Cultural Adaptation and Socioeconomic Change among the Santal Community: A Qualitative Case Study on Birganj Upazila, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

Abstract

This study examines processes of cultural adaptation and socioeconomic change among the Santal community of Birganj Upazila, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. Drawing on a qualitative case study based on six in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions. The research explores how Santals negotiate livelihood insecurity, educational change, religious transformation, and shifting family and gender relations within conditions of persistent structural marginalization. The findings show that livelihoods remain largely dependent on agriculture and daily wage labor with the number of increasing labor mobility and educational aspirations signal gradual social change. Religious conversion to Christianity has functioned as an important strategy of social adaptation, facilitating access to education and institutional support while reshaping collective identity. At the same time, traditional cultural practices- such as music, dance, festivals, and communal solidarity- continue to play a central role in everyday social life. From a sociological perspective, the study demonstrates that Santal adaptation occurs through selective continuity rather than assimilation, within a context of adverse incorporation, land insecurity, and limited state support. The paper contributes to sociological debates on ethnicity, rural inequality, and development in Bangladesh by foregrounding indigenous agency alongside enduring structural constraints.