbolic interaction that takes place among humans. It explores the interpretations of the narratives in terms of subjectivity and intersubjectivity. The Inner Ego–Alter–Object that happens within the person is brought out through this interpretation. Although personal narration is often distrusted, reliable studies have come out (Ellis and Flaherty 1992, p. 178; Hollway 1989, pp. 41, 45). “It is precisely because of their subjectivity—their rootedness in time, place, and personal experience, and their perspective-ridden character—that we value them” (The Personal Narratives Group 1989, pp. 263–64). The narrator may speak of things as if they were natural, but for the researcher, it would be beneficial to obtain the cultural and historical contingencies. Many question the truth contained in what the participant says. Narrative analysis approaches truth differently. Assumptions tell us that language represents reality. Some say the narrative clause takes us to the original event in some sense. Influenced by phenomenology, some say that narrative constitutes reality.

Narratives themselves are interpretations that in turn need interpretation. The researcher interprets it carefully, taking into account the contexts that shaped these social representations. It takes the researcher into the narrator’s world and describes her/his place in the world she/he occupies. It would be better, as the Personal Narratives Group suggests, if the context is more familiar to the researcher. Having these elements in mind, the researcher has situated his research in Tamil Nadu, especially in the district of Kanniyakumari, where he hails from.

5. Context and Sampling

The District of Kanniyakumari4 is the southern district of Tamil Nadu, sharing borders with the state of Kerala. Historically, it was part of the State of Travancore, extending its territories to Cochin, Kerala, a Princely State, independent state even under British rule.5

Beyond the historical and topographical details, what interests us is its sociopolitical-religious history and its repercussions on the current society. The caste system was part of the society. The major division is Caste Hindus (Savarna) and non-caste Hindus (Avarna). The Caste Hindus included Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Ambalavasis, Nairs, and Vellalas, and the non-caste Hindus Ezhavas, Nadars, Kammalas, Fisherman, Pulayas, Parayas, Pallas, Nayadis, and the Hill Tribes. In the caste-hierarchy, Brahmins occupied the top and were the high officials in the government. Then came the second, Kshatriyas, the kings of whom were from them. Then the Ambalavasis, the Hindu priests. The lower in the caste ranking were the Nairs and Vellalas. Nairs had the titles Pillai, Thampi, and Menon. They enjoyed military and other positions in the state, and Nairs were the land owners, Jenmis. They had the marumakkalthayam, a matrilineal system of inheritance. Polygamy was common among them.

Ezhavas from the non-caste, or who were outside of the caste hierarchy, enjoyed no privileges that the caste-Hindus enjoyed, and depended on coconut trees and the Nadars‘ palmyrah for their earnings. Next to the Nadars were the other groups who even positioned themselves below the non-caste ladder in a descending order. They were imposed with restrictions such as ‘unapproachability,’ ‘untouchability,’ and ‘unseeability.’ According to the caste hierarchy, they had to distance themselves from the high caste people. There were killings and tortures for violating restrictions. Nadars had to keep a distance of 36 feet from a Brahmin and 12 feet from a Nair. Both men and women from these communities were prohibited from wearing clothes above their waists and below their knees. Entry into the temple was prohibited, a large amount of taxes was imposed, and there were other inhumane practices as well (Peter and Peter 2009, pp. 1–11).

Liberation of the people from the lower strata of society did not come easily. It was a constant struggle. ‘Upper cloth revolt’ (Thol seelai porattam), which started in 1822, continued till 1859 and gave every woman the right to wear upper cloth. (Vijayarethna Kumar 2022, pp. 118–27). Christian missionaries’ interventions and conscientisation programmes, education to women, and the new religious movement by Aiya Vaikundar (Kadavil 2023) had contributed to the revolt and freedom.

Besides the above-mentioned revolts and changes, a constant class struggle was in process. The struggle was between the caste-Hindus (Savarna) and the non-caste people (Avarna). Due to the influence of Christian missionaries and social activists, ‘modernisation’ took place, liberating the oppressed. There were social changes happening: education, social awareness, self-social dignity, medical aid, and transportation. On the other side, there were Nambudris and ‘foreign’ Brahmins who had access to government resources. There was a nexus between Brahmins and Nayars, with their movements to protect themselves. The constant struggle uplifted the downtrodden to a great extent. Kanniyakumari district has benefited much from it, unlike many other parts of India (Vijayarethna Kumar 2022, pp. 206–16).

Political parties that were gaining popularity in several other parts, such as the Congress party and Communist party, began to grow here as well. Communist parties set up trade unions. The Congress party played a pivotal role in reuniting the Kanniyakumari district to the state of Tamil Nadu on November 1, 1956 (Vijayarethna Kumar 2022, pp. 283–90).

Every society has its historical roots, and there is always a return of the unconscious as well. That is true of the people of Kanniyakumari as well. In our study of social representations about the structural sins among the youth, we come across the socioeconomic categorial objects in their relationships. They are the objects with which their identification as a member of society happens. These are macrosocial elements as well, that is, the elements beyond the individuals, historical realities, and their dynamics. An attempt is made to identify them. Wagner et al. write: “it enables the researchers to examine the relatively stable cultural, and the dynamic social, political and economic characteristics of the groups” (Wagner et al. 1999b, p. 100). It can be named as the public sphere where social life and social identity take place. Language, understood to include the symbolic elements, Heidegger defines, “is the house of the being” (Heidegger 1977, p. 193). It is where the communication with society takes place.

The social sphere is where the youth come in contact with other people. Firstly, they interact with other groups in the college on a regular basis. Classmates, small groups within the college, other class groups, and others are involved. Secondly, besides college, there are other social institutions such as family, relatives, social celebrations, churches, and clubs. Thirdly, there is a political sphere and the other ordinary citizens in the society. Fourthly, there are also new and mass media. All of these can be named as social actors. These agents do not exclusively belong to a particular group, but there is a crossover. For example, a politician may belong to other religious groups and be part of a club.

The youth of Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India, were the participants for the interview. Kanniyakumari is the southernmost district of Tamil Nadu. Since the study is about the phenomenon of structural denial of human dignity found among the youth, 16 Catholic college students belonging to the age group of 18–25 were selected and interviewed. Eight out of 16 were girls, and the rest were boys. Of girls and boys, four were graduate students, the age group of 18 to 21, and four were postgraduate students, the age group of 21–25. Of graduate and postgraduate students from both girls and boys, two were from the urban area and the other two from the rural setting. Again, among these two, one is from the upper class and the other is from the lower class. As far as the ethical code followed in the selection of interviewees is concerned, the youth selected for interviews were from two colleges, for which the author obtained permission from the then-college principals. No written consent was obtained from the students, but they were orally assured of their privacy. It is clear from the paper that, in the transcription text as well as in the present article, only the codes are used to hide their real names and identities. The following Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the division of interviewees.

6. Procedure for Data Collection

Riessman gives three principles for narrative analysis: telling, transcribing, and analysis (Riessman 1993, pp. 54–64). As far as the current work is concerned, telling involves the provision of an interviewee a facilitating atmosphere and a feel-good context to express the important moments in their life that are related to the encounter with the other. The semi-guided interview was held, giving them some open-ended questions to narrate about their family background, their relationship with relatives and friends, and interpersonal relationships that occur in the public sphere, such as the Church, colleges, and other inter- and intra-social groups. The participant was allowed to construct their stories around the events that happened to the other. The interview was conducted in the form of discourse. The questions were stimulating, encouraging the interviewee to construct and coordinate the events, such that the personal experiences with the other are narrated. The interview was recorded using an audio device. It lasted for approximately ninety minutes.

The second stage was transcription. The audio clips were played, and the contents were typed in the original language, Tamil. At first, transcription was performed roughly. Then, the narrative segments and their representations were identified. From the long-transcribed text, the narrative segments pertaining to the social representations of our concern were separated. It was found useful to re-transcribe them in numbered lines. It was thematically presented to pull out the various representations that are available among the youth about their relationship.

The instrument measures core meaning and peripheral aspects, as well as the corresponding predictor, indicating that the content and meanings of social representations are structured. Wilhelm von Humboldt compared language to ripples in water (Markova 2003, pp. 177–81; Humboldt 1972, p. 133). The ripples spread into circles starting from the centre. As ripples move further away from the centre, they become less clear and almost invisible. This is the case with the meaning of the word. For example, the words ‘Christian,’ ‘Hindu’, or ‘rich,’ and social representation of the other, can idiosyncratically be shared differently by different youths. They all elicit from the core meaning, but having its circles, often, because of the interpolation of various other meanings happening through dialogue, it can take different meanings. The best example would be the representation of the Muslim other. This can have a ripple meaning of ‘jihad.’ This ripple need not be shared by many. There is also sharing and non-sharing. Again, a particular group need not share the contents and meanings of one representation uniformly. There would be sharing as well as non-sharing. Many studies have used this instrument to explore the structure of content and meanings (Lotman 1977; Abric 2001; Guimelli 1998; Moliner and Abric 2015). They can include beliefs, attitudes, and opinions.

The above-mentioned instrument: core meaning and peripheral aspects, has guided the analysis of the collected data.

7. Thematic Presentation of Research Results

Using the instrument, social representations contain core meaning and peripheral aspects, and the corresponding predictor, their content and meaning, are structured in the society, and the collected data are analyzed. The method followed here is from Riessman’s tabulated transcription method (Riessman 1993, p. 59; West 1984, pp. 42–44; Labov 1972; Labov 1982, pp. 219–47). As far as this work is concerned, the original Tamil text is available on request. The text given in the tabulation is the English translation of the original Tamil transcription. The column provides more clarity to the theme. The numbering ends after each theme and starts anew with the next. Participants’ codes are mentioned before the text in the tabulation. The page numbers in the paragraph stand for the page numbers from the Tamil Transcription available from the author. The numbering of the lines is used for paraphrasing and interpretation. The data available to the author does not have numbering, but only page numbers. The interviews were conducted in January and February 2016, and therefore, the longitudinal study after fifteen to twenty years will reveal if there has been any change. The data has 518 pages of typed content. Portions about the topic under discussion in the paper are taken for thematic presentation and discussion.

Six themes are enumerated here. The first theme, Youth and Spiritual Practice, is presented to analyze the impact of faith in their personal lives and how faith practice carries on with the structural sins. The second theme is the Impact of Caste on Interpersonal Relationships. Open caste clashes are not visible in the data, but the language they use has caste colouring. The next theme is the Girl-Marriage Nexus and Troubled Friendship with the Opposite Sex. It will shed light on the objectification of women in society, a structural sin perpetuated through cultural practices. What follows next is the continuation of the effect of the previous theme: the Practice of Dowry: Endangered Intergender Relationships. The demand for dowry thrives in indirect forms, thereby making women a mere commodity. The next theme, Vainglory (gethu: Superior Inferior Dichotomy and Interpersonal Relationship, exposes the male chauvinism, sometimes having its effects on women as well. The last theme in the list, Inner Alter–Ego Dialogue and Authentic Self, has a prospective dimension, elimination of structural sins. Let us see them one by one.

7.1. Youth and Spiritual Practice

Christians are called to be the salt of the earth, living the Kingdom values in their daily lives. In this present study, the role played by the Christian faith in influencing interpersonal relationships needs a closer look. A look into the frequenting of youth in liturgical celebrations, involvement in Church activities, and membership in the youth groups helps us understand their Christian praxis. The Youth and Spiritual Practice (

Table 1. Youth and Spiritual Practice.

LUGG Amma (mother) prays. She would call us. We will not go. To the Church, I go.

URGG 4. Prayer, we do it individually. 5. We try to pray together. We cannot… Sometimes, it happens (p. 86).

LRGB 6. I do not sit for prayer. 7. Amma will sit and recite (Pannittu Iruppinum). 8. Not interested in prayer. 9. I help others. 10. Reciting prayers, siting and doing, those things, ‘no’ (p. 293).

LUPB 11. Those who come for Church, choir. 12. Some come only to sing. 13. That cannot be said as pious. 14. Some who are innocent, even though do not come. 15. When they come the pray… 16. Too much prayer like that is (not worth) (p. 390). 17. Father in the Church says, (some are) not coming to Church, not doing this. 18. But for feast, some give more money … they are bigger. 19. Those who come daily, they are kept away (p. 389).

UUPB 20. Appa (Father) comes to Church. But does not enter inside. 21. But in heart he has a lot of (faith). 22. He was an altar boy. 23. He is very pious. 24. Amma is CSI (Church of South India—a Non-Catholic Community in India). 25. After marriage confessed Catholic faith. 26. She does not have much idea (about Catholic faith). 27. But about CSI very much. 28. Appa will say: to be blessed, do such and such things (p. 402). 29. (In WhatsApp group) there is a (religious) brother in the Church, he will post bible sentences. 30. Sh… (giggles), we will not speak about that. 31. But when a boy is going wrong, we will speak about him (p. 404).

UUPG 32. Fathers’ (priest) homily, when he gives it with a lot of stories, I like. 33. I love going to Bible conventions. 34. Taking the particular verse and reading it first I like much (p. 139).

LUGB 35. Prayer, I make it private. 36. Now Amma cannot sit down… now we pray in private (p. 219). 37. One boy wanted to know more about God. 38. I told him after prayer I will teach you something. 39. Then some stories from Bible, I taught him. 40. He knew something earlier (p. 225).

URGB 41. We don’t pray. 42. Eight to eight thirty, in Matha TV, Rosary will be going on (p. 332).

LRPB 43. At home there is daily prayer. Otherwise, no food. 44. I don’t go to the Church much (pp. 462–63).

UUGG 45. Boys (Annans—elder brothers) … they do not come to Church. 46. (They) don’t come for the movement also. 47. Nearly 30 come… like that they are. 48. For Church feast, (we) gather them. 49. For the movement they come (pp. 41–42).

URPG 50. I feel I am missing it. 51. For the last one year I don’t even to go to the Church. I feel like (out of place) (p. 204).

UUGB 52. Church means… Now second year I stopped (p. 266).

) presentation will help us to know the social representations of faith in God and spiritual life, as well as their meanings and contents structured at the various levels of the public sphere where the youth live. Care is also taken to extract the family’s role in faith formation.

Amma can be said to be the propagator and guardian of Christian faith, spirituality, and religiosity at home. Compulsion is there from Amma to sit for prayer (LRPB 43–44). She prays, even if others are absent (LUGB 36; LRGB 7; LUGG 1). UUPB narrates about his Appa’s affiliation to the Church, and his strong faith (UUPB 20–21). However, he cannot be said to practice the Christian faith explicitly, for he joins the community but does not actively participate in the liturgical celebration (UUPB 20). UUGB, LRPB, and URPG accept the fact that they no longer frequent the Church (UUGB 52; LRPB 44; URPG 51). Lower-class urban boy speaks about the mission that he takes up among the non-believers (LUGB 37–39). Upper-class Urban girl narrates about her interest in Bible conventions and reading the Bible in public (UUPG 33–34). These shed light on the situation of the Catholic faith practiced by the youth. Further, there is also the indication that traditional family prayer is being replaced by mass media prayers, especially the rosary, in prime time (URGB 42). LUPB talks about the discrepancy in faith and practice and also criticizes the preferences the parish priest gives to the rich. The parish priest insists on Sunday mass and participation in the daily activities of the Church, but when someone who is rich comes, the narration varies (LUPB 11–19).

The research shows that not everyone in the family takes part in the spiritual activities in the family and in the parish. There is the possibility that some family members, especially the gents who are free to engage fully in social activities, will be carried away by other forms of faith and non-faith expressions and ideologies in society. This adversely affects the relationship with the other and the social representations of the other. Amma, being the guardian of faith, spirituality, and religiosity at home, brings out the core meaning of gender inequality. Men are free to move around at night, and women are confined to their homes, practicing their faith.

7.2. Impact of Caste in Interpersonal Relationships

Although there are no village systems in Kanniyakumari—except in the coastal area—that provide a spatial divide for caste groups to survive, the peripheral meanings of the caste system exist, affecting interpersonal relationships. The extract from the interview, given below (

Table 2. Impact of Caste in Interpersonal Relationships.

LUGG From sea shore eight to ten. Hindu College Nadars come more. No discrimination. Two seashore girls together, then two Hindu students sit. We comment about everything together. In the front bench all are Hindus. They roam together. We don’t look at anyone differently (p. 9).

LUPG 8. Those who are from Nadar community will come with firecracker flowers (Kanahmapoo).6 9. Dress color, yellow orange. 10. We will mock at them. 11. In the college I have not seen much (caste difference). 12. In the school, students say, we are OBC, you are MBC. We are high, you are low always. 13. In college, when arguments come, we say, we are from seashore, we are high (pp. 110–11).

LRPG 14. Teachers are mostly Hindu Nair, that caste. 15. They talk among themselves. Otherwise, no problem (p. 172).

LRGB 16. My Appa … Nadar that head-weight (pride, thalakkanam). 17. He tells to all ‘I am a Nadar.’ 18. He does not want to go bow-headed. 19. I live in that area, so that thinking (Puthi—social cognition). 20. I am also the same. But Nadar, that head weight I don’t have (pp. 287–88).

UUPB 21. My friend looks at caste difference. 22. He followed a girl, but he said that that girl is from seashore (mukkuva ponnu). 23. I told him, if you like propose and marry. 24. But if I marry her, someone pointing at me and tell, pointing at me, ‘he married a seashore girl (mukkuva ponnu). 25. But I didn’t like, what he said (p. 425).

), exemplifies this phenomenon.

The references ‘seashore,’ ‘Nadars,’ ‘Hindu,’ and ‘Nair’ all refer to the structured caste content. ‘We sit together,’ and ‘they roam together’ are peripheral aspects that are part of the social psyche, which are not apparent as the term ‘Nadar’ connotes (LUGG 2, 6; LUPG 8, 9; LRPG 14; UUPB 23, 25). Taking pride in themselves as being higher than others also prevails (LUPG 12; LRGB 16, 19; UUPB 23, 25). Mentioning the name of the caste and attaching specific characteristics to them happens normally (LUPG 8, 9). LRGB speaks of caste as part of social cognition (LRGB 16, 19). Lower and higher, rather than being a well-constructed reality, fluctuate. LUPG speaks as if they are higher in the social order (LUPG 12), and UUPB points out the mentality of his friend that getting married to a seashore girl is inferior and would attract public humiliation (UUPB 22). UUPB wishes to overcome the caste-based endogamic marriage and invites its friends to overcome the caste divide (UUPB 23).

7.3. Girl-Marriage Nexus and Troubled Friendship with the Opposite Sex

Intergender relationship outside marriage is not looked at positively in society. This friendship has more adverse effects on girls than boys. Girls’ marriage prospects are affected thereby. Parents are also preoccupied with the ‘protection of girls’ from all sorts of ‘unsocial’ behavior that can attract social negative ‘branding,’ casting a shadow on their and their parents’ moral credibility.

Table 3. Girl-Marriage Nexus and Troubled Friendship with the Opposite Sex.

LUGG Earlier in the village I used to speak with boys. Now, no. Amma will say something, if I speak to someone. ‘Why do you speak to boys?’ people will ask. You have come to age. Amma scolds. Affects marriage prospects. In the village people will say badly. They will tell differently. Who is this boy? Who is this boy? Why she is speaking with, like that they will. (p. 10). Elder sisters always say—Be Good, (ozhunka eru) (pp. 26–27).

LRPG 9. (Church youth group). I don’t go. There will be boys. 10. Earlier, we girls and boys were together. 11. Then, boys will be conversing with the girls. 12. When elders see it, they see it differently, they will take note of it. 13. (They will say to Appa) ‘Your daughter was there.’ So, my Appa will not allow. 14. But now it functions separately (boys and girls as separate groups). 15. Youth movement means, it is so (boys and girls talking unwanted things) Appa has fixed it, he made his mind accordingly (pp. 175–76). 16. Suppose we four to five friends are going together, we crack jokes and laugh. 17. Then the news will reach home (someone would report it to Appa). 18. Then Appa will scold me: ‘on the street, what is there to laugh at?’ (roadla enna siriuppu vendi kidakku). 19. At home also, if we make more noise, female children (pompala pillanka), so, what sound there (p. 178).

LUPG 20. When you see all these, villagers will say, parents are not proper (Ozhunka illa). 21. ‘If they were all right, would these children go like this’? (They would comment) 22. We speak with the boys very normally, but villagers will say: ‘see, she is talking with that boy.’ 23. Their view is different (pp. 116–17). 24. ‘See that girl, is it the way girl should be brought up.’ 25. ‘See how ‘it’ (Ithu) shows teeth (pallu kattiddu nikku) to that stranger.’ 26. In our home, they will tell us. Don’t talk too much. 27. Then our grandma will ask us to wear shawl properly. Even to children she will say so. 28. (She would say) ‘In public don’t stand for a long time and talk too much. 29. ‘Don’t laugh in open place’ (pp. 117–18).

UUPG 30. Amma admonishes to be patient. 31. You should get along patiently. 32. Whoever whatever tells you should adjust. 33. Today also I told to my friend… be patient. The patient will rule the world (poruthaar bhoomi aalwar). 34. ‘If they throw bag away (classmates), take it back and sit quietly. We can’t do anything.’ 35. Why should we engage in quarrel? 36. It will be childish (p. 133). 37. I have a lot of desires. I love roaming with Appa and Amma. 38. But I am taken only once. 39. When there is dance, I love to make noise, clap. 40. On college day, Amma told to be disciplined (ozhunka erukkanum). 41. Amma told, don’t clap too much, don’t shout, be disciplined (adakkam odukkama erukkanum) (p. 139).

gives us the details of this phenomenon.

Nodding in agreement to the question, ‘marriage will be affected,’ ‘villagers will see differently,’ and villagers’ questions like ‘who is this boy?’ ‘Amma will say something’ (LUGG 6–8) are peripheral aspects of the main content of marriage that surround the young girls, narrated as ‘you have come to age’ (LUGG 4). The reference ‘be-good’ is a warning against falling in love (LUGG 8). ‘What is there to laugh at,’ ‘while you are walking on the street,’ and ‘girls should not make noise’ refer to the reality that they are meant for marriage (LRPG 18–19). Church youth groups are also affected by social representations around boy–girl relationships (LRPG 14). Although generally, girls are given respect in public places, when some ‘unsocial’ behaviour is seen from them, they are downgraded to an object ‘it’: in the Tamil language, Ithu (it) (LUGP 25). Tolerance is expected from girls normally, and Amma admonishes her continually to practice the associated virtue: patience (UUPG 33). ‘Girl is meant for marriage’—this social representation is normally present in society. Ascribing marital value alone to women can be seen as the perpetuation of patriarchy and the denial of other rights to them.

7.4. The Practice of Dowry: Endangered Intergender Relationships

Dowry is present in society as a social norm. It is almost a ‘right’ for a boy to receive the maximum number of gifts, jewels, and money from the bride’s family, and it is the ‘duty’ of the bride’s family to give them. This is often associated with patriarchy and caste endogamy. The dowry system, in a way, provides socioeconomic protection to couples.

Table 4. The Practice of Dowry: Endangered Intergender Relationship.

UUGG (Conversations around marriage at home). Yes, there are (prompt reply). (Save jewels and money like that). Yah, certainly. Not directly about dowry. But I don’t like these… not this, like otherwise, they speak. Like, they have given this much. Good place (nalla idam). I don’t like this; Amma does not like. Look at heart and marry. (You are afraid, whether it would happen). Will it happen … If it is not so, is it marriage, like that, I think. I don’t’ like at all. I have never heard that, no marriage knowing the heart. At home I speak… like, they have married her to a good place. This much they gave. Then I will say, that is not a good place. Like that I have spoken (pp. 56–57).

URGG 11. Elder brother five years older to me. 12. Parents wished that I should be married first, then brother. 13. Brother’s lover is getting older. So, her parents want their daughter to be married now. 14. At home nobody likes this. 15. Because if he marries after getting me married, then he can see to my things. 16. Whatever he earns also will belong to me. 17. Now he cannot take care of me. 18. My Appa has to arrange everything for my marriage. … 19. Money, they give. 20. Fear is, Appa thinks he should do everything for me. 21. He arranged everything for my elder sister. 22. Appa thought my brother would look after my things (pp. 88–89).

LUPG 23. Nobody looks for girls with job. 24. ‘Are they rich,’ their worry is that. 25. If we give more money in Kanniyakumari 150 pawns. 26. They come asking for. No education (not valued) (p. 115).

LRPG 27. They (uncle and aunt) say to Appa and Amma, hereafter need not send them for education. 28. Get them married, need not educate them much, female children na (pompala pillanka) (p. 179). 29. Recently an (marriage) alliance came. 30. In dowry (matter), it was dropped. 31. They asked 5 lakhs. 32. From family 2.5 lakhs only. 33. Then I have thought, I would have born in a rich family. 34. (Appa said) If I get one girl married, I will be at peace (Nimmathi). 35. Without much dowry, in good place I should get married, like that I have prayed. 36. Because, at home, poor, their struggle they tell. 37. Earlier Appa used to say, I love girls. They will only look after me. 38. Appa has started to think, ‘if I were able to get married one of my girls (daughters)’ … Like that he has started to think (pp. 181–82). 39. Without dowry, if it sets, how happy it would be! 40. There are boys who do not expect dowry. 41. No information about them. 42. Boys, character we do not know. 43. Some boys will be already married. Here they come, and get married. Then the life will be spoiled. 44. Like that there are fears. 45. If I get married without dowry, but when I go to some function, there people will come with a lot of jewels. 46. They will look down upon us (oru mathiri pappanka) (p. 182).

UUPB 47. There will be talk about dowry. When someone is getting married. 48. ‘Hei! he gets this much.’ 49. ‘Will we get this much?’ 50. In truth, I have no interest in it. 51. To the boys I say, without 10 crores… (pp. 406–407). 52. At home there is no talk about that. 53. To younger sister, they have decided to give this much. 54. Appa did not receive any money during marriage. 55. Grandma will say, when you marry don’t receive anything (as dowry) (p. 407).

given below exemplifies it.

The practice of dowry and the talk around it always accompany a girl. It is also a topic for discussion at the boy’s home. Structured content and meaning of the social representations about the other related to dowry is found as ‘saving money for a girl child,’ and ‘marrying them to a good place’ (UUGG 5). The daily conversations around marriage function as peripheral aspects (UUPB 55) as well. The following peripherals—the girl’s brother’s task to have her married (LRPG 22), Appa’s struggle to have her daughter married (LRPG 38), society’s insistence that girl is meant for marriage and not for education (LRPG 28), the girls’ conviction that without jewel no dignity (LRPG 46)—all indicate to the fact of structured content and meaning of dowry system in the society. Even in families where dowry is not ‘promoted,’ in the literal sense, the ripple effect continues (UUPB 53). In a way, a ‘good place’ also indicates the solid social and economic security that a family and society provide. There is also the promotion of marriage without dowry by family members (UUPB 54–55). When boys wish to marry without receiving a dowry, the girl’s family is suspicious about it and is afraid to give their daughter in marriage. Because there is the problem of ‘bad boy,’ i.e., ‘already married,’ and other similar ‘cheatings’ (LRPG 43), it is also true that female children are loved by their parents, but the dowry system positions them as burdensome objects (LRPG 37). The right to dignity is alive in the perpetuation of the dowry system.

7.5. Vainglory (gethu): Superior Inferior Dichotomy and Interpersonal Relationship

Vainglory or gethu is popular among college students. It carries negative meanings rather than positive ones. It is prevalent among boys and also found among girls at a minimal level. It has its roots in caste domination and patriarchal supremacy, which normally exist, maintaining segregation, discrimination, and, more importantly, first-class and second-class treatment of the other. The following

Table 5. Vainglory (gethu): Superior Inferior Dichotomy and Interpersonal Relationship.

LRPG When I was doing BA, 55 students were Malaylees (from the state of Kerala, having the mother tongue Malayalam). They join together; we are only five to six. They will maintain a distance. Malayalam girls, I do not know, may be because they are studying in Malayalee college, they have a gethu feeling. I did my school education in Tamil Medium. Now I am studying English literature. In the college, students who studied in English medium and Matriculation will come. We learn paragraph wise; they will look down upon us, implicitly conveying the message, ‘you people are from Tamil medium’ (p. 171).

URPG 7. Yes, they treat me differently. 8. She is moving on. She is a girl with gethu. 9. Even if people are not saying, I have feeling that, they are commenting me. 10. I feel completely odd (p. 217).

UUGB 11. Money certainly. 12. Now, boys think, you have to buy iPhone. 13. iPhone gethu. 14. Like that, iPhone, Sony brand. 15. Boys with bike, scene (bandha), meaning ‘showy.’ 16. Their family, a bit rich, whatever they ask they get. 17. They can be like that, (p. 274).

LRGB 18. Caste is not a problem. 19. Nadar, that gethu, that I have (p. 288).

UUPB 20. ‘Something we are,’ that feeling we have. 21. We are, we are gethu group. 22. Not in studies, in other matters. 23. Standing outside (outside the class room, punishment). 24. Opposing the staff (giggles). In these matters. 25. Coming late to the college. 26. They will scold… whole class will laugh at us. That we will feel (positive). 27. Then we will stand, standing (raising head and chest). 28. You are coming late daily. When he says so, I feel happy. 29. HOD will say in the other classes, in that class he is not ok. 30. Insult … but I feel gethu (pp. 413–14).

LRGG 31. That boy does not come every day. 32. When he comes, he does something… 33. He does not study well. Knows nothing. But shows as if he knows everything. 34. He comes in a white color bike. 35. Enters class, shows style, over smart. 36. Students call his scene scene scence (padam—showy). 37. Among girls there are some (pp. 82–83).

gives the details.

Gethu is a common representation among college students, and it is used to express their superiority over other students. It is a social phenomenon that affects relationships. Richness, linguistic superiority (LRPG 4–5), caste (LRGB 19), having costly branded gadgets (UUGB 13–14), and bikes (UUGB 15) all contribute to their gethu feeling. But there is also another side. The financially well off feel that they are being sidelined, branding them as having gethu (URPG 9–10). Then, some boys also take a ‘rebel attitude’ as gethu. Punishment given to them, and the negative comments made about them, are taken positively as if contributing to their popularity, and they can create a fear complex among the students and staff (UUPB 23–30). URPG sees that richness is seen as the cause of her discrimination. She feels that she is discriminated against because she is rich (URPG 7–10). It is a social phenomenon of supremacy that creates troubled relationships among youth. In the Indian context, the cause for the phenomenon can be attributed to the prevailing caste system.

7.6. Inner Alter–Ego Dialogue and Authentic Self

Markova, besides the triadic dialogue, speaks about the dyadic dialogue that is taking place in every person. The agents involved are the inner Alter and Ego. By inner Alter, she means the social representations that are present in one’s mind, with which the Ego engages in dialogue. It is a self-conversation. The following narrative segments from the interviews bring forth the dialogue that goes on within youth. Some can withstand the social pressure and act authentically, some yield to social pressure, and some are left with indecision. The examples are given below (

Table 6. Inner Alter–Ego Dialogue and Authentic Self.

UUGG I like to look at everything positively. God has given the capacity to think. So, I take everything positively. It does not mean that I do not think anything negatively at all. I like treating everything positively (p. 39).

LRGG 6. I think a lot. 7. I think about the things that take place in the class room. 8. Those things I don’t share with anybody. 9. I think about my future. How I will be in the future, like that (p. 81).

UUPG 10. Even if it is about a girl whom I like… 11. But if somebody comes and tells me, badly about her and her character, then I will not like talking to her much, thereafter. 12. I am hesitant to keep in touch with her. 13. If … I speak to her, then others will think and treat me as bad (p. 149).

LRGB 14. (Seeing a man bathed in blood lying on road, the reaction). In that situation, there will be many things going on in mind. 15. If I touch him and help, then there will be problems. 16. When the police call me, I have to go. I have to go to the court and give witness. 17. But I will help him, and take him to hospital (p. 325).

UUGB 18. (About migrant workers from north India). Now actually, Bengalis or Assamese are working here. 19. What some think is, they are not given much salary here as well. But the salary they receive here is big for them. 20. Some treat them good. They have come here to earn for their living. 21. But some others think, they have come from outside, they can be pick-pocketers, or anti-socials. 22. Some think that, their family struggles (pp. 226–27).

).

The above narrative segments from the interview text bring to light three types of thinking going on in youth. They are centered around the inner Alter–Ego dyadic thinking that takes place individually among youth. One group of youth is able to withstand the unbecoming social pressure. UUGG narrates that there is always a tendency to think negatively, but she strives to take everything positively (UUGG 4–5). She believes that God has given her the capacity to think for herself and act rightfully (UUGG 2). LRGB withstands the usual social representations about an accident and the possible threats surrounding it. He is under social pressure not to act proactively. But he overcomes through his self-dialogue and decides to act compassionately (LRGB 14–17). UUPG represents the inability to withstand social pressure. She likes a girl, treats her as a friend, and relates to her normally. But when a negative narration about her friend is fed to her by another person, she is not able to overcome social pressure and succumbs to it. She starts to treat her friend differently (UUPG 10–13). Thirdly, there are youth who are rather polyphasic in their thinking and indecisive. The excerpt from UUGB’s narration provides different pictures of migrant workers in Tamil Nadu (UUGB 18–22). LRGG’s narrations show the normal phenomenon among youth, who think a lot about the things happening around them and about their future (LRGG 6–9).

Six themes have been presented above. They are not exclusive. There is the possibility of extracting many other social representations from the 518 pages of the data available to the author. But pertinent social representations around caste discrimination and gender inequality are brought out.

8. Discussion

How can we interpret the themes presented above? The themes above are from the stories narrated by youth. Narratives are the points of view of the youth. There are disparities in ordering the event and narration. There are problems of lying and omission as well. Therefore, it can be argued that individual narratives do not reflect the true reality, or they do not portray the reality out there. However, the point of argument in favor of individual narration is that they cannot come from absolute nothingness or out of the air. The narratives reflect what is out there in people’s daily lives. More than that, the language they use carries the elements of daily life or social life. Wittgenstein writes: “[g]iving grounds, however, justifying the evidence, comes to an end; but the end is not certain propositions striking us immediately as true, i.e., it is not a kind of seeing on our part; it is our acting, which lies at the bottom of the language-game” (Wittgenstein 1969, p. 29). Riessman likes to call this something ‘more’ (Riessman 1993, p. 64). White sees the ‘forms of life’ as ‘historically constructed and negotiated in communities of persons’ and attributes ‘canonical dimensions’ to them (White 1991, p. 28).

These ‘forms of life’ identified among the youth do not rely on quantitative aspects, i.e., how many agree and how many disagree. Therefore, there is no attempt in this study to look into the agreement ratio. These social representations found among the youth facilitate their interpersonal representations, bringing into light the socioeconomic factors that are hidden and are part of historical consciousness.

We take the interpretative key for understanding research results from theology. Church, while explaining communion, which has its foundation in the Trinitarian union, speaks about double dimensions: “the vertical (communion with God) and the horizontal (communion among men/women) (Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith 1992). Catholic college students, through their daily prayers, Church activities, and other forms of Church-related activities, establish a vertical relationship with God. This is expected to result in horizontal relationships with others. The analysis of the results tries to center itself within the ambit provided by the social representations theory, within social psychology. It looks into social knowledge and how it becomes normative and habituated, and further, into the modifications in encounters depending on the changing situations. The 16 samples selected give us an idea of the social milieu in which they are living and how variant social knowledge and, thereby, social representations are prevalent. Care is taken not to include individual psychological aspects. Having set this frame for discussion, below is the discussion of the themes. The interpretation will be conducted under three headings, which will answer the three research questions.

8.1. Image of God and the Other: Catholic Impact on Youth

The social representations of faith in God and the relationship with other human beings are found in society, which youth also share. This social representation is structured in society into meanings and contents.

“Women are generally more religious than men, particularly among Christians.” (Pew Research Centre 2016). This is, however, true among the Catholic youth as well, in the social milieu under discussion. Amma sits for prayer, and she prays even if others are absent. The command by Amma ‘no prayer, no food’ (Table 1. 43) also points to the fact of women’s role in prayer. It should also be seen in the background of the Indian context, where women remain the central figure in almost every religious practice. It is more prevalent in the so-called Little Tradition, where women’s role is pivotal. The fertility cult and its identification with women are found in Tamil Nadu. These forms of fertility cults also became part of Christian tradition. An example can be given here. Mulaippari (முளைப்பாரி), meaning the seedling grown and taken in procession to be offered to the goddess, is also found as part of Christians’ celebration of Christmas. Just before the Christmas night vigil from homes, the grown seedlings were taken in procession to be offered to the Child Jesus (Sivasubramaniyan 2010, pp. 111–23). It is also true that women are given the role of observing the rituals, and men take the role of performing or visible forms of worship (Agnihotri 2019, pp. 14–17). UUGG speaks about the non-participation of boys in liturgical activities, at the same time they are active during festivals (Table 1. 45–49). LRGB’s expression, Amma will sit and recite, expressed in local Tamil as Pannittu Iruppinum (she will be going on doing), conveys a ‘don’t care’ attitude and an activity meant for Amma (Table 1. 6–7). In the family of LUGB, who engages himself in teaching the Bible to the Hindu friend, there is no family prayer (Table 1. 35–36). UUPB also implicitly says that prayer and liturgical activities are not taken up as a family. He says that his Amma is from a CSI background (Table 1. 24, 27). Again, he is also not very positive about the fact that his religious brother shares Bible verses in the WhatsApp group. He giggles in a way that belittles it (Table 1. 29–30). The practice of faith is not a family affair. The family prayer is replaced by the rosary telecast on the TV (Table 1. 41–42). URPB does not mention family prayer but speaks of the Catholic atmosphere that is maintained by her Amma, which is achieved by playing Catholic songs and Holy Mass telecast on TV. Here as well, Appa is passive (Table 1. 1–3). Appa does not play an active role in forming the children in faith. It is clear that Appa does not take part in the family prayer. The active participation of Appa in the liturgical celebration is also missing (Table 1. 20). This phenomenon is not in tune with the mind of the Church.

Second Vatican Council sees the family as “a school for human enrichment” (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). For this, the Council views prayer as a proper space for human training, salvation, and holiness (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 48). In this training, the Council gives due importance to the parents. It says: “The married couple must practice an affectionate sharing of thought and common deliberation as well as eager cooperation as parents in the children’s upbringing” (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). In this, the role played by the Appa of the family also finds special mention. The Council says: “The active presence of the father is very important for the training of children” (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). Again, it says that the Lord gifts them—both the parents, the dignity of fatherhood and motherhood, thereby father and mother occupy important roles in training the children, in the way proper to husband and wife (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). In this line, Pope Francis says, that the children, set by the example of parents, are “a couple with their personal story of love,” (Francis 2016, n. 9), learn to love God, practice faith and habituate the love culture (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 49). The current study shows that the family prayer, aimed at bringing the members under the aegis of God and training them to be the disciples of Jesus, is reduced to another ritual that is performed by the subservient Amma in order to protect her family from the snares of evil. Consequently, since the Appa is away from family prayers, the son is also trained to repeat them. Socially, this leads to gender cleavage affecting the intergender relationship as well.

The cultural overdose reflected even in the practice of faith, which creates gender inequality, is not in tune with the Christian theological vision of God. For every family, the Trinitarian relationship remains the exemplar par excellence. The family often fails to impart the exemplary love that forms the very essence of God, lived through words and deeds by God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. John Paul II says that woman also possesses a “subjectively beatifying existence” (John Paul II 1997, p. 182). The discrepancy in the practice caused by the negative influence of cultural elements affects the relationship between men and women. This core meaning of social representations is echoed peripherally, which is normally hard to recognize.

The family prayer also becomes the place for embodied cognition.7 It is the place that, as Pope Francis says, a “couple with their personal story of love” (Francis 2016, n. 9), provides the space and opportunity for the children to cultivate and imbibe the love and compassionate care for the other.

8.2. Structures and the Cognition Operative in Denying Right to Human Dignity

Under this heading, there are four subtitles: the caste system and the oppressive, Gender Cleavage, Girl-Marriage Nexus and the Objectification of Women, Caste-Marriage-Dowry Nexus and the Structural Objectification of Women, and Caste Obsession-Gethu Nexus and the Exercise of Power. These will provide data on the status of structural denial in society.

8.2.1. Caste System and the Oppressive Structures

Caste, which is part of the social fabric of society that historically dehumanised and discriminated against people, is still part of the social representation. It is also used to gather people to form a movement intended for upliftment and socioeconomic-political empowerment. The pre-post-independent India saw social upliftment based on the antinomy, upper caste/lower caste, honoured/untouchable, caste-privileged/marginalized. This is true in the context of Tamil Nadu, where Thanthai Periyar (E.V. Ramaswami) brought in the important antinomy of the Arians/Dravidians. For him, the Arians were equivalent to Brahmins, who dominated the sociopolitical space. He pitched them against Avaranas, the Dravidians in general, who formed the majority. His movement later, through his followers and sympathizers, paved the way for the formation of the regional Dravidian political parties, which have ruled the state of Tamil Nadu for the past fifty years. Today, the state of Tamil Nadu also sees the caste-based political parties as being for the good of the underprivileged.8 It is also sad that many times, they are vote banks—Dalits being reduced to numbers. Caste, which is part of the historical consciousness of people and forms part of the social fabric of society, brings people together and provides social identity easily. What is to be contested and eliminated are discrimination, socioeconomic-political deprivation, and marginalization. Caste can be treated only for the sake of the appreciation of their difference and the cultural richness they possess.

The caste as such is not a vivid factor among youth, especially in an educational institutional setup. They try to mingle and treat everyone equally (Table 2. 3, 7, 25). Coastal and other people differentiate themselves on the basis of caste (Table 2. 4–6). The difference between the open category (OC) students and the caste-Hindu group and the other lower caste students is more visible (Table 2. 12–13). Marriages are conducted on the basis of caste, and inter-caste marriages are very marginal. Caste hierarchy, although it places the coastal Christians (there are caste differences among themselves as well) and others on par with each other, there is no mutuality of recognition and acceptance when it comes to marriages (Table 2. 22–24). The core meaning of caste also exists often in explicit forms. The pride, the casteist social cognition, is more visible among the students of some local villages (Table 2. 16–20). Although the narrative segments that are brought here for exposition and discussion are minimal, this in no way minimizes the huge discriminatory role it plays in Tamil Nadu. It is only the tip of the iceberg. It should be treated as a social representation with heavy-burdened historical consciousness, which educated youth are normally hesitant to speak about in public. The caste system as a social phenomenon has serious implications in granting equal dignity to women in Tamil Nadu, especially in the context of Kanniyakumari.

The caste system has a patriarchal backup, which eventually subjugates women to men. The matriarchal system that existed in the extinct Travancore state among the Nayar community, marumakkalthayam, although it seemed to give primacy to women, was an attempt to consolidate the hierarchical caste system through women’s subjugation. The women who had restrictions in movement, which the men enjoyed absolutely, became the custodians of property and the system. Women are the symbols of family, community, or caste pride. Today’s honor killings are the extensions of patriarchal hegemony.9 This central meaning is found peripherally in today’s society as well. Patriarchy, which has institutionalized its domination over women through caste, exists today in the then-existent state of Travancore in the family as family honor, always enslaving women. Endogamy that takes place within the same caste system, as indicated by UUPB (Table 2. 22, 24), also promotes dowry. Women’s value in Indian society is determined by their marital status and their reproductive abilities. Since these have to be realized within the socially set up caste boundaries, getting girls into a good ‘state’ requires money (Table 4. 5, 35). ‘Good place’ signifies an economically well-to-do family. Dowry becomes a great incentive to keep girls in a ‘good place’ (Venkatanarayanan 2020, pp. 26–29). These have prompted child marriage as well, which today exists in other forms. Girls are often not free to speak with boys in public, and acting against this norm would attract the title ‘bad girl’ as well. Since they are meant for marriage, the instrumentalized perpetrators of patriarchy, their free movement and socialization are prohibited and would bring dishonor to family members as well. The social representations and the interpretations given below are to be viewed as the extension of caste-based endogamy. It affects intergender relationships as well since the girl child is seen as the promoter of family values and honor.

8.2.2. Gender Cleavage, Girl-Marriage Nexus and the Objectification of Women

Regarding gender, there is something to be stated primarily. The Second Vatican Council says: “[i]t is regrettable that … basic personal rights are not respected everywhere, as it is the case with women who are denied the chance to freely choose a husband, or a state of life, or to have access to the same educational and cultural benefits as are available to men” (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 29). Here the Council advocates for equal rights for women and men, and it makes special mention of a woman’s freedom to choose her husband. The Church also upholds the dignified differences between males and females, which accord each one a specific role in society, coinciding with the unique call that each one has received from God. Without denying “women’s legitimate social advancement” the Council also insists on the role of mothers, especially in bringing up the young ones (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). Pope John Paul II says that in no way the resources of femininity are less than the resources of masculinity and confirms that they are merely different. He continues to spell out that men and women must understand the uniqueness of the resources they have received and live them for personal fulfillment. John Paul II points to the ontological composition and the difference, which in no way takes away equal dignity (John Paul II 1988, no. 10).

Caste, girl-marriage nexus, patriarchy, and family honor promoted in society affect intergender relationships. This is promoted as a family value. ‘If I speak with boys Amma will say something,’ meaning she could be scolded by her Amma, is a normal phenomenon (Table 3. 2), and her mother continues to remind her that she has attained the age of marriage (Table 3. 4). Amma is very particular that girls’ marriage prospects are not affected (Table 3. 6). Since it is a social norm, the members of the society come and report to the family about the ‘ill behavior’ of their daughter (Table 3. 7). Other members of the family also insist on this. The Tamil expression ozhunka eru (be disciplined) (Table 3. 8) is a clear admonition against falling in love with someone or bringing dishonor to the family. This sort of social norm also prevents parents from allowing girls to take part in the parish youth activities. Since the parish community is a more familiar institution, many parents are careful not to allow girls to join with boys for the parish youth meetings (Table 3. 9–15). Again, Appa or Amma in the family takes care of girls’ behavior in public (Table 3. 18, 25). Their voice inside the family is also very restricted (Table 3. 19, 41). Parents can even attract criticism for not bringing up their girl ‘properly’ (Table 3. 20–23). Society is also watchful about girls’ behavior in public (Table 3. 22). Grandma, the eldest at home, is also careful about girls’ attire in public (Table 3. 27–29). Roaming in public by girls is not much welcomed in society, and it is constantly reminded by Ammas (Table 3. 37). It is not proper that they laugh and smile in public (Table 3. 18, 25). Amma is also very careful about her behavior in college, especially when there are functions. Especially when she mentions the words adakkam odukkama erukkanum (Table 3. 41). Here, the first word, Adakkam, means control of the five senses and their desires, and it carries with it the Tamil semantic elements, hidden in ancient, rich Tamil literature.10 But as it becomes part of public usage, it is used to fit the situations, a norm that is functional in social knowledge. This applies to the word Odukkam also. If the word Adakkam resonates with Thirukkural, Odukkam, meaning ‘blind’ obedience, resonates with Kambaramayanam, one of the five epics of Tamil Literature.11 One of the leading cinema actors in Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth, used this and similar dialogues in his films. It is normal for people to memorize these cinema dialogues and repeat them in their daily conversations.12 Again, Amma, as a virtue, admonishes her daughter, which the girl is reminded of, in her conversations with her friend: ‘The one who is patient will rule the world’. This also resonates with the Kural or the couplet from Thiruvalluvar.13 This girl-marriage nexus takes us to another social representation of girls, namely, the marriage-dowry nexus.

8.2.3. Caste-Marriage-Dowry Nexus and the Structural Objectification of Women

Parents are concerned about giving their daughters in marriage to a ‘good place’ (Table 4. 5). The girl is afraid of society that, if she is married without any dowry, then she might be insulted and will not be treated on par with other members of her husband’s family (Table 4. 45). Then there is a suspicion about boys who do not demand any dowry, because they might not be genuine and might have married already and are afraid that their life would be spoiled (Table 4. 46–48). The Appa of the family, who enjoys the company of girl children when they are very young, feels burdened as they grow and attain the age of marriage (Table 4. 37–38). There are also other forms of talk, such as ‘girls are meant for marriage and providing them with education is useless’ (Table 4. 27–28). Society believes that it is the bound duty of the brother to have her younger sister give her in marriage (Table 4. 12–18). There is apparently discontent between both girls and boys about the existing dowry system. UUGG and LUPG believe that marriage does not result in a loving, happy life and ends up in the accumulation of money and ornaments (Table 4. 5–10, 23–26). UUPB expresses the view that he does not like the dowry system (Table 4. 50). Followed by caste, girl-marriage nexus, marriage-dowry nexus, there is also, in this line, girl-marriage-dowry skin color complexion nexus.

8.2.4. Caste Obsession-Gethu Nexus and the Exercise of Power

A caste-based hierarchical society bears the brunt of various levels of ‘master–slave’ type inequalities. One of them is gethu, commonly found among the youth and other publics. Although it has other meanings in Tamil, it means in the current scenario, ‘superficial heroism’ or ‘vainglory,’ but it is commonly linked to the word gut or gut feeling, referring to instinctive emotional response rather than considered thought. The word get can mean an instinctual response expressed as empty heroism, directed towards getting attention in public events to the point of being rowdy in the local area. Many times, the communication genre used and the actions exhibit villainism and elicit a fear response from local people. This gethu is found among the youth, especially in college circles. Girls are also not exempt.

LRPG speaks about Malyalalee (from the state of Kerala) girls, showing gethu in front of Tamil girls who are a minority. The distance between the two groups comes on the basis of the language medium, in which they completed their school education (Table 5. 1–6). Money, the branded gadgets, and the bikes they use also contribute to showing themselves as heroes (Table 5. 11–17, 34). Even some take pride or have acquired gethu feelings, though they deny it outwardly, because they belong to a particular caste (Table 5. 18–19). This is expressed in many honor killings that take place in Tamil Nadu (Castro 2022). More subtle expressions are found in the narration of UUPB. ‘Something we are,’ ‘we are gethu group,’ ‘not for studies,’ but in ‘opposing the staff,’ ‘coming late to the college, getting punished and standing outside, being watched by all,’ ‘being fearful,’ ‘becoming subject of discussion among the students for wrong reasons,’ ‘in front of the HOD (head of the department) chest and face raised,’ ‘considering insults from others in the public as gethu,’ are some of the are the peripheral representations of the gethu feeling (Table 5. 20–30). In psychology, it can be branded as a superiority complex, but in social psychology, it is part of the social psyche. In the caste-ridden Tamil Nadu context, gethu is attached to ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ class stratification, where the former exhibits their superiority through some sort of rowdyism. ‘Being not regular to the college,’ ‘not studying well but showing off his richness’ are all seen by the collegemates as gethu or in another term, ‘scene’ (Table 5. 31–37).

8.3. Inner Alter–Ego Dialogue and the Authenticity of Existence

The third research question was about bringing authenticity to youth’s existence, that is, the capacity to filter what is Christian from the un-Christian. Due to the influence of various sociocultural-political elements and the pressure on social identity, youth find it difficult to practice the Christian representations of the other in their life. This touches on the aspect of authentic life, an authentic Christian life. Markova speaks of the dyadic dialogue. The individual self-engages in a process of the co-construction of the dialogue between I and Me, resulting in self-identity and self-esteem (Markova 2006, 125). In technical terms, she says, it is the Ego–Alter dialogue. Alter can be an individual, other, group, subgroup, or institution. It is dyadic and not a solipsistic mode of ‘taking the role of the other’ (Markova 2006, p. 125) but ‘collective voices in the self’ (Hermans 2001, p. 261). There is a collective other or Alter, which Markova names as inner Alter, to whom the self engages in dialogue; it is between I and Me. Here, the self can also be held responsible for the other, including Levinas’ third, which is the whole of humanity. Individual acts, their contributions, their artistic works, and many other innovative actions, Tarkovsky says, must be ethically responsible (Tarkovsky 1987, p. 102). In Levinas’ terms, it is the ethical responsibility that establishes the subjectivity or consolidates the self; otherwise, it would be merging into the other. Mead speaks of the ‘I’ in the process of making ‘me,’ the self-identity, which acquires from others, society, and neighbors a set of responses (Mead 1992, p. 277). The Christian understanding of the human person, created in the image of God, categorically affirms intelligence and freedom. And it also states that humans are naturally destined to choose the good and reach the good, par excellence, God. The freedom is to choose the good. This can be equivalent to a Christian conscience, which is seen as the voice of Christ inside everyone. There is a need to form and strengthen it.

In this research, three types of consequences that result from Alter–Ego dialogue are drawn. UUGG expresses her struggle to overcome the negative thinking that happens normally in her life. She believes that, with the thinking capacity that God has given her, she strives to overcome negative thinking and see positivity in everything (Table 6. 1–5). LRGG also engages in an I-Me, or Ego–Alter dialogue, taking into account the happenings around her. She thinks about her future (Table 6. 6–9). In this positive vein, LRGB narrates about his struggle to overcome the social pressure, not to act in case of seeing a man lying bleeding on the road. He thinks about the problems, or social representations around helping a man met with an accident: police inquiry, a witness in the court (Table 6. 14–17). URGG narrates a lot about the thinking that happens within her (Table 6. 6–9).

The second consequence is succumbing to social pressure. UUPG narrates about the social pressure created around her relationship with a friend. The negative narrative about her friend by another yields its fruits in changing her mind. She starts to withdraw from that girl around whom a negative narrative is constructed (Table 6. 10–13). She is afraid of societal exclusion.

There is a third consequence: undecidedness. UUGB narrates about society’s attitude towards migrant workers. He is sympathetic towards them since they are humans who have come to earn a living. But he also views them as pickpockets and anti-socials. (Table 6. 18–22).

Under the Ego–Alter dialogue, three consequences that result from self-dialogue have been listed: overcoming social pressure through self-dialogue, succumbing to social pressure, and undecidedness.

9. Conclusions

As a Christian hailing from the civil district of Kanniyakumari, Tamilnadu, India, which was part of the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom, where casteism existed in its severity, the author of this paper can say that religion is not a private affair and, cannot be branded as “conversation stopper” as claimed by the American philosopher Richard Rorty (Rorty 1999, p. 171). The Church, which is ever young (Francis 2019, n. 34), dared to engage with the public sphere with its liberating God’s kingdom values and became a solace to the oppressed by empowering them through education, healthcare, and sociopolitical conscientization. It is also called upon today, with different methods. The constitution of India provides legal protection to all the different people, upholding the universal ideals of justice, liberty, and equality aimed at promoting fraternity among all the people, respecting their linguistic, cultural, casteistic, and ethnic differences. These are God’s Kingdom’s values as well.

Although Christianity is a minuscule minority in India—biblically, it is the prophetic minority who made a deep impact on the lives of people of God—it can serve as an effective catalyst for the removal of oppressive structures. There is a very pertinent Challenge that Indian Christianity and the Indian Church face. Gnana Patrick, taking into account the changed civil and political scenario of today’s India, raises the question to set aright the Church’s public image: “Can it free itself from the casteist forces dominating its inner world?” (Patrick 2020, p. xii). This paper dealt with the problem of misogynic women’s subservient nexus. The phenomenon of structured discriminatory casteist tendencies found among the youth goes against the ipsum esse of the Trinitarian God, the world order that God had established, the incarnation event of Jesus, and the mission that the Church serves.

While looking within herself, at the problem of casteism and the other oppressive structures embedded in it, the Church, in a way, opens new ways to the public—the way of doing public theology—with its Christian visions to deal with the problems that are appropriate to today’s world. This current research, using the instrument, social representations contain core meaning and peripheral aspects, and the corresponding predictor, their content and meaning are structured in the society, showed, firstly, that the Catholics, using the social knowledge available in the society, conditioned by the social cognition, willingly or unwillingly perpetuate the structural denial of human dignity. Table 1 shows that the Appa does not participate in family prayers, which dissuades males from taking part in Christian worship. Again, prayers through media and male-absent family prayers obstruct embodied cognition—face-to-face interaction, and other types of conversations within the family—that would humanize the youth. Therefore, the enslaving cultural overdose, which is reflected even in the practice of faith, creates gender inequality within the family. This finds its repercussions in social life. Therefore, there is a need to promote family prayers and other liturgical practices, in which males also take part equally.

Secondly, due to the influence of culturally conditioned social representations, there exists a patriarchy, a caste-marriage nexus, and consequently, female subservience among the Catholic youth as well. These types of structural denials have become part of the cognition among the youth. Therefore, the epistemological process produces discriminatory social knowledge in society that facilitates inhumane rapport and second-class treatment of others. The caste practice that thrives through misogynistic patriarchal practices creates gender cleavage. Gender cleavage in the caste-ridden, multilayered pyramidic Indian society negatively affects girls, and their value is determined on the basis of their marriage prospects. Adding to the misery of women, dowry exists as a normal practice in different forms in various parts of India. This commodifies women and makes them mere objects. Gethu, a sort of superiority complex found mainly among males, comes as a social identity. With its covetous nature, it attracts the younger ones as well, paving the way for the perpetuation of the caste system as well as women’s subservience, which also results in honor killings. The Church sees these as sinful structures. She asserts that the resources of femininity are on par with those of masculinity. The resources are different, but not one superior to the other. The ontological composition and the difference in no way accord less dignity to women (John Paul II 1988, n. 10). She also asserts that women have every right to choose their own spouse (Vatican Council II 1965, n. 52). Through intergenerational dialogues and other educational and pastoral programs, these sorts of evils are to be gradually eliminated.

Thirdly, dialogical social representations speak of inner Alter–Ego dialogue. Aquinas saw that beauty has three objective properties: consonantia—proportion, claritas—clarity, and integritas—integrity (Aquinas 1948, n. I, 39, 8). It can be stated as the aesthetic properties that enhance life as well. The objects that are created—artworks, pieces of literature, or ideas or concepts for social exchange—are required to have these objective properties. These properties orient oneself to an orderly and creative life. Hegel formulated the aesthetic relation that exists between the self and the object (Hegel 1977, p. 81). The relation between the self and the object is required to have the objective of enhancing humanity. Humans, as created reality, are ordered to have mastery over the objects and transform themselves. Aquinas’ understanding of beauty aims at order, clarity, and integrity. They are aimed at doing away with the dissonating, shrouding, diminishing, and disintegrating properties. That is what human life is meant for. This is reflected in Hegel as well. Bakhtin would take in the dialogical aspect involved in these abstract rational concepts, thus taking it to the realm of social psychology. He argues for a dialogicality that is responsible. The self is to be ennobled to treat the Alter in a dignified manner (Bakhtin 1984, p. 194). This Alter stands for individuals, groups, subgroups, civilizations, cultures, etc.

This study shows that genuine Ego–Alter dialogues take place among the youth. Some come out of the social pressure that subdues their personal convictions, some succumb to it, and others are indecisive. It is necessary, in a complex context like India, where multiple elements intersect, to enable the youth to engage in genuine dialogue. In order to achieve this, they first need continued capacitation programmes that include family, ecclesial structures, and educational institutions. This grants them authentic life as well. Secondly, most of the enslaving social representations are perpetuated by the older generation. They also should be led through various programs aimed at eradicating discriminatory social representations from society, which also form part of this dyadic (Ego–Alter) dialogue. Through their conversations and dialogues, they can undergo changes and make changes in the lives of the youth as well. As a strategy, value education that should be taken forward in family, educational institutions, ecclesial structures, and a reflective prayer atmosphere is needed.

Given the reality of Christians being a minuscule minority and the shrinking civic space in the current political scenario in India, public theology dares to engage with the general public. Psychosociological research shows that the minority who are at the receiving end of atrocities can become a defining force in changing government policies and social mindsets. The historical victims of majoritarianism, the minority, can exert influence or change the majority. When the relationship between the majority and minority is measured with ethical instruments, then the majority will be placed on the wrong side of history (Moscovici and Pérez 2009). Having this historical advantage, the Indian Church should first continue to introspect about the treatment of its faithful. Secondly, through this introspection and continued dialogue with the general public, it can strive for a more humane society.