THE CHANGING TRENDS IN THE PRACTICE OF
RURAL MARKETING IN THE CONTEXT OF
GLOBALIZATION THROUGH SOCIO-ECONOMIC
ANALYSIS OF WEEKLY MARKETS, “HAAT” IN
ODISHA
Dr. Sujaya Routray
Assistant Professor.Disha Law College,Raipur, Chhattisgarh (India)
ABSTRACT
The liberalization policy of India since 1980s has influenced rural society and agriculture significantly. A more free
international trading system with opening of Indian markets to import and competition from the global market has a
direct influence on farmers and rural society. The traditional marketing practices are also affected due to the
changes in the global economic scenario. The village “haat” or the weekly or periodic markets are a central feature
of social and economic organization. They link the regional and local economies in particular and at the same time
reflecta broader linkage with the national economy in general. Villagemarkets had always been a socio-cultural
institution of rural Indian society as it was more than just an economic process of exchange of goods with price.
Socialinstitution of caste, tribe, family and kinship revolved around these haats.Butwith globalization along with
changes in agrarian economies, there is a change in the social organization of markets which has drastically altered
the relationship between status, identity and occupational practices of various traditional business communities in
rural India. This paper attempts to discuss this transformation in various aspects of the traditional markets in
Mallipur and Bhawanipatna ,Odishawhich has both positive and negative consequences.
Keywords: Commoditization, Jajmani System, Globalization, Profit, Culture Of Consumption
I INTRODUCTION
India is called a land of villages and agriculture as the primary occupation. A rural society of India is any place
which meets the following criteria,

A population of less than 5,000

Density of population less than 400 per sq km and
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
More than "25 per cent of the male working population" is engaged in agricultural pursuits. (1)
Indian society is primarily a rural society though in a transitional phase because urbanization is growing and is
affecting its surrounding rural area. This gets reflected in changed rural scenario of present day rural India. There are
various governmental initiatives for the overall development in rural areas but in some aspects such as
infrastructural growth, it still lacks behind.There are 162 million homes in rural India in comparison to 69 million
homes in urban India. (2) But according to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) study on Housing Conditions
and Amenities in India, 18% households in rural India have access to basic amenities such as drinking water and
electricity and bathroom facility was not available to nearly 64% of the rural householdsin 2008-09 (3).However,
with an increase focus on agriculture and rural development, the thin line between rural and urban is diminishing
slowly with rural areas acquiring characteristics of urban spaces.
II MARKETS AND ECONOMY: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Markets are places of exchange of goods with money which when analyzed sociologically is a systematically
orderedand functionalsystem of transaction. It creates a networking of processes where not only good are placed in
but individuals are intricately becomes part of these processes. As a result of which there is connectivity with the
individual with the wider society as well as interconnectivitywith the local economic structure with the global
scenario. Marketeconomy, itsinstitution and processes are part of a larger social institution.However with the advent
of globalization and liberalization, the culture of commercialism has uprooted the traditional marketing practices of
rural India which has simultaneously shaken the very social and cultural basis of its very existence.
III EMERGENCE OF NEW RURALSOCIAL SYSTEM.
These periodic markets are a centre feature of social, cultural and economic functioning. Weekly market bring
together people from surrounding villages who come to sell their agricultural and other products which they have
grown in their fields and to buy other goods in exchange of these. These market days which are usually on fixed
days are hustled and bustled with people selling their products. Thereexist both social and economic relations at
various levels and in rural areas the continuation of such markets for generation together have always involved more
than just trading relation existing between the buyer and the seller, between various sellers and not only this, they
also attract traders, traditional healers,entertainers, soothsayers, moneylenders, food vendors and other services
specialist to such areas.
These markets are major institution of social intercoursealso. They become place for deliberation of important
events such as fixing any meeting where various problems are settled, visitingrelatives, a place for family outing,
marriage are discussed and fixed.ect
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These were places where there is exchange of culture both material and nonmaterial form. People come out of their
remote villages for economic necessity or selling of goods but along with these there is an opportunity of meeting
new people from different villages and nearby small town, hencebecoming more open to the main stream urban
culture.
3.1 There has been a transition from caste based markets to “commoditization”.
Caste system is anunique feature of Indiansociety. It is associated with specific occupation and members of any
particular caste are traditionally supposed to follow their specified occupation. Caste based occupation through
thejajmanisystem, thenon market social exchange system through which agricultural products and other necessary
goods were circulated among the “jajmans” and the “kamins” through the exchange of goods or cash for services
rendered. All these were related to the traditional marketing practices of rural India. Theseplaceswere the extension
of the social and cultural intercourse along with caste specific selling of goods and services.
However, with the phase of liberalization, no part of our country remained untouched. These traditional markets
which were the result of the rural social system underwent a drastic change where new marketing strategies aiming
for high profit, brought an overall changes in the tradition social system in India. Thenew extensive and calculative
trading system and marketing network has brought out changes in the economic structures of caste, kinship and
family which was oriented towards commercial and business activity that was carried out in a small scale for mostly
personal consumption. In some caste such as the NattukottaiChettiars of Tamil Nadu, trading and banking activities
were organized through caste and kinship relation. Nowall these associated process around the market structure have
taken as a specialized task but also outside the preview of caste or kinship which earlier played a dominant role in
the marketing practices. (4)
Due to globalization, economies has touched all aspect of life and have the capacity to influence even those
everyday common essentials which were far from the economies or market preview.Commoditization has resulted in
assigning a market value to goods which earlier was not priced example, water or selling of organs and so on.
With the changes in the mode of production with machine intensive and large scale production for commercial
purpose, there is shift in the relation existing people who are connected through the process of production. Selling of
labor as services and extracting off surplus value by the rich has made the traditional marketing system ,”the haat” a
more systematized solely a economic transition with associated bargaining ,negotiation and trading characteristics
with less of social and cultural bondage.
The quality of consumption pattern of rural people has also changedwith an increased demand of more refined
products and their usage socially reflects the modern and the desired lifestyle which also becomes a status symbol.
The sophisticated goods are from a more machined based factory system which has resulted in peopleof rural area
becoming more open to better looking products in nearby urban hubs which is further facilitated by the easy means
of transportation.
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IV NEW TRENDS IN RURAL MARKET PRACTICES
There is an increasing extension and integration of markets around the world and the result is changes in a market in
one part of the globe may have a profound impact somewhere else far away. These exactly have occurred in rural
markets. The whole atmosphere of the market traditions has undergone changes. There is a more systematic process
of the practices .There has been a fixed place decided by the village regarding the market place. There is concrete
base or platforms for vendors displaying and selling their products. Thereis less of personal relationship existing
between buyers and sellers. There is less time for social intercourse as the main motive is selling theirproducts.
Earlier the production was confined to home based as a result the amount of products for sale was less but with
globalization,with an increase in the availability and accessibility of machines, production has come out from the
home to a large scale production ,as a result there is a now lot of amount to be sold. There is a shift in the types of
products sold. Nowadays it is a common sight to find nonagricultural products bought from the nearby urban
markets on display in these weekly markets. Concept of negotiation and bargaining has furtherincreased. Small
traders find stiff competition to sell their products as machine made products find its place in the same haat.Earlier
the sellers were the producers but now usually the sellers are not always the producersbut are middlemen who
collect the products from other small traders and themselves sell them in such markets.
All these trends have brought about a drastic change in the social and cultural relations that revolvedaround the
traditional haat. However rural society still now has maintained a balance between commercialism and
traditionalism, but gradually moving toward a mixed culture of both rural and urban heterogeneous societal values
and norms.Linking of local to global scene has been the picture of present society and this gets reflected through
globalization of culture. This has resulted in a culture of consumption which imitates the culture of the urban areas.
V THE BENEFITS OF GLOBALIZATION ON RURAL MARKETS
Marketing in rural areas in present modern society has undergone drastic changes. Earlier because of poor roads
connectivity, lack of knowledge about commercial marketing strategies among rural farmers and low quantity of
unrefined finished product has delimited the scope of potentiality of profit in the traditional markets .With the
opening up of world markets; the traditional rural market has also undergone sea changes.
Villages have been provided location where farmers can meet with other traders and can sell their products to
customers .This reduces losses by providing protection for the produces from direct sunlight, rain. Farming of
commercial crops has increase because of rise of demand of such crops from the urban centre. This has provided a
suitable alternate source of income to the farmers along with tradition rice, wheat or maize. Traditional crafts have
more market value abroad so there is a better financial prospect for rural artisans. Globalization has made marketing
a focal point for rural activities which is a more profit oriented activityand the socio-cultural space in which it was
operating earlier ,has diminishing influence on the lives of rural people now.
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VI CONCLUSION
Though the face of traditional hat is slowly changing towards a more systematic and profit oriented economic
exchange, the charm of weekly markets still continues for the urban dwellers if not the rural inhabitants till now .The
aura around these markets still holds sociological relevance of a very dynamic social system and networking that
occupies an important role as an institution and organization.
REFERENCE
1.http://www.archive.india.gov.in/citizen/graminbharat/graminbharat.php
2.www.livemint.com/Opinion/MGoXJnmccsRRBqEX0hWujJ/Changing-face-of-rural-markets.html
3.Dholakia Viral ”82% Households in Rural India lack Basic Amenities “.
http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/11/16/rural-india-basic-amenities-survey-statistics/
4.Rudner David.1994.Caste and capitalism in colonial India:TheNattukottaiChettiars.University of California
Press.Berkeley.
5.Indiansociety.National Council of Educational Research and Training ,2007
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