essay on bangladesh culture

• Countries and Their Cultures
• Culture of Bangladesh

Culture Name

Bangladeshi

Alternative Names

Orientation.

Identification. "Bangladesh" is a combination of the Bengali words, Bangla and Desh, meaning the country or land where the Bangla language is spoken. The country formerly was known as East Pakistan.

Location and Geography. Bangladesh straddles the Bay of Bengal in south Asia. To the west and north it is bounded by India; to the southeast, it borders Myanmar. The topography is predominantly a low-lying floodplain. About half the total area is actively deltaic and is prone to flooding in the monsoon season from May through September. The Ganges/Padma River flows into the country from the northwest, while the Brahmaputra/ Jamuna enters from the north. The capital city, Dhaka, is near the point where those river systems meet. The land is suitable for rice cultivation.

In the north and the southeast the land is more hilly and dry, and tea is grown. The Chittagong Hill Tracts have extensive hardwood forests. The vast river delta area is home to the dominant plains culture. The hilly areas of the northeast and southeast are occupied by much smaller tribal groups, many of which have strongly resisted domination by the national government and the population pressure from Bangladeshis who move into and attempt to settle in their traditional areas. In 1998 an accord was reached between the armed tribal group Shanti Bahini and the government.

Demography. Bangladesh is the most densely populated nonisland nation in the world. With approximately 125 million inhabitants living in an area of 55,813 square miles, there are about 2,240 persons per square mile. The majority of the population (98 percent) is Bengali, with 2 percent belonging to tribal or other non-Bengali groups. Approximately 83 percent of the population is Muslim, 16 percent is Hindu, and 1 percent is Buddhist, Christian, or other. Annual population growth rate is at about 2 percent.

Infant mortality is approximately seventy-five per one thousand live births. Life expectancy for both men and women is fifty-eight years, yet the sex ratios for cohorts above sixty years of age are skewed toward males. Girls between one and four years of age are almost twice as likely as boys to die.

In the early 1980s the annual rate of population increase was above 2.5 percent, but in the late 1990s it decreased to 1.9 percent. The success of population control may be due to the demographic transition (decreasing birth and death rates), decreasing farm sizes, increasing urbanization, and national campaigns to control fertility (funded largely by other nations).

Linguistic Affiliation. The primary language is Bangla, called Bengali by most nonnatives, an Indo-European language spoken not just by Bangladeshis, but also by people who are culturally Bengali. This includes about 300 million people from Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Bihar, as well as Bengali speakers in other Indian states. The language dates from well before the birth of Christ. Bangla varies by region, and people may not understand the language of a person from another district. However, differences in dialect consist primarily of slight differences in accent or pronunciation and minor grammatical usages.

Symbolism. The most important symbol of national identity is the Bangla language. The flag is a dark green rectangle with a red circle just left of center. Green symbolizes the trees and fields of the countryside; red represents the rising sun and the blood spilled in the 1971 war for liberation. The national anthem was taken from a poem by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and links a love of the natural realm and land with the national identity.

Since independence in 1971, the national identity has evolved. Islamic religious identity has become an increasingly important element in the national dialogue. Many Islamic holy days are nationally celebrated, and Islam pervades public space and the media.

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. The creation of the independent nation represents the triumph of ethnic and cultural politics. The region that is now Bangladesh has been part of a number of important political entities, including Indian empires, Buddhist kingdoms, the Moghul empire, the British empire and the Pakistani nation.

Until 1947 Bangladesh was known as East Bengal province and had been part of Great Britain's India holding since the 1700s. In 1947, Britain, in conjunction with India's leading indigenous political organizations, partitioned the Indian colony into India and Pakistan. The province of East Bengal was made part of Pakistan and was referred to as East Pakistan. West Pakistan was carved from the northwest provinces of the British Indian empire. This division of territory represented an attempt to create a Muslim nation on Hindu India's peripheries. However, the west and east wings of Pakistan were separated by more than 1,000 miles of India, creating cultural discontinuity between the two wings. The ethnic groups of Pakistan and the Indian Muslims who left India after partition were greatly different in language and way of life from the former East Bengalis: West Pakistan was more oriented toward the Middle East and Arab Islamic influence than was East Pakistan, which contained Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and British cultural influences.

From the beginning of Pakistan's creation, the Bengali population in the east was more numerous than the Pakistani population in the western wing, yet West Pakistan became the seat of government and controlled nearly all national resources. West Pakistanis generally viewed Bengalis as inferior, weak, and less Islamic. From 1947 to 1970, West Pakistan reluctantly gave in to Bengali calls for power within the government, armed forces, and civil service, but increasing social unrest in the east led to a perception among government officials that the people of Bengal were unruly and untrust worthy "Hinduized" citizens. Successive Pakistani regimes, increasingly concerned with consolidating their power over the entire country, often criticized the Hindu minority in Bengal. This was evident in Prime Minister Nazimuddin's attempt in 1952 to make Urdu, the predominant language of West Pakistan, the state language. The effect in the east was to energize opposition movements, radicalize students at Dhaka University, and give new meaning to a Bengali identity that stressed the cultural unity of the east instead of a pan-Islamic brotherhood.

Through the 1960s, the Bengali public welcomed a message that stressed the uniqueness of Bengali culture, and this formed the basis for calls for self-determination or autonomy. In the late 1960s, the Pakistani government attempted to fore-stall scheduled elections. The elections were held on 7 December 1970, and Pakistanis voted directly for members of the National Assembly.

The Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was largely a Bengali party which called for autonomy for the east. Sheikh Mujib wanted to reconfigure Pakistan as a confederation of two equal partners. His party won one of 162 seats in the East Pakistan provincial assembly and 160 of the three hundred seats in the National Assembly. The Awami League would control national politics and have the ability to name the prime minister. President Yahya, however, postponed the convening of the National Assembly to prevent a Bengali power grab. In response, Sheikh Mujib and the Awami League led civil disobedience in East Pakistan. West Pakistan began to move more troops into the east, and on 25 March 1971, the Pakistani army carried out a systematic execution of several hundred people, arrested Mujib, and transported him to the west. On 26 March the Awami League declared East Pakistan an independent nation, and by April the Bengalis were in open conflict with the Pakistani military.

In a 10-month war of liberation, Bangladeshi units called Mukhti Bahini (freedom fighters), largely trained and armed by Indian forces, battled Pakistani troops throughout the country in guerrilla skirmishes. The Pakistanis systematically sought out political opponents and executed Hindu men on sight. Close to 10 million people fled Bangladesh for West Bengal, in India. In early December 1971, the Indian army entered Bangladesh, engaged Pakistani military forces with the help of the Mukhti Bahini, and in a ten-day period subdued the Pakistani forces. On 16 December the Pakistani military surrendered. In January 1972, Mujib was released from confinement and became the prime minister of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was founded as a "democratic, secular, socialist state," but the new state represented the triumph of a Bangladeshi Muslim culture and language. The administration degenerated into corruption, and Mujib attempted to create a one-party state. On 15 August 1975 he was assassinated, along with much of his family, by army officers. Since that time, Bangladesh has been both less socialistic and less secular.

General Ziaur Rahman became martial law administrator in December 1976 and president in 1977. On 30 May 1981, Zia was assassinated by army officers. His rule had been violent and repressive, but he had improved national economy. After a short-lived civilian government, a bloodless coup placed Army chief of staff General Mohammed Ershad in office as martial law administrator; he later became president. Civilian opposition increased, and the Awami League, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), and the religious fundamentalist party Jamaat-i-Islami united in a seven-year series of crippling strikes. In December 1990, Ershad was forced to resign.

A caretaker government held national elections early in 1991. The BNP, headed by Khaleda Zia, widow of former President Zia, formed a government in an alliance with the Jamaat-i-Islami. Political factionalism intensified over the next five years, and on 23 June 1996, the Awami League took control of Parliament. At its head was Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib.

Ethnic Relations. The most significant social divide is between Muslims and Hindus. In 1947 millions of Hindus moved west into West Bengal, while millions of Muslims moved east into the newly created East Pakistan. Violence occurred as the columns of people moved past each other. Today, in most sections of the country, Hindus and Muslims live peacefully in adjacent areas and are connected by their economic roles and structures. Both groups view themselves as members of the same culture.

From 1976 to 1998 there was sustained cultural conflict over the control of the southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts. That area is home to a number of tribal groups that resisted the movement of Bangladeshi Muslims into their territory. In 1998, a peace accord granted those groups a degree of autonomy and self-governance. These tribal groups still do not identify themselves with the national culture.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

Bangladesh is still primarily a rural culture, and the gram or village is an important spatial and cultural concept even for residents of the major cities. Most people identify with a natal or ancestral village in the countryside.

Houses in villages are commonly rectangular, and are dried mud, bamboo, or red brick structures with thatch roofs. Many are built on top of earthen or wooden platforms to keep them above the flood line. Houses have little interior decoration, and wall space is reserved for storage. Furniture is minimal, often consisting only of low stools. People sleep on thin bamboo mats. Houses have verandas in the front, and much of daily life takes place under their eaves rather than indoors. A separate smaller mud or bamboo structure serves as a kitchen ( rana ghor ), but during the dry season many women construct hearths and cook in the household courtyard. Rural houses are simple and functional, but are not generally considered aesthetic showcases.

The village household is a patrilineal extended compound linked to a pond used for daily household needs, a nearby river that provides fish, trees that provide fruit (mango and jackfruit especially), and rice fields. The village and the household not only embody important natural motifs but serve as the locus of ancestral family identity. Urban dwellers try to make at least one trip per year to "their village."

Architectural styles in the cities show numerous historical influences, including Moghul and Islamic motifs with curved arches, windows, and minarets, and square British colonial wood and concrete construction. The National Parliament building (Shongshad Bhabon) in Dhaka, designed by the American architect Louis Kahn, reflects a synthesis of western modernity and curved Islamic-influenced spaces. The National Monument in Savar, a wide-based spire that becomes narrower as it rises, is the symbol of the country's liberation.

Because of the population density, space is at a premium. People of the same sex interact closely, and touching is common. On public transportation strangers often are pressed together for long periods. In public spaces, women are constrained in their movements and they rarely enter the public sphere unaccompanied. Men are much more free in their movement. The rules regarding the gender differential in the use of public space are less closely adhered to in urban areas than in rural areas.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life. Rice and fish are the foundation of the diet; a day without a meal with rice is nearly inconceivable. Fish, meats, poultry, and vegetables are cooked in spicy curry ( torkari ) sauces that incorporate cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and other spices. Muslims do not consume pork and Hindus do not consume beef. Increasingly common is the preparation of ruti, a whole wheat circular flatbread, in the morning, which is eaten with curries from the night before. Also important to the diet is dal, a thin soup based on ground lentils, chickpeas, or other legumes that is poured over rice. A sweet homemade yogurt commonly finishes a meal. A typical meal consists of a large bowl of rice to which is added small portions of fish and vegetable curries. Breakfast is the meal that varies the most, being rice- or bread-based. A favorite breakfast dish is panthabhat, leftover cold rice in water or milk mixed with gur (date palm sugar). Food is eaten with the right hand by mixing the curry into the rice and then gathering portions with the fingertips. In city restaurants that cater to foreigners, people may use silverware.

Three meals are consumed daily. Water is the most common beverage. Before the meal, the right hand is washed with water above the eating bowl. With the clean knuckles of the right hand the interior of the bowl is rubbed, the water is discarded, and the bowl is filled with food. After the meal, one washes the right hand again, holding it over the emptied bowl.

Snacks include fruits such as banana, mango, and jackfruit, as well as puffed rice and small fried food items. For many men, especially in urbanized regions and bazaars, no day is complete without a cup of sweet tea with milk at a small tea stall, sometimes accompanied by confections.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. At weddings and on important holidays, food plays an important role. At holiday or formal functions, guests are encouraged to eat to their capacity. At weddings, a common food is biryani, a rice dish with lamb or beef and a blend of spices, particularly saffron. On special occasions, the rice used is one of the finer, thinner-grained types. If biryani is not eaten, a complete multicourse meal is served: foods are brought out sequentially and added to one's rice bowl after the previous course is finished. A complete dinner may include chicken, fish, vegetable, goat, or beef curries and dal. The final bit of rice is finished with yogurt ( doi ).

On other important occasions, such as the Eid holidays, a goat or cow is slaughtered on the premises and curries are prepared from the fresh meat. Some of the meat is given to relatives and to the poor.

Basic Economy. With a per capita gross national product (GNP) of $350 and an overall GNP of $44 billion, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. The only significant natural resource is natural gas.

Approximately 75 percent of the workforce is involved in agriculture, and 15 percent and 10 percent are employed in the service and industrial sectors, respectively. Bangladesh has been characterized as a nation of small, subsistence-based farmers, and nearly all people in rural areas are involved in the production or processing of agricultural goods. The majority of the rural population engages in agricultural production, primarily of rice, jute, pulses, wheat, and some vegetables. Virtually all agricultural output is consumed within the country, and grain must be imported. The large population places heavy demands on the food-producing sectors of the economy. The majority of the labor involved in food production is human- and animal-based. Relatively little agricultural export takes place.

In the countryside, typically about ten villages are linked in a market system that centers on a bazaar occurring at least once per week. On bazaar days, villagers bring in agricultural produce or crafts such as water pots to sell to town and city agents. Farmers then visit kiosks to purchase spices, kerosene, soap, vegetables or fish, and salt.

Land Tenure and Property. With a population density of more than two thousand per square mile, land tenure and property rights are critical aspects of survival. The average farm owner has less than three acres of land divided into a number of small plots scattered in different directions from the household. Property is sold only in cases of family emergency, since agricultural land is the primary means of survival. Ordinarily, among Muslims land is inherited equally by a household head's sons, despite Islamic laws that specify shares for daughters and wives. Among Hindu farmers inheritance practices are similar. When agricultural land is partitioned, each plot is divided among a man's sons, ensuring that each one has a geographically dispersed holding. The only sections of rural areas that are not privately owned are rivers and paths.

Commercial Activities. In rural areas Hindus perform much of the traditional craft production of items for everyday life; caste groups include weavers, potters, iron and gold smiths, and carpenters. Some of these groups have been greatly reduced in number, particularly weavers, who have been replaced by ready-made clothing produced primarily in Dhaka.

Agriculture accounts for 25 percent of GDP. The major crops are rice, jute, wheat, tea, sugarcane, and vegetables.

Major Industries. In recent years industrial growth has occurred primarily in the garment and textile industries. Jute processing and jute product fabrication remain major industries. Overall, industry accounted for about 28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1998.

Trade. Exports totaled $4.4 billion in 1996, with the United States consuming one-third of those exports. Primary export markets are for jute (used in carpet backing, burlap, and rope), fish, garments, and textiles. Imports totaled $7.1 billion and largely consisted of capital goods, grains, petroleum, and chemicals. The country relies on an annual inflow of at least $1 billion from international sources, not including the humanitarian aid that is part of the national economic system. Agriculture accounted for about 25 percent of the GDP in 1998.

Division of Labor. The division of labor is based on age and education. Young children are economically productive in rural areas, hauling water, watching animals, and helping with postharvest processing. The primary agricultural tasks, however, are performed by men. Education allows an individual to seek employment outside the agricultural sector, although the opportunities for educated young men in rural areas are extremely limited. A service or industry job often goes to the individual who can offer the highest bribe to company officials.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. The Muslim class system is similar to a caste structure. The ashraf is a small upperclass of old-money descendants of early Muslim officials and merchants whose roots are in Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. Some ashraf families trace their lineage to the Prophet Mohammed. The rest of the population is conceived of as the indigenous majority atraf. This distinction mirrors the Hindu separation between the Brahman and those in lower castes. While both Muslim and Hindu categories are recognized by educated people, the vast majority of citizens envision class in a more localized, rural context.

In rural areas, class is linked to the amount of land owned, occupation, and education. A landowner with more than five acres is at the top of the socioeconomic scale, and small subsistence farmers are in the middle. At the bottom of the scale are the landless rural households that account for about 30 percent of the rural population. Landowning status reflects socioeconomic class position in rural areas, although occupation and education also play a role. The most highly educated people hold positions requiring literacy and mathematical skills, such as in banks and government offices, and are generally accorded a higher status than are farmers. Small businessmen may earn as much as those who have jobs requiring an education but have a lower social status.

Hindu castes also play a role in the rural economy. Hindu groups are involved in the hereditary occupations that fill the economic niches that support a farming-based economy. Small numbers of higher caste groups have remained in the country, and some of those people are large landowners, businessmen, and service providers.

In urban areas the great majority of people are laborers. There is a middle class of small businessmen and midlevel office workers, and above this is an emerging entrepreneurial group and upper-level service workers.

Symbols of Social Stratification. One of the most obvious symbols of class status is dress. The traditional garment for men is the lungi, a cloth tube skirt that hangs to the ankles; for women, the sari is the norm. The lungi is worn by most men, except those who consider themselves to have high socioeconomic status, among whom pants and shirt are worn. Also indicative of high standing are loose white cotton pajama pants and a long white shirt. White dress among men symbolizes an occupation that does not require physical labor. A man with high standing will not be seen physically carrying anything; that task is left to an assistant or laborer. Saris also serve as class markers, with elaborate and finely worked cloth symbolizing high status. Poverty is marked by the cheap, rough green or indigo cotton cloth saris of poor women. Gold jewelry indicates a high social standing among women.

A concrete-faced house and a ceramic tile roof provide evidence of wealth. An automobile is well beyond the means of most people, and a motorcycle is a sign of status. Color televisions, telephones, and electricity are other symbols associated with wealth.

Political Life

Government. The People's Republic of Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy that includes a president, a prime minister, and a unicameral parliament ( Jayitya Shongshod ). Three hundred members of parliament are elected to the 330-seat legislature in local elections held every five years. Thirty seats are reserved for women members of parliament. The prime minister, who is appointed by the president, must have the support of a majority of parliament members. The president is elected by the parliament every five years to that largely ceremonial post. The country is divided into four divisions, twenty districts, subdistricts, union parishads, and villages. In local politics, the most important political level is the union in rural areas; in urban regions, it is the municipality ( pourashava ). Members are elected locally, and campaigning is extremely competitive.

Leadership and Political Officials. There are more than 50 political parties. Party adherence extends from the national level down to the village, where factions with links to the national parties vie for local control and help solve local disputes. Leaders at the local level are socioeconomically well-off individuals who gain respect within the party structure, are charismatic, and have strong kinship ties. Local leaders draw and maintain supporters, particularly at election time, by offering tangible, relatively small rewards.

The dominant political parties are the Awami League (AL), the BNP, the Jatiya Party (JP), and the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). The Awami League is a secular-oriented, formerly socialist-leaning party. It is not stringently anti-India, is fairly liberal with regard to ethnic and religious groups, and supports a free-market economy. The BNP, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is less secular, more explicitly Islamic in orientation, and more anti-India. The JP is close to the BNP in overall orientation, but pushed through a bill in Parliament that made Islam the state religion in 1988. The JI emphasizes Islam, Koranic law, and connections to the Arab Middle East.

Social Problems and Control. Legal procedures are based on the English common-law system, and supreme court justices and lower-level judges are appointed by the president. District courts at the district capitals are the closest formal venues for legal proceedings arising from local disputes. There are police forces only in the cities and towns. When there is a severe conflict or crime in rural areas, it may take days for the police to arrive.

In rural areas, a great deal of social control takes place informally. When a criminal is caught, justice may be apportioned locally. In the case of minor theft, a thief may be beaten by a crowd. In serious disputes between families, heads of the involved kinship groups or local political leaders negotiate and the offending party is required to make restitution in money and/or land. Police may be paid to ensure that they do not investigate. Nonviolent disputes over property or rights may be decided through village councils ( panchayat ) headed by the most respected heads of the strongest kinship groups. When mediation or negotiation fails, the police may be called in and formal legal proceedings may begin. People do not conceive of the informal procedures as taking the law into their own hands.

Military Activity. The military has played an active role in the development of the political structure and climate of the country since its inception and has been a source of structure during crises. It has been involved in two coups since 1971. The only real conflict the army has encountered was sporadic fighting with the Shakti Bahini in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from the mid-1970s until 1998, after which an accord between the government and those tribal groups was produced.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Bangladesh is awash in social change programs sponsored by international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, Care, USAID, and other nations' development agencies. Those organizations support project areas such as population control, agricultural and economic development, urban poverty, environmental conservation, and women's economic development.

Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations

The Grameen Bank created the popular microcredit practice, which has given the poor, especially poor women, access to credit. This model is based on creating small circles of people who know and can influence each other to pay back loans. When one member has repaid a loan, another member of the group becomes eligible to receive credit. Other nongovernmental organizations include the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, Probashi, and Aat Din.

Gender Roles and Statuses

Division of Labor by Gender. Women traditionally are in charge of household affairs and are not encouraged to move outside the immediate neighborhood unaccompanied. Thus, most women's economic and social lives revolve around the home, children, and family. Islamic practice reserves prayer inside the mosque for males only; women practice religion within the home. Bangladesh has had two female prime ministers since 1991, both elected with widespread popular support, but women are not generally publicly active in politics.

Men are expected to be the heads of their households and to work outside the home. Men often do the majority of the shopping, since that requires interaction in crowded markets. Men spend a lot of time socializing with other men outside the home.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. The society is patriarchal in nearly every area of life, although some women have achieved significant positions of political power at the national level. For ordinary women, movement is confined, education is stressed less than it is for men, and authority is reserved for a woman's father, older brother, and husband.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage. Marriage is almost always an arranged affair and takes place when the parents, particularly the father, decide that a child should be married. Men marry typically around age twenty-five or older, and women marry between ages fifteen and twenty; thus the husband is usually at least ten years older than the wife. Muslims allow polygynous marriage, but its occurrence is rare and is dependent on a man's ability to support multiple households.

Divorce is a source of social stigma. A Muslim man may initiate a divorce by stating "I divorce you" three times, but very strong family pressure ordinarily ensures that divorces do not occur. A divorce can be most difficult for the woman, who must return to her parent's household.

Domestic Unit. The most common unit is the patrilineally-related extended family living in a household called a barhi. A barhi is composed of a husband and wife, their unmarried children, and their adult sons with their wives and children. Grandparents also may be present, as well as patrilineally-related brothers, cousins, nieces, and nephews. The oldest man is the authority figure, although the oldest woman may exert considerable authority within the household. A barhi in rural areas is composed of three or four houses which face each other to form a square courtyard in which common tasks are done. Food supplies often are shared, and young couples must contribute their earnings to the household head. Cooking, however, often is done within the constituent nuclear family units.

Inheritance. Islamic inheritance rules specify that a daughter should receive one-half the share of a son. However, this practice is rarely followed, and upon a household head's death, property is divided equally among his sons. Daughters may receive produce and gifts from their brothers when they visit as "compensation" for their lack of an inheritance. A widow may receive a share of her husband's property, but this is rare. Sons, however, are custom-bound to care for their mothers, who retain significant power over the rest of the household.

Kin Groups. The patrilineal descent principle is important, and the lineage is very often localized within a geographic neighborhood in which it constitutes a majority. Lineage members can be called on in times of financial crisis, particularly when support is needed to settle local disputes. Lineages do not meet regularly or control group resources.

Socialization

Infant Care. Most women give birth in their natal households, to which they return when childbirth is near. A husband is sent a message when the child is born. Five or seven days after the birth the husband and his close male relatives visit the newborn, and a feast and ritual haircutting take place. The newborn is given an amulet that is tied around the waist, its eye sockets may be blackened with soot or makeup, and a small soot mark is applied to the infant's forehead and the sole of the foot for protection against spirits. Newborns and infants are seldom left unattended. Most infants are in constant contact with their mothers, other women, or the daughters in the household. Since almost all women breastfeed, infant and mother sleep within close reach. Infants' needs are attended to constantly; a crying baby is given attention immediately.

Child Rearing and Education. Children are raised within the extended family and learn early that individual desires are secondary to the needs of the family group. Following orders is expected on the basis of age; an adult or older child's commands must be obeyed as a sign of respect. Child care falls primarily to household women and their daughters. Boys have more latitude for movement outside the household.

Between ages five and ten, boys undergo a circumcision ( musulmani ), usually during the cool months. There is no comparable ritual for girls, and the menarche is not publicly marked.

Most children begin school at age five or six, and attendance tends to drop off as children become more productive within the household (female) and agricultural economy (male). About 75 percent of children attend primary school. The higher a family's socioeconomic status, the more likely it is for both boys and girls to finish their primary educations. Relatively few families can afford to send their children to college (about 17 percent), and even fewer children attend a university. Those who enter a university usually come from relatively well-off families. While school attendance drops off overall as the grades increase, females stop attending school earlier than do males.

Higher Education. Great value is placed on higher education, and those who have university degrees and professional qualifications are accorded high status. In rural areas the opportunities for individuals with such experience are limited; thus, most educated people are concentrated in urban areas.

While the universities are the scenes of political struggle, they are also centers of intellectual and cultural creativity. Students may obtain excellent training in all fields, including the arts, law, medicine, and engineering. Universities are also somewhat like islands where some of the ordinary rules of social interaction are relaxed. For example, male– female interaction on campuses is more open and less monitored than in society as a whole. Dance and theater presentations are common, as are academic debates.

Personal interaction is initiated with the greeting Assalam Waleykum ("peace be with you"), to which the required response is, Waleykum Assalam ("and with you"). Among Hindus, the correct greeting is Nomoshkar, as the hands are brought together under the chin. Men may shake hands if they are of equal status but do not grasp hands firmly. Respect is expressed after a handshake by placing the right hand over the heart. Men and women do not shake hands with each other. In same-sex conversation, touching is common and individuals may stand or sit very close. The closer individuals are in terms of status, the closer their spatial interaction is. Leave-taking is sealed with the phrase Khoda Hafez.

Differences in age and status are marked through language conventions. Individuals with higher status are not addressed by personal name; instead, a title or kinship term is used.

Visitors are always asked to sit, and if no chairs are available, a low stool or a bamboo mat is provided. It is considered improper for a visitor to sit on the floor or ground. It is incumbent on the host to offer guests something to eat.

In crowded public places that provide services, such as train stations, the post office, or bazaars, queuing is not practiced and receiving service is dependent on pushing and maintaining one's place within the throng. Open staring is not considered impolite.

Religious Beliefs. The symbols and sounds of Islam, such as the call to prayer, punctuate daily life. Bangladeshis conceptualize themselves and others fundamentally through their religious heritage. For example, the nationality of foreigners is considered secondary to their religious identity.

Islam is a part of everyday life in all parts of the country, and nearly every village has at least a small mosque and an imam (cleric). Prayer is supposed to be performed five times daily, but only the committed uphold that standard. Friday afternoon prayer is often the only time that mosques become crowded.

Throughout the country there is a belief in spirits that inhabit natural spaces such as trees, hollows, and riverbanks. These beliefs are derided by Islamic religious authorities.

Hinduism encompasses an array of deities, including Krishna, Ram, Durga, Kali, and Ganesh. Bangladeshi Hindus pay particular attention to the female goddess Durga, and rituals devoted to her are among the most widely celebrated.

Religious Practitioners. The imam is associated with a mosque and is an important person in both rural and urban society, leading a group of followers. The imam's power is based on his knowledge of the Koran and memorization of phrases in Arabic. Relatively few imams understand Arabic in the spoken or written form. An imam's power is based on his ability to persuade groups of men to act in conjunction with Islamic rules. In many villages the imam is believed to have access to the supernatural, with the ability to write charms that protect individuals from evil spirits, imbue liquids with holy healing properties, or ward off or reverse of bad luck.

Brahman priests perform rituals for the Hindu community during the major festivals when offerings are made but also in daily acts of worship. They are respected, but Hinduism does not have the codified hierarchical structure of Islam. Thus, a Brahman priest may not have a position of leadership outside his religious duties.

Rituals and Holy Places. The primary Islamic holidays in Bangladesh include: Eid-ul-Azha (the tenth day of the Muslim month Zilhaj ), in which a goat or cow is sacrificed in honor of Allah; Shob-i-Barat (the fourteenth or fifteenth day of Shaban ), when Allah records an individual's future for the rest of the year; Ramadan (the month Ramzan ), a month-long period of fasting between dawn and dusk; Eid-ul-Fitr (the first day of the month Shawal, following the end of Ramzan ), characterized by alms giving to the poor; and Shob-i-Meraz (the twenty-seventh day of Rajab ), which commemorates the night when Mohammed ascended to heaven. Islamic holidays are publicly celebrated in afternoon prayers at mosques and outdoor open areas, where many men assemble and move through their prayers in unison.

Among the most important Hindu celebrations are Saraswati Puja (February), dedicated to the deity Saraswati, who takes the form of a swan. She is the patron of learning, and propitiating her is important for students. Durga Puja (October) pays homage to the female warrior goddess Durga, who has ten arms, carries a sword, and rides a lion. After a nine-day festival, images of Durga and her associates are placed in a procession and set into a river. Kali Puja (November) is also called the Festival of Lights and honors Kali, a female deity who has the power to give and take away life. Candles are lit in and around homes.

Other Hindu and Islamic rituals are celebrated in villages and neighborhoods and are dependent on important family or local traditions. Celebrations take place at many local shrines and temples.

Death and the Afterlife. Muslims believe that after death the soul is judged and moves to heaven or hell. Funerals require that the body be washed, the nostrils and ears be plugged with cotton or cloth, and the body be wrapped in a white shroud. The body is buried or entombed in a brick or concrete structure. In Hinduism, reincarnation is expected and one's actions throughout life determine one's future lives. As the family mourns and close relatives shave their heads, the body is transported to the funeral ghat (bank along a river), where prayers are recited. The body is to be placed on a pyre and cremated, and the ashes are thrown into the river.

Medicine and Health Care

The pluralistic health care system includes healers such as physicians, nonprofessionally trained doctors, Aryuvedic practitioners, homeopaths, fakirs, and naturopaths. In rural areas, for non-life-threatening acute conditions, the type of healer consulted depends largely on local reputation. In many places, the patient consults a homeopath or a nonprofessional doctor who is familiar with local remedies as well as modern medical practices. Professional physicians are consulted by the educated and by those who have not received relief from other sources. Commonly, people pursue alternative treatments simultaneously, visiting a fakir for an amulet, an imam for blessed oil, and a physician for medicine.

A nationally run system of public hospitals provides free service. However, prescriptions and some medical supplies are the responsibility of patients and their families.

Aryuvedic beliefs based on humoral theories are common among both Hindus and Muslims. These beliefs are commonly expressed through the categorization of the inherent hot or cold properties of foods. An imbalance in hot or cold food intake is believed to lead to sickness. Health is restored when this imbalance is counteracted through dietary means.

Secular Celebrations

Ekushee (21 February), also called Shaheed Dibash, is the National Day of Martyrs commemorating those who died defending the Bangla language in 1952. Political speeches are held, and a memorial service takes place at the Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Monument) in Dhaka. Shadheenata Dibash, or Independence Day (26 March), marks the day when Bangladesh declared itself separate from Pakistan. The event is marked with military parades and political speeches. Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, is celebrated on the first day of the month of Boishakh (generally in April). Poetry readings and musical events take place. May Day (1 May) celebrates labor and workers with speeches and cultural events. Bijoy Dibosh, or Victory Day (16 December), commemorates the day in 1971 when Pakistani forces surrendered to a joint Bangladeshi–Indian force. Cultural and political events are held.

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts. Artists are largely self-supporting. The Bangla Academy in Dhaka provides support for some artists, particularly writers and poets. Many artists sell aesthetic works that have utilitarian functions.

Literature. Most people, regardless of their degree of literacy, can recite more than one poem with dramatic inflection. Best known are the works of the two poet–heroes of the region: Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nurul Islam. Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Although from West Bengal, he is respected as a Bengali who championed the preservation of Bangla language and culture. His poem "Golden Bengal" was adopted as the national anthem.

The most famous contemporary writer is Taslima Nasreen, whose novellas and essays question the Islamic justification for the customary treatment of women. Conservative religious authorities have tried to have her arrested and have called for her death for blasphemy. She lives in exile.

Graphic Arts. Most graphic arts fall within the domain of traditional production by Hindu caste groups. The most pervasive art form throughout the country is pottery, including water jugs and bowls of red clay, often with a red slip and incising. Some Hindu sculptors produce brightly painted works depicting Durga and other deities. Drawing and painting are most visible on the backs of rickshaws and the wooden sides of trucks.

Performance Arts. Bengali music encompasses a number of traditions and mirrors some of the country's poetry. The most common instruments are the harmonium, the tabla, and the sitar. Generally, classical musicians are adept at the rhythms and melodic properties associated with Hindu and Urdu devotional music. More popular today are the secular male–female duets that accompany Bengali and Hindi films. These songs are rooted in the classical tradition but have a freer contemporary melodic structure. Traditional dance is characterized by a rural thematic element with particular hand, foot, and head movements. Dance is virtually a female-only enterprise. Plays are traditionally an important part of village life, and traveling shows stop throughout the countryside. Television dramas portray family relationships, love, and economic advantage and disadvantage. Plays in the cities, particularly in Dhaka, are attended by the educated young.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

Dhaka University offers courses in most academic disciplines. Sciences such as physics and chemistry have very good programs, although there is a lack of up-to-date laboratories and equipment. In the social sciences, the field of economics is particularly strong, along with anthropology, sociology, and political science. Many top students in the physical and social sciences study abroad, especially in the United States and Europe. The top engineering program is at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Electrical, ocean/naval, civil, and mechanical engineering have very good programs. Education in computer engineering is improving rapidly.

Bibliography

Ahmed, Nafis. A New Economic Geography of Bangladesh, 1976.

Ali, A. M. M. Shawkat. Politics and Land System in Bangladesh, 1986.

Alim, A. Bangladesh Rice, 1982.

Baxter, Craig. New Nation in an Old Setting, 1984.

— Bangladesh: From a Nation to a State, 1997.

Bessaignet, Pierre. Tribesmen of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, 1958.

Blanchet, Therese. Women, Pollution, and Marginality, 1984.

Bornstein, David. The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank and the Idea That is Helping the Poor to Change Their Lives, 1997.

Chowdhury, Subrata Roy. The Genesis of Bangladesh: A Study in International Legal Norms and Permissive Conscience, 1972.

Glassie, Henry. Art and Life in Bangladesh, 1997.

Hartman, James, and Betsy Boyce. Needless Hunger, 1979.

Huq, Syed Mujibul, translator. Selected Poems of Kazi Nurul Islam, 1983.

Islam, Aminul A. K. M. Bangladesh Village: Political Conflict and Cohesion, 1982.

Majumdar, R. C. History of Bengal, 1943.

Nicholas, Marta, and Philip Oldenburg. Bangladesh: Birth of a Nation, 1972.

Novak, James J. Bangladesh: Reflections on the Water, 1993.

O'Donnell, Charles Peter. Bangladesh: Biography of a Muslim Nation, 1984.

Ray, Rajat Kanta. Mind, Body and Society: Life and Mentality in Colonial Bengal, 1995.

Sisson, Richard, and Leo Rose. War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh, 1991.

United States Department of State. Bangladesh Background Notes, 1998.

Wennergren, E. Boyd, Charles H. Antholt, and Morris D. Whitaker. Agricultural Development in Bangladesh, 1984.

Wood, Geoffrey. Whose Ideas, Whose Interests?, 1991.

Virtual Bangladesh. http://www.virtualbangladesh.com

—M ICHAEL S. H ARRIS , WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF E LIZABETH L LOYD

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• The Culture and Customs Of Bangladesh

The people of Bangladesh ’s way of life make up the culture of Bangladesh. The country has a diverse culture that has evolved over time with influences from diverse social groups. Bangladesh’s primary religions, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, have played a critical role in influencing the country’s culture. Development of the Bengali culture proliferated in the 19th century and part of the 20th century during the Bengal Renaissance, with renowned Bengali writers, scientists, filmmakers, musicians, artists, and researchers playing a critical role. This culture manifests in the nation’s dance, music, literature, architecture, and even clothing.

Music And Performing Arts

In Bangladesh, music and dance styles generally fall under the three categories of folk, classical, and modern. The country’s traditional folk songs are rich with themes such as love. Lyrics come from the nation’s culture, mysticism, and spirituality. Folk songs include Baul , Murshidi, and Bhatiali, and some of the lyricists include Hason Raja and Abbas Uddin among others. The dancing styles in Bangladesh are distinct although some dance forms such as Kathak and Bharatnatyam show influences from other parts of the Indian subcontinent, as Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan in the past. In the urban centers, rock bands influenced by western culture have risen in popularity recently. Musical instruments used in Bangladesh include modern ones from western origins such as guitars and traditional ones including bamboo flutes and drums named bashi and tabla or dhol.

The most widespread religion in Bangladesh is Islam , which constitutes 87% of the citizens of the nation. Buddhism and Hinduism are also popular religions. A tiny part of Bangladesh’s population includes Christians and Sikhs, with others being atheists. The four religious national holidays are Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Buddha Purnima, and Durga Puja.

Festivals And Celebrations

The culture of Bangladesh incorporates festivals and celebrations. These events include Eid ul-Adha, Chand Raat, and Eid ul-Fitr from Islam as well as Janmashtami and Durga Puja from Hinduism. Other festivals in Bangladesh include the Christian Christmas and Buddha Purnima from the Buddhist religion. The people of Bangladesh also celebrate national holidays like Independence Day and Language Movement Day. Bengali marriage comes in the form of traditional weddings which follows Muslim procession and has matchmakers called Ghotoks involved in the arrangement. The other religions in Bangladesh have different wedding methods although they sometimes follow Bengali procession.

Clothing And Cuisine

The dress preferences in Bangladesh are unique. Bangladeshi men’s casual wear in rural areas is the lungi with formal clothing being suits or shirts and trousers. On cultural and religious occasions, men have traditional wear called Panjabi . In women, the traditional and main dress is the Shari , with young females also wearing salwar kameez . Bangladesh’s cuisine is renowned for having a distinctive culinary tradition. The nation’s staple food is rice served with various food items such as vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, curries, and thick lentil soups. The country has many sweet preparations including Bangladesh’s sweetmeats which are milk based. These delicacies include shondesh , rasmalai, Chom-Chom, rasgulla, and Kala jam . The primary source of protein in Bangladesh is fish, with over 40 types of freshwater fish including Katla, catfish called magur, and shutki machh. Eating beef is not a taboo in the country, with beef curry being essential in Bengal cuisine.

Sport is an integral part of the culture of Bangladesh, and a very popular source of entertainment. Bangladesh’s national sport is Kabaddi. The most popular game in the country is cricket with football coming in second. The national cricket team of Bangladesh is eligible to play Test cricket, a status that was established in 2000. Bangladesh participates in international competitions such as the Olympic, Asian, and Commonwealth Games. Traditional sports in the country include Kho Kho and Lathi Khela.

Architecture

Rooted in Bangladesh’s culture, history, and religion are the nation’s architectural attributes and designs. Over centuries, religious, exotic and social communities have influenced the architecture of Bangladesh. Some of the structural models in the country include Pala Buddhist, Indo-Saracenic Revival, Islamic and Mughal architectures. The nation boasts of architectural relics and monuments which are thousands of years old. Some of the buildings showing different designs in Bangladesh include Kantajew Temple in Dinajpur, the parliament house named Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban, Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka, and Lalbagh Fort also in Dhaka.

Media And Cinema

The press in Bangladesh is diverse and privately owned. The country has more than 200 published newspapers and over 20 television networks owned privately. The state owns Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar, which is a radio service. Voice of America and BBC Bangla from the British Broadcasting Corporation are very popular in Bangladesh. In 1898, the Crown Theatre located in Dacca began screening films giving birth to Bangladesh’s cinema culture. Production of films started in 1931 with the Last Kiss from the East Bengal Cinematograph Society. During the 1960s, production rose to about 30 films annually with close to 100 films per year by the 2000s. During the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, the International Federation of Film Critics honored the late Tareque Masud, a distinguished Bangladeshi director for his film The Clay Bird.

Bengal Renaissance

The Bengali Renaissance was a movement during the British rule in the 19th century when Bangladesh witnessed an awakening in its culture, artistry, and intellect. Bengal renaissance resembles the 16th-century European Renaissance with the main difference being the colonialism challenge in Bangladesh. Existing orthodoxies became the primary focus of the movement, which questioned religion, respect for women and marriage systems. The Renaissance brought about changes to religion and spirituality, arts, literature, and advancement in science and technology.

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Essay on Bangladesh

Students are often asked to write an essay on Bangladesh in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Bangladesh

Introduction to bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is next to India and Myanmar. The capital city is Dhaka. The official language is Bengali. It is known for its rich culture and history.

Geography of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is mostly flat with rivers and hills. It has a tropical monsoon climate. The country has many rivers including the Padma and the Meghna. These rivers are very important for farming and transportation.

Population of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most populated countries in the world. People here are known as Bangladeshis. Most people speak Bengali and follow Islam. There are also many different ethnic groups.

Culture of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a rich and diverse culture. It includes literature, music, dance, and art. The country also celebrates many festivals like Eid, Pohela Boishakh, and Durga Puja.

Economy of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s economy is growing fast. It is known for its garment industry. The country also grows a lot of rice, jute, and tea. Many people work in farming, but services and industry jobs are increasing.

Bangladesh is a unique country with a rich culture and history. It has a growing economy and a diverse population. Despite facing challenges, it continues to develop and prosper.

250 Words Essay on Bangladesh

Introduction.

Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is surrounded by India, Myanmar, and the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is famous for its rich culture, history, and natural beauty.

Bangladesh is a land of rivers. It has more than 700 rivers, including the Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna. These rivers play a big role in the country’s economy and culture. Bangladesh also has the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans.

The culture of Bangladesh is very rich and diverse. The people of Bangladesh celebrate various festivals such as Pohela Boishakh (New Year), Eid, and Durga Puja. The traditional music and dance forms, like Baul and Jatra, are very popular.

The economy of Bangladesh has been growing rapidly. The country is one of the world’s largest producers of textiles and garments. It also has a strong agriculture sector, with rice and jute being the main crops.

Bangladesh, with its rich culture, natural beauty, and hardworking people, is a fascinating country. Despite facing many challenges, it has shown great resilience and is making steady progress in many areas.

500 Words Essay on Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a small and beautiful country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small part in the southeast which borders Myanmar. Bangladesh is known for its rich culture, history, and natural beauty.

Bangladesh is mainly a flat land with fertile soil. It has the largest delta in the world, formed by the mighty rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. These rivers make the soil very fertile, which is great for farming. The country is also known for its beautiful green landscapes and many water bodies. The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, is located in Bangladesh and is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

The history of Bangladesh is rich and ancient. It was once part of the powerful Maurya and Gupta Empires. Later, it was ruled by the Mughals and the British. In 1947, when India got independence from British rule, Bangladesh became a part of Pakistan and was known as East Pakistan. But after a long struggle and a nine-month-long war in 1971, Bangladesh gained its independence.

Bangladesh has a rich and diverse culture. The people of Bangladesh are known for their love of music, dance, and art. The traditional dance forms and music like Baul and Marfoti are very popular. The country also has a rich tradition of folk literature. The main festival of Bangladesh is Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year. The people of Bangladesh celebrate this day with great joy and enthusiasm.

The economy of Bangladesh is growing rapidly. The main occupation is farming, with rice being the main crop. The country is also one of the largest producers of jute, a plant used for making rope and sacks. In recent years, the garment industry has grown a lot and has become a major part of the economy. Bangladesh is now one of the world’s largest exporters of garments.

Bangladesh is a country of great potential and beauty. Despite facing many challenges like natural disasters and overpopulation, the people of Bangladesh are known for their resilience and hard work. With its rich culture, history, and natural beauty, Bangladesh is a country that has a lot to offer. It is a country that is moving forward with hope and determination.

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Bangladesh - Guide to Culture, Etiquette and Business Practices

What will you learn about bangladesh.

You will gain an understanding of a number of key areas including:

• Religion and beliefs
• Culture and society
• Social etiquette and customs
• Business culture and etiquette

Stereotyping

Remember this is only a very basic level introduction to Bangladeshi culture and the people; it cannot account for the diversity within Bangladeshi society and is not meant in any way to stereotype all Bangladeshi people you may meet!

Facts and Statistics

• Capital: Dhaka
• Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
• Climate: tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
• Population: 170+ million (2020)
• Ethnic Make-up: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims
• Religions:  Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1%

Boys create a human tower in Araihazar. Photo by Ashraful Haque Akash on Unsplash

Languages in Bangladesh

The official language is Bangla, also known as Bengali:

• Bangla is the first language of more than 98 percent of the population. It is written in its own script, derived from that of Sanskrit. Some people in Bangladesh can also speak English as well as Hindi and Urdu.
• Bangla vocabulary shows many influences. These include a strong Islamic influence seen in the greetings of "Salaam aleykum" (Peace be unto you) and "Khoda hafez" (God Bless you) and nouns from the Arab world such as "dokan" (shop), "tarikh"(date), "kolom"(pen) and "bonduk" (gun).
• In West Bengal, the Hindu influence is greater with the use of the Hindu greeting "Namashkar".
• English has also had an influence on Bangla. During the days of the Raj many words of English origin such as "tebil" (table), "tiffin" (archaic in modern day English meaning snack box) entered Bangla. In more recent time the ever rising global nature of English has led to words such as "television", "telephone", "video" and "radio" being adopted by Bangla. However, unlike India, there has never been the need for English as a lingua franca and thus Bangla is the state language of Bangladesh.
• In the business setting, most Bangladeshis are able to speak English.

Bangladeshi Culture & Society

• Bangladesh is a hierarchical society.
• People are respected because of their age and position.
• Older people are naturally viewed as wise and are granted respect.
• Bangladeshis expect the most senior male, by age or position, to make decisions that are in the best interest of the group. This is also valid in businesses, the majority of which will be family owned/run.
• In a business setting, educational qualifications, seniority and expertise go a long way to increasing one’s position within the hierarchy. As such, you should include your qualifications on your business card and ensure that your Bangladeshi counterparts are aware of your expertise. You should do so, however, in a way that won’t be construed as ‘boastful’.
• The majority of Bangladeshis are Muslim . However, the Islamic religion is often heavily mixed with pre-Islam folk traditions.
• Bangladeshis identify with the folk traditions of Bengali culture. This includes belief in shamanism and the powers of Fakirs (Muslim holy men who are exorcists and faith healers), Ojhaa (shamins with magical healing powers), and Bauls (religious mendicants and wandering musicians).
• There is a strong tradition of music, dance, and literature that includes classical devotions of Hindu and Muslim music.
• Religion plays an incredibly important role in Bangladesh and it’s important that you never under-estimate its influences. Religion shapes many areas of Bangladeshi culture and, many Bangladeshis prioritise their religious identity over their national identity. However, it’s also important to note that Bangladeshis practice a tolerant form of Islam and are generally very accepting of non Muslims.
• If you are going to work in Bangladesh, or with Bangladeshi people, then it’s a good idea to develop an understanding of some of the more important principles of Islam.
• Islam defines many of the festivals in Bangaldesh. These include the two Eids (one after Ramadan and one after the Hajj) Shab-e-Qadr (the night of power), Milad un-Nabi (birth date of the Prophet Muhammad) and Shab-e-Barat (the night of the fortune).
• Hindu influences festivals include Durga Puja and Kali Puja (community worshipping of Goddess Durga and Kali).
• On the whole an entire community participates in each other's religious ceremonies.

A mosque in Sylhet. Photo by Marwan Ahmed on Unsplash .

Customs and Etiquette in Bangladesh

Meeting & greeting.

• Greetings usually take place between members of the same sex.
• The hand shake is common although they may feel rather limp.
• Formal introductions between the genders outside of the family will only really happen within the business context. If you are meeting with a member of the opposite sex, then wait to see if they will offer you their hand before venturing to offer your own. If they don’t offer you their hand, then consider placing your right hand over your heart and giving a slight nod of your head. This is a perfectly acceptable way to meet and greet within Bangladesh and is also a common practice across other Muslim majority countries..
• The traditional greeting for Muslims is Asalamu alaikum to which the response is wa alaikum salam.
• Naming conventions are very much based on the hierarchical nature of Bangladeshi society.
• Bangladeshis will append a suffix to a person's name to denote respect and the level of closeness between the two people.
• It is common for people to use kinship titles within their community, regardless of whether there is a formal blood tie. If someone interacts with someone slightly older than them, then they may refer to them as big sister, or, big brother. If someone is a generation older, then they may be referred to as aunty or uncle.
• In general, age dictates how people are addressed.
• If people are of the same age, they use first names.

Gift Giving Etiquette

• Gifts are mainly given between family members at religious holidays, especially after Ramadan and Hajj.
• In cities, it is becoming more common for gifts to be given on birthdays.
• In Bangladesh the importance of gifts is in the thought rather than the value. Part of the reason lies in the fact that gifts should be generally reciprocated and it would be considered rude to offer someone a gift that is difficult to reciprocate.
• Ensure that you are mindful of religion when giving gifts to Muslims. Don’t give anything that contains alcohol, non-halal meat products or that contains inappropriate imagery.
• If giving gifts to Hindus in Bangladesh, then avoid giving them anything that contains leather as cows have a special veneration in the Hindu religion. You should also avoid giving gifts that contain meat products as many Hindus are vegetarian.
• Never give money as this will be taken offensively and avoid giving white flowers, such as frangipanes as these are typically reserved for funerals.
• Fruit, nuts, pastries, sweets, good quality chocolates or souvenirs, from one’s home country, make good gifts.
• When presenting your gift, use either two hands or your right hand as the left hand is not considered clean in the Islamic religion.
• It is customary in Bangladesh to open gifts in private.

Dining Etiquette

• If meeting with people for dinner here are some basic rules on etiquette and protocol:
• If invited to a meal and you are unable to make it, then it is rude to flatly turn the invitation down. One should always use less direct language to suggest that it may be difficult such as "I will try." or "I will have to see".
• Meals both inside the house and outside will usually be segregated along gender lines.  As such, if you attend a meal as a couple, then the female will eat with other females and the male will eat with other males.
• Many people eat with their hands and it may be that you share food from a common dish.
• Ensure you wash your hands before eating in the event that you are required to eat with your hands.  If you are not comfortable eating with your hands, then it's perfectly acceptable to ask for utensils.
• Guests are generally served first then the oldest, continuing in order of seniority.
• Do not start eating until the oldest person at the table begins.
• You will constantly be urged to take more food. Simply saying "I'm full" will be taken as a polite gesture and not accepted at face value. It is therefore always best to pace yourself to allow for more servings.
• The left hand is considered unclean so only eat, pass dishes or drink with the right hand.

Covering up for COVID. Photo taken in Moheskhali Upazila by Md. Akil Khan on Unsplash

Business Culture and Etiquette in Bangladesh

Communication styles.

• Bangladeshis are quite implicit/indirect communicators. They tend to communicate in long, rich and contextualized sentences which only make sense when properly understood in relation to body language.
• It is important for people who come from implicit/direct cultures to understand that their communication styles may be seen as rude and the information provided inadequate.
• If you are from a direct communication culture, then it's important that you soften your message and that you elaborate where possible. Also take the time to try and observe the context in which your Bangladeshi counterpart is speaking.  Be aware of visual cues, potential silence, body language and what is not said, in addition to what is said.
• Personal space is less of an issue in Bangladesh than many European cultures. Bengalis stand close when speaking to someone of the same gender and touch is common.
• However, if you are speaking to someone of the opposite sex, then it’s important to increase the personal space and to avoid prolonged eye contact.
• Business etiquette in Bangladesh is reasonably formal. Proper behaviour is expected.
• Men greet each other with a handshake upon arriving and leaving.
• Foreign men should nod to a Bangladeshi woman unless she extends her hand. Businessmen should be addressed by the term "Bahadur" ("Sir"), while women may be addressed as "Begum" ("Madam"). This may be used with or without the surname.
• Wait until your counterpart moves to a first name basis before you do so.

Business Card Etiquette

• Business cards are exchanged after the initial introduction.
• Educational qualifications are valued so include any university degrees.
• Present your business card with the right hand.
• Treat business cards given to you with respect. Merely glancing at it then throwing it on the table would be rude. Study it, comment on it and ideally place it into a business card holder.

Business Meetings

• Meetings in Bangladesh are generally the place where decisions are disseminated rather than made.
• They will usually be led by the most senior present who sets the agenda, the content, and the pace of the activities.
• Meeting structures are not very linear in Bangladesh. There may be an agenda and a starting time, but they only serve as guidelines.
• Completing a meeting fully takes priority over time and may extend well past any scheduled end time.
• Meetings may commence with some small talk.
• Communication is formal and follows a hierarchical structure. Deference to the most senior person in the group is expected. This is especially true when dealing with government officials.
• One should never let their level of professionalism slip. Casual behaviour may be misinterpreted as a lack of respect.
• Never lose your temper or show emotion. This may lead to a loss of face which will mean a loss of dignity and respect.
• The need to avoid a loss of face is also reflected in communication styles. Rather than say no or disappoint people Bangladeshis will phrase sentiments in such as way that it is up to people to read between the lines to understand what is being implied. Phrases such as "we will try", "that may be difficult", or "we will have to give that some though" may really mean "this can't be done". . Therefore, it is important to ask questions in several ways so you can be certain what was meant by a vague response. Silence is often used as a communication tool.
• Many people comment on the lack of smiles in Bangladesh. This has nothing to do with unfriendliness but rather related to the fact that a serious face is believed to demonstrate maturity.
• Read more in our Bangladesh Management Guide

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“Culture Matters”: Towards Understanding the Crisis of Culture in Bangladesh

• First Online: 22 April 2022

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• Taj Hashmi 2  

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This chapter aims at offering a theoretical and hypothetical approach to understanding the crisis of culture in Bangladesh, a nation forever plagued by crisis. The backwardness of the country is attributed by some to lack of leadership, while others attribute it to demographic pressures, natural disasters and colonial exploitation. Nevertheless, with considerable infrastructure development and lessened hunger to some degree, Bangladesh is no longer considered a basket case. The key factor for a country’s growth, development and viability is debated, whether it is good leadership or the right political culture. Bangladesh has inherent cultural problems that prevent effective governance and growth. Furthermore, the culture that hinders good governance and socio-economic development in the country also prevents the right type of leadership from taking over. There is no reason to believe that the country can become developed only by developing its infrastructure. Low-wage labour, skyscrapers, flyovers, metros and luxury malls do not make countries developed. Our argument in this chapter is that democracy, equality, freedom and a government accountable to the people lead to developmental success. To achieve these prerequisites, the people must undergo a cultural transformation into members of a “liberal society,” either naturally or through mass education and collective leadership by a dedicated group of citizens, as was the case during Japan’s Meiji Restoration. Illiberal societies cannot support liberal democracies. Understanding William Kornhauser’s concept of “mass society” as well as Oscar Lewis’s, Samuel Huntington’s, David Landes’s and others’ arguments that “culture matters” is essential in understanding Bangladesh’s underdevelopment. Over the years, history and geography have contributed to shaping the popular and politic al culture of Bangladeshis, but their religious and secular traditions, beliefs and values have had a greater influence . Backwardness, poor governance and poverty in Bangladesh are all related to Bangladeshis’ collective culture. Understanding this is crucial to understanding Bangladesh’s economic, political and social behaviour.

Even the poorest and least articulate layers of society have considerable potential for resisting and obstructing measures intended to coerce them. —Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations, Vol. 1, Pantheon, New York 1968, p. 66 The historian may not erase or rewrite the past to make it more pleasing; and the economist whose easy assumption that every country is destined to develop sooner or later, must be ready to look hard at failure. —David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor , W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1998, p. 5

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Eric Wolf, Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century , Harper & Row, London, 1969.

UNESCO, Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development , 1994, p. 7.

Max Weber, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Other Writings , Penguin 2002, passim.

Protestant Ethic …, Preface to New Edition by Talcott Parsons, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 1937, p. XVIII.

Oscar Lewis, Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty , Basic Books, Inc. New York 1959, p. 2.

A. R. Desai, “Reliance on Rich Farmers for Development: its Implications”, in his (ed), Rural Sociology in India , Popular Prakashan, Bombay 1984, p. 886.

Marshall Sahlins, “A Brief Cultural History of ‘Culture’”, UNESCO Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development , 1994, p. 21.

Ibid., p. 23.

Department of Economic Affairs, UN, National and Per Capita Income of Seventy Countries in 1949 , New York, 1950, pp. 14–15.

Henry Bernstein (ed), Underdevelopment & Development: The Third World Today , Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1978, pp. 13–15.

Ibid., p. 13.

Francis Fukuyama, Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity , Free Press, New York 1995, p. xiv.

Eric Stokes, The Peasant and the Raj: Studies in Agrarian Society and Peasant Rebellion in Colonial India , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1978, pp. 280–2.

Ferdinand Tonnies, Community and Society (Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft) , Routledge, London, 2017 (reprint), passim.

Francis Fukuyama, Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity , Free Press, New York 1995, p. 45.

Ibid., pp. 48–9.

Minute by the Hon’ble T. B. Macaulay, dated 2 February 1835, http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hcverma/Article/Macaulay-Minutes.pdf .

The Works of Lord Macaulay: Essays and Biographies , Volume III, Longmans, Green & Co., London 1898, pp. 425–6.

John Beams, Memoirs of a Bengal Civilian , Chatto & Windus, London 1961, pp. 276 and 285.

British War Cabinet Papers, WP (44) FG 362 (Proof) L/PO/11/3 (Kolkata Archives, Writer’s Building).

Robert Carstairs, The Little World of an Indian District Officer , Macmillan & Co., Limited, London 1912, p. 26.

W.W. Hunter, The Indian Musalmans (first published in 1871), W. Rahman, Barnalipi Mudrayan, Dacca 1975, p. 141.

Ibid., p. 153.

Ataur Rahman Khan, Ozarotir Dui Bochhor (Two Years as Minister), Abhijan Printing House, Dhaka 1963, pp. 162–4, 322–3.

Peter Singer (ed), Ethics , Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, “The Long Search for the Origins of Ethics: Introduction”, pp. 17–18.

Prothom Alo (Bengali daily), 8 May 2001.

See Taj Hashmi, Pakistan as a Peasant Utopia , Routledge, London 2019 (reprint); and Joya Chatterjee, Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947 , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994, passim.

Oliver Roy, The Failure of Political Islam , I.B. Tauris Publishers, London, 1994, passim.

“Is South Asia Condemned to Backwardness?”, ISAS Insights , No. 183, 27 August 2012, National University of Singapore.

Fareed Zakaria, “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy”, Foreign Affairs , November-December 1997, which later came out as a bestseller, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad , W.W. Norton & Company, New York 2007.

Denis McQuail, Mass Communication Theory (fifth edition), Sage, London 2005, p. 449; William Kornhauser, The Politics of Mass Society , The Free Press, Third Edition, New York 1963, p. 5.

Encyclopaedia Britannica , https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-society .

William Kornhauser, The Politics of Mass Society , The Free Press, Third Edition, New York 1963, p. 16.

Ibid., pp. 22–3.

Ibid., pp. 26–7.

Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind , The Floating Press, Auckland 2009, p. 18.

William Kornhauser, The Politics of Mass Society , The Free Press, Third Edition, New York 1963, pp. 30–3, 41.

Ibid., pp. 119–21; 145–65; 174–222.

Ibid., pp. 227–37.

Ahmed Kamal, “A Land of Eternal Eid: Independence, People and Politics in East Bengal”, Dhaka University Studies , Part A, Vol. 46, No. 1, June 1989.

Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time , Penguin Books 2005, p. 1.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus’s interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Radio), March 25, 1997 https://www.dw.com/en/muhammad-yunus-put-poverty-in-the-museum/a-16778589 .

Clarence Maloney, Behavior and Poverty in Bangladesh , University Press Limited, Dhaka 1991, p. vii.

Ibid., p. viii.

David Landes, “Culture Makes Almost All the Differences”, in Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington (eds), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress , Basic Books, New York 2000.

David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor , W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1998, p. 517.

Samuel P. Huntington, “Foreword: Cultures Count”, in Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington (eds), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress , Basic Books, New York 2000, p. xiii.

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty: Why Nations Fail , Crown Publishers, New York 2012, front flap.

David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor , W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1998, p. 5.

Ibid., p. 12.

Lawrence Harrison, Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind: The Latin American Case , Harvard Center for International Affairs, 1985, p. xv.

Ibid., p. xxii.

Ibid., pp. xxiv–v.

“Culture Makes Almost All the Difference”, in Lawrence Harrison and Samuel Huntington (eds) Culture Matters, How Values Shape Human Progress , Basic Books, New York 2000, p. 3.

Ibid., pp. 3–4.

Orlando Patterson, The Ordeal of Integration: Progress and Resentment in America’s “Racial” Crisis , Perseus Counterprint, Washington DC, 1997, p. 109, cited in Lawrence Harrison, Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind: The Latin American Case , Harvard Center for International Affairs, 1985, p. xxxi.

Lawrence Harrison, Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind: The Latin American Case , Harvard Center for International Affairs, 1985, p. xxv.

Victor Purcell, The Chinese in Southeast Asia , Oxford University Press, London 1951, p. 325.

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty: Why Nations Fail , Crown Publishers, New York 2012, pp. 364–7, 446–50, and 458–60.

Ibid., pp. 432–3.

Taj Hashmi, Pakistan as a Peasant Utopia , Routledge, New York 2019, p. 49.

David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor , W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1998, p. 8.

Ibid., p. 10.

Ronald Inglehart, “Culture and Democracy” in Lawrence Harrison and Samuel Huntington (eds), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress , Basic Books, New York 2000, p. 80.

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty: Why Nations Fail , Crown Publishers, New York 2012, pp. 70–95, 98–104.

Ronald Inglehart, “Culture and Democracy” in Lawrence Harrison and Samuel Huntington (eds), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress , Basic Books, New York 2000, p. 227.

Ibid., p. 232.

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Hashmi, T. (2022). “Culture Matters”: Towards Understanding the Crisis of Culture in Bangladesh. In: Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97158-8_9

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Almost everything you wanted to know about Bangladesh

• Festivals and Traditions

Bangla New Year

Bangladeshi daily life is replete with traditions and festivals that reflect the unique culture and tradition of Bangladeshis. Some of the tradition and customs are as ancient as prehistoric days, while others are relatively recent. The indigenous customs and festivals that has been preserved and nurtured through the ages are principally center around agricultural practices.  These include nabonno (the festival of the new harvest) and pawhela boishAkh (the Bengali new Year). Religion has also played a distinct role in shaping the mores and traditions of Bangladeshi life.

Eid Mubarak

Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country, and Islam’s adherents in Bangladesh celebrate the joyous festival of the two Eids, Eid-ul-Fitr, and Eid-ul-Azha, the month of Ramadan, Shab-e-Qadr, Shab-e-Barat etc. Hindus in Bangladesh celebrate Durga Puja,  Kali Puja and Janmastami. The Buddhists celebrate Buddho Purnima and the Christians Christmas. These are just a few of the religious festivals and feasts that Bangladeshis celebrate in their day to day life.

National occasions also mark Bangladeshi life, and these include Independence Day, Victory Day, and the historic Language Martyr’s Day.

Social customs like birth, naming ceremony, marriage, and death too have a distinct Bangladeshi flavor with each ethnic and religious group having their own unique way to mark these traditions.

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Bangladeshi Culture

The family is central to one’s social life in Bangladesh, forming the basis of individuals’ support networks. The typical household in Bangladesh, especially in villages, often includes several generations. Indeed, if individuals do not live in a village, they will usually still have relatives (such as their parents)who reside in their home village. People living in urban areas and cities often try to make at least one trip per year to their village – particularly men that work in different locations to provide for their family. The general approach to family ties is communal, and people often act in the best interests of the community rather than based on their individual preferences. Generally, children are expected to consult their parents on major life choices such as their education and marriage. This is slowly changing, with some people making decisions without deliberating with their parents.

Barhi (Home)

The most common family unit in Bangladesh is called the ‘ barhi ’. This consists of a husband and wife, their unmarried children, and their adult sons with their wives and children. The barhi provides economic stability and a form of social identity. The barhi is both patriarchal and patrilineal. For example, it is common to find married sons living in their parents’ household during the father’s lifetime, and grandparents may also be present depending on the family’s economic and personal situation. While sons often build separate houses for their nuclear families, they remain under their father’s authority.

Gender Roles

Women tend to be in charge of household affairs. Most of their economic and social lives revolve around the home, children and family. Although women are gradually gaining more mobility and roles outside of the domestic sphere, men continue to have greater access to education and paid labour as well as acting as the primary source of authority. The oldest woman may have considerable authority within the household, but ultimately it is the patriarch who makes most decisions.

Dating and Marriage

Many marriages are arranged and will generally take place once parents decide that their child should be married. Parents may contact agencies, a ghatak (matchmaker), relatives and friends to find an appropriate partner for their child. Parents often seek to match their child with someone who is of similar or equal economic status, educational background and religious piousness. However, this is changing, with more Bangladeshis having more autonomy over whom they marry. Although Muslim and Hindu marriage have distinctive religious rituals, there are many common Bengali wedding practices across both. Divorce is a source of social stigma, and thus it is uncommon for people to separate once they are married.

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Asia — Bangladesh

Essays on Bangladesh

The importance of writing an essay on bangladesh.

Writing an essay on Bangladesh is important for several reasons. Firstly, Bangladesh is a country with a rich history, culture, and traditions that are worth exploring and showcasing. By writing an essay on Bangladesh, you can help to promote a better understanding and appreciation of this diverse and vibrant nation.

Additionally, writing an essay on Bangladesh allows you to delve into important issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and environmental challenges that the country faces. This can help to raise awareness and inspire action towards addressing these pressing issues.

Furthermore, writing an essay on Bangladesh provides an opportunity to celebrate the country's achievements and contributions to the world. From its thriving textile industry to its renowned literary and artistic achievements, Bangladesh has much to be proud of and writing an essay can help to highlight these accomplishments.

Writing Tips

When writing an essay on Bangladesh, it is important to conduct thorough research and gather accurate and up-to-date information. This can be done by consulting reputable sources such as academic journals, government publications, and reliable news outlets.

It is also crucial to approach the topic with sensitivity and respect. Be mindful of cultural differences and avoid making sweeping generalizations about the people and traditions of Bangladesh.

Another important writing tip is to structure your essay in a clear and logical manner. Start with an that provides an overview of the topic, followed by body paragraphs that delve into specific aspects of Bangladesh, and conclude with a summary of your key points.

Finally, be sure to proofread and edit your essay carefully to ensure that it is well-written and free of errors. This will help to present a polished and professional piece of writing that effectively conveys your insights and ideas about Bangladesh.

The economic development of Bangladesh: challenges and opportunities Bangladesh is a developing country in South Asia with a rapidly growing economy. The country has made significant progress in recent years, but it still faces many challenges in achieving sustainable economic development. This essay will explore the main challenges and opportunities for economic development in Bangladesh, including the role of the government, foreign investment, and the potential impact of climate change on the country's economy.

The impact of climate change on Bangladesh Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, with a large population living in low-lying coastal areas. This essay will examine the potential impacts of climate change on Bangladesh, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and agricultural productivity. It will also discuss the efforts of the Bangladeshi government and international organizations to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh In recent years, Bangladesh has been hosting a large number of Rohingya refugees who have fled violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar. This essay will explore the causes and consequences of the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, including the humanitarian, social, and economic impacts on the country. It will also discuss the response of the Bangladeshi government and international community to the crisis.

The role of women in Bangladesh's development Women in Bangladesh have made significant strides in recent years, with increasing access to education, employment, and political representation. This essay will examine the role of women in Bangladesh's development, including their contributions to the economy, society, and politics. It will also discuss the challenges and opportunities for women's empowerment in Bangladesh, including gender-based violence, discrimination, and access to healthcare and education.

The cultural diversity of Bangladesh Bangladesh is a culturally diverse country with a rich history and heritage. This essay will explore the cultural diversity of Bangladesh, including its languages, religions, traditions, and customs. It will also discuss the impact of globalization and modernization on Bangladeshi culture, as well as the efforts to preserve and promote the country's cultural heritage.

The education system in Bangladesh The education system in Bangladesh has undergone significant reforms in recent years, with a focus on increasing access to quality education for all. This essay will examine the current state of the education system in Bangladesh, including the challenges and opportunities for improving access, equity, and quality of education. It will also discuss the role of the government, private sector, and civil society in addressing the needs of the education system.

The healthcare system in Bangladesh Bangladesh faces many challenges in providing healthcare to its large and diverse population, including limited resources, infrastructure, and human resources. This essay will explore the state of the healthcare system in Bangladesh, including the main health issues, access to healthcare services, and the efforts to improve the quality and availability of healthcare. It will also discuss the role of the government, international organizations, and the private sector in addressing the healthcare needs of the country.

The political landscape of Bangladesh Bangladesh has a complex political landscape, with a history of political instability, corruption, and human rights abuses. This essay will examine the current state of the political landscape in Bangladesh, including the main political parties, the electoral system, and the challenges and opportunities for democratic governance. It will also discuss the role of civil society, media, and international actors in promoting political reform and accountability.

The tourism industry in Bangladesh Bangladesh has a rich natural beauty, cultural heritage, and historical sites that have the potential to attract tourists from around the world. This essay will explore the state of the tourism industry in Bangladesh, including the main tourist attractions, infrastructure, and the challenges and opportunities for promoting sustainable tourism. It will also discuss the role of the government, private sector, and international organizations in developing the tourism industry in Bangladesh.

The impact of globalization on Bangladesh Globalization has had a significant impact on Bangladesh, including changes in the economy, society, culture, and politics. This essay will examine the impact of globalization on Bangladesh, including the opportunities and challenges for the country's development. It will also discuss the role of trade, investment, technology, and migration in shaping the globalization process in Bangladesh.

The garment industry in Bangladesh The garment industry is a key driver of the economy in Bangladesh, with a significant impact on employment, exports, and economic growth. This essay will explore the state of the garment industry in Bangladesh, including the main challenges and opportunities for the sector. It will also discuss the social and environmental impacts of the garment industry, as well as the efforts to improve labor rights, workplace safety, and sustainability in the industry.

The impact of urbanization on Bangladesh Bangladesh is experiencing rapid urbanization, with a growing population and increasing pressure on urban infrastructure, services, and the environment. This essay will examine the impact of urbanization on Bangladesh, including the challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban development. It will also discuss the role of the government, private sector, and civil society in addressing the needs of urbanization in Bangladesh.

The role of technology in Bangladesh's development Technology has the potential to drive economic growth, innovation, and social development in Bangladesh. This essay will explore the role of technology in Bangladesh's development, including the main challenges and opportunities for the adoption and diffusion of technology. It will also discuss the impact of digitalization, e-commerce, and information and communication technologies on various sectors of the economy and society in Bangladesh.

The role of foreign aid and development assistance in Bangladesh Bangladesh has been a recipient of foreign aid and development assistance from various bilateral and multilateral sources to support its development efforts. This essay will examine the role of foreign aid and development assistance in Bangladesh, including the main challenges and opportunities for aid effectiveness. It will also discuss the impact of aid on poverty reduction, infrastructure development, and social services in Bangladesh.

The future of Bangladesh's development Bangladesh has made significant progress in recent years, but it still faces many challenges in achieving sustainable development. This essay will explore the future of Bangladesh's development, including the main opportunities and challenges for the country. It will also discuss the role of the government, private sector, civil society, and international community in shaping the future of Bangladesh's development.

Industries in Bangladesh

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The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Globalization Process Based on Real-life Examples

History of india: two bengal partitions, the concept of rohingya community, the sundarbans area review, the catastrophic cyclone of april 1991 in bangladesh, otec sites in bangladesh, assessment of city plans: dhaka structure plan 2016-2035, the return of retailers from bangladesh and the influence on the economy and society, problems and prospects of sme financing in bangladesh, pharmacovigilance: bangladesh in perspective, rural-urban differentials in selected sociodemographic characteristics of bangladeshi population, ict industry of bangladesh: problems and prospects, gender inequality in business sector in bangladesh, types of credit ratings, the influence of business environment between usa and china on bangladesh economy and trade, understanding the psychological and consumption behavior of bangladeshis towards foreign products, fintech, its impact across the globe and its future in bangladesh, the present status of loan defaults culture in bangladesh, the impact of climate change in bangladesh, an empirical study on financial risks in agriculture sector of bangladesh, relevant topics.

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My Country (Bangladesh) Essay and Composition

You can write this essay as 1. My Country Essay/ Composition 2. Bangladesh Essay/ Composition - suitable for the students of class 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 JSC, 9, 10, SSC, 11, 12, HSC.

My Country (Bangladesh) Essay/Composition ; Bangladesh is an independent country in South-East Asia. It came into being as an independent sovereign state through a nine-month sanguinary War of Liberation in 1971. It is a small country with a large population of nearly 160 million.

Read more> The Land You Live In (Bangladesh) Essay & Composition

It is mainly a plain land crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers and thousands of canals. The beauty of green fields and evergreen leaves of trees are so much exquisite. And she is noted for her that. The six seasons of the year coming by turns have made her a wonderful land of panoramic beauty. Every season has its own beauty. The rivers have made her land fertile and suitable for growing various crops like jute paddy, oilseeds, sugarcane, etc. Agriculture is the main occupation of her people. About 80% of her people are farmers and they depend on agriculture for their living.

Read more related essay> Fruits of Bangladesh Essay & Composition

The country is yet to be industrially developed. Its green land is very beautiful. The Sundarbans, Rangamati, Sylhet, and Cox’s Bazar are some of the places that are famous for natural beauty in the world. Dhaka is its capital and the largest city in the country. Chittagong is the main seaport of Bangladesh and the second biggest city.

Read also> Birds of Bangladesh Essay & Composition

It is now a developing country. Our people are struggling hard to make the country a happy and prosperous one. Here only about 65% of people can read and write. We have a rich heritage and culture. Our people are brave and hospitable. We are peace-loving and we want to live in peace with all. I am proud and happy to born in such a beautiful dreamland.

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International Conference: The Trans- Phenomenon in Language, Literature, and Culture

International Conference on

The Trans- Phenomenon in Language, Literature, and Culture

November 15-16, 2024

Organized by the Department of English and Humanities

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Prof. Guofang Li,   Canada Research Chair in Transnational/Global Perspectives on Language and Literacy Education of Children and Youth, and Professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia, Canada   Prof. Kaiser Haq, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, and Professor, Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, cordially invites you to the 2024 International Conference on TheTrans- Phenomenon in Language, Literature, and Culture. We conceptualize the 'trans-' prefix in three dimensions based on existing scholarship. The first dimension of 'trans' is the movement between and beyond established systems and structures. Colonial and nationalist forces territorialize languages, literatures, and cultures into politically constructed categories such as Bangla language, English language, Arabic literature, American literature, Indian culture, Japanese culture, and so on. These territorializations were designed to maintain distinct boundaries between each respective category, preventing any significant overlap or intermingling. The second dimension of ‘trans-’ holds transformative potential as it combines various elements of our linguistic and cognitive abilities, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and social encounters from distinct territorial categories. This combination of different elements leads to the development of new skills, knowledge, and attitudes, ultimately leading to the emergence of fresh translingual, transcultural, and transnational identities. The third dimension of ‘trans-’ is transdisciplinary, as it embraces translingual, transcultural, and transnational experiences as a lens through which to view human sociality, cognition, social relationships, and social structures in an integrated and holistic manner.

We welcome submissions that examine the 'trans-' phenomenon by drawing on recent scholarship in translanguaging, transculturalism, and transnationalism. To begin, translanguaging scholarship highlights a fluid, dynamic understanding of language, in contrast to the socially and politically constructed named-languages such as Bangla, English, and Hindi. Secondly, transculturalism scholarship emphasizes the creative and transformative aspects of cultural adaptation, where individuals position themselves in liminal social contexts and draw upon the values and practices of various cultures to continuously shape their identity and sense of belonging. Lastly, transnationalism scholarship imagines a world where the authority of nation-states to regulate migration and other forms of circulation has been progressively diminished. This paradigm shift entails the merging of cultural and political characteristics unique to nation-states with the emergence of multilevel and multinational activities in a new space that transcends territorial nation-states.

To sum up, the trans- phenomenon encompasses theoretical concepts such as translanguaging, transculturalism, and transnationalism that involve dynamic movement between languages, cultures, and national identities. The trans- phenomenon opposes the political agenda of nation-states that enforce territorial boundaries on languages, literatures, cultures, and nationalities. It aims to promote social justice by empowering individuals, communities, families, learners, and educators whose languages, literatures, cultures, and identities have been marginalized by dominant national languages and cultures. Instead of relying on a predominantly monolingual and monocultural ideology, pedagogical constructs derived from translanguaging, transculturalism, and transnationalism may open up academic spaces where students and teachers can use their entire selves, including linguistic, cultural, ideological, and identity factors, to build new identities with widened dispositions to appreciate linguistic and cultural diversity. In this conference, we invite you to explore the implications of the trans-movement in our practices and pedagogies. 

Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:

Translanguaging and translanguaging pedagogies

Transculturalism

Transnationalism and transnational literature

Literary translingualism 

Transmodernism/Metamodernism

Trans-technological evolution

Trans-lation, trans-formation and trans-nation

Migration and racism

Diversity and social cohesion

Diaspora studies

Decolonization

Global, local and glocal knowledge structures

Ecologies, trans-ecologies and eco-criticisms 

Trans-speciesism and social justice 

Gender spectrums 

The Politics of Publishing

Teaching languages and literatures of the Global South in Western academia

Selected papers will be published in an edited volume.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Abstract Submission: July 23, 2024

Acceptance Notification: August 23, 2024.

Registration Deadline: November 1, 2024

REGISTRATION FEES

International presenters (on-site): 200 USD

International presenters (virtual): 50 USD

Local presenters: 2500 BDT

Student presenters: 1500 BDT

Participants: 1000 BDT

Student participants and On-spot registration: 500 BDT

Abstract submission guidelines:

Abstract length: 250 words

Short bio of the presenter(s): 50 words

Abstract Submission Link

Abstracts will be double-peer-reviewed, and conference registrations will be invited depending on the outcome. 

For inquiries: [email protected]

Website:  https://deh.ulab.edu.bd/deh-international-conference

Facebook Event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/357674537315847

How Much Research Is Being Written by Large Language Models?

New studies show a marked spike in LLM usage in academia, especially in computer science. What does this mean for researchers and reviewers?

In March of this year, a  tweet about an academic paper went viral for all the wrong reasons. The introduction section of the paper, published in  Elsevier’s  Surfaces and Interfaces , began with this line:  Certainly, here is a possible introduction for your topic. 

Look familiar? 

It should, if you are a user of ChatGPT and have applied its talents for the purpose of content generation. LLMs are being increasingly used to assist with writing tasks, but examples like this in academia are largely anecdotal and had not been quantified before now. 

“While this is an egregious example,” says  James Zou , associate professor of biomedical data science and, by courtesy, of computer science and of electrical engineering at Stanford, “in many cases, it’s less obvious, and that’s why we need to develop more granular and robust statistical methods to estimate the frequency and magnitude of LLM usage. At this particular moment, people want to know what content around us is written by AI. This is especially important in the context of research, for the papers we author and read and the reviews we get on our papers. That’s why we wanted to study how much of those have been written with the help of AI.”

In two papers looking at LLM use in scientific publishings, Zou and his team* found that 17.5% of computer science papers and 16.9% of peer review text had at least some content drafted by AI. The paper on LLM usage in peer reviews will be presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning.

Read  Mapping the Increasing Use of LLMs in Scientific Papers and  Monitoring AI-Modified Content at Scale: A Case Study on the Impact of ChatGPT on AI Conference Peer Reviews  

Here Zou discusses the findings and implications of this work, which was supported through a Stanford HAI Hoffman Yee Research Grant . 

How did you determine whether AI wrote sections of a paper or a review?

We first saw that there are these specific worlds – like commendable, innovative, meticulous, pivotal, intricate, realm, and showcasing – whose frequency in reviews sharply spiked, coinciding with the release of ChatGPT. Additionally, we know that these words are much more likely to be used by LLMs than by humans. The reason we know this is that we actually did an experiment where we took many papers, used LLMs to write reviews of them, and compared those reviews to reviews written by human reviewers on the same papers. Then we quantified which words are more likely to be used by LLMs vs. humans, and those are exactly the words listed. The fact that they are more likely to be used by an LLM and that they have also seen a sharp spike coinciding with the release of LLMs is strong evidence.

Some journals permit the use of LLMs in academic writing, as long as it’s noted, while others, including  Science and the ICML conference, prohibit it. How are the ethics perceived in academia?

This is an important and timely topic because the policies of various journals are changing very quickly. For example,  Science said in the beginning that they would not allow authors to use language models in their submissions, but they later changed their policy and said that people could use language models, but authors have to explicitly note where the language model is being used. All the journals are struggling with how to define this and what’s the right way going forward.

You observed an increase in usage of LLMs in academic writing, particularly in computer science papers (up to 17.5%). Math and  Nature family papers, meanwhile, used AI text about 6.3% of the time. What do you think accounts for the discrepancy between these disciplines? 

Artificial intelligence and computer science disciplines have seen an explosion in the number of papers submitted to conferences like ICLR and NeurIPS. And I think that’s really caused a strong burden, in many ways, to reviewers and to authors. So now it’s increasingly difficult to find qualified reviewers who have time to review all these papers. And some authors may feel more competition that they need to keep up and keep writing more and faster. 

You analyzed close to a million papers on arXiv, bioRxiv, and  Nature from January 2020 to February 2024. Do any of these journals include humanities papers or anything in the social sciences?  

We mostly wanted to focus more on CS and engineering and biomedical areas and interdisciplinary areas, like  Nature family journals, which also publish some social science papers. Availability mattered in this case. So, it’s relatively easy for us to get data from arXiv, bioRxiv, and  Nature . A lot of AI conferences also make reviews publicly available. That’s not the case for humanities journals.

Did any results surprise you?

A few months after ChatGPT’s launch, we started to see a rapid, linear increase in the usage pattern in academic writing. This tells us how quickly these LLM technologies diffuse into the community and become adopted by researchers. The most surprising finding is the magnitude and speed of the increase in language model usage. Nearly a fifth of papers and peer review text use LLM modification. We also found that peer reviews submitted closer to the deadline and those less likely to engage with author rebuttal were more likely to use LLMs. 

This suggests a couple of things. Perhaps some of these reviewers are not as engaged with reviewing these papers, and that’s why they are offloading some of the work to AI to help. This could be problematic if reviewers are not fully involved. As one of the pillars of the scientific process, it is still necessary to have human experts providing objective and rigorous evaluations. If this is being diluted, that’s not great for the scientific community.

What do your findings mean for the broader research community?

LLMs are transforming how we do research. It’s clear from our work that many papers we read are written with the help of LLMs. There needs to be more transparency, and people should state explicitly how LLMs are used and if they are used substantially. I don’t think it’s always a bad thing for people to use LLMs. In many areas, this can be very useful. For someone who is not a native English speaker, having the model polish their writing can be helpful. There are constructive ways for people to use LLMs in the research process; for example, in earlier stages of their draft. You could get useful feedback from a LLM in real time instead of waiting weeks or months to get external feedback. 

But I think it’s still very important for the human researchers to be accountable for everything that is submitted and presented. They should be able to say, “Yes, I will stand behind the statements that are written in this paper.”

*Collaborators include:  Weixin Liang ,  Yaohui Zhang ,  Zhengxuan Wu ,  Haley Lepp ,  Wenlong Ji ,  Xuandong Zhao ,  Hancheng Cao ,  Sheng Liu ,  Siyu He ,  Zhi Huang ,  Diyi Yang ,  Christopher Potts ,  Christopher D. Manning ,  Zachary Izzo ,  Yaohui Zhang ,  Lingjiao Chen ,  Haotian Ye , and Daniel A. McFarland .

Stanford HAI’s mission is to advance AI research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition.  Learn more . 

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Allen Iverson’s Impactful Role in Basketball and Popular Culture

This essay about Allen Iverson examines his significant impact both as a basketball player and a cultural icon. It discusses how Iverson, often playing as a point guard or shooting guard, was known for his skillful play and fearless attitude on the court, notably using his famous crossover dribble against top competitors like Michael Jordan. Off the court, Iverson influenced popular culture through his style and openness about his personal struggles, challenging the NBA’s conservative norms and sparking broader discussions on race and authenticity. His legacy extends beyond his physical presence in the sport, influencing not only how athletes are perceived in cultural contexts but also inspiring a generation with his resilience and defiance against adversity. This essay captures Iverson’s role in shaping modern basketball and his lasting influence on sports and society.

How it works

Allen Iverson, affectionately known as “AI” or “The Answer,” remains one of the most fascinating figures in the world of basketball, transcending the sport to become a cultural icon. His position on the court was primarily as a point guard, although he was also known to play shooting guard. His style of play and persona off the court played pivotal roles in shaping the modern era of the NBA and how athletes are perceived in popular media.

Iverson’s influence started in the basketball arena but quickly spilled over into fashion, music, and the broader cultural discourse.

Standing at just six feet tall, Iverson was often the smallest player on the court, but what he lacked in size, he more than compensated for with his heart and skill. Known for his agility and scoring ability, Iverson was an 11-time NBA All-Star and won the MVP award in 2001. However, it was his role as a relentless and fearless competitor that truly defined his career.

On the court, Iverson was known for his crossover dribble, a move that became his signature and one he famously used to outplay Michael Jordan as a rookie. This move not only highlighted his exceptional ball-handling skills but also his boldness in taking on basketball giants, regardless of his own physical stature. His scoring prowess was unmatched, leading the NBA in scoring for four seasons. This was a testament to his ability to play as both a point guard and a shooting guard, making him a versatile threat that was hard to defend against.

Off the court, Iverson was just as influential. He was a trendsetter in embracing hip hop culture, which was still burgeoning in its association with mainstream sports during the 1990s and early 2000s. Iverson’s braided hair, tattoos, and distinctive style of dress challenged the NBA’s then-conservative dress code and sparked conversations about race, class, and authenticity in sports. His impact was so profound that the league eventually instituted a dress code in 2005, which many saw as a direct response to Iverson’s unique style.

Moreover, Iverson’s candidness about his struggles and his upbringing in a troubled neighborhood in Hampton, Virginia, made him a relatable figure to many fans who saw in him a reflection of their own challenges and aspirations. He never shied away from discussing his personal life, which included his brushes with the law and his battles with management and coaches. This openness helped cultivate a loyal fan base that appreciated his honesty and saw him as more than just an athlete.

Iverson’s career was also marked by moments of adversity, which he faced with resilience and defiance. Despite his small frame, Iverson was known for playing through injuries and giving his all every game, embodying the “never give up” attitude. This endeared him even more to fans who valued determination and grit over mere physical dominance.

In reflecting on Allen Iverson’s career, it’s clear that his position as a guard was just one facet of his role in the NBA. He was a cultural phenomenon who challenged the status quo and changed how athletes are viewed in terms of cultural influence and fashion. Iverson did not just play roles; he created them and in doing so, influenced a generation of players and fans alike.

Today, Iverson’s legacy continues to resonate, not just in how point guards and shooting guards play but in how athletes can impact cultural norms and inspire people beyond their athletic prowess. His journey from a tough neighborhood to NBA superstardom, marked by both controversy and triumph, remains a compelling narrative of resilience and authenticity in the face of adversity.

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The Hidden-Pregnancy Experiment

By Jia Tolentino

Shortly after I became pregnant with my second child, in the fall of 2022, I decided to try a modest experiment. I wanted to see whether I could hide my pregnancy from my phone. After spending my twenties eagerly surveilling and sharing the details of my life online, I had already begun trying to erect some walls of technological privacy: I’d deleted most apps on my phone and turned off camera, location, and microphone access for nearly all of the ones that I did have; I had disabled Siri—I just found it annoying—and I didn’t have any smart devices. For the experiment, I would abide by some additional restrictions. I wouldn’t Google anything about pregnancy nor shop for baby stuff either online or using a credit card, and neither would my husband, because our I.P. addresses—and thus the vast, matrixed fatbergs of personal data assembled by unseen corporations to pinpoint our consumer and political identities—were linked. I wouldn’t look at pregnancy accounts on Instagram or pregnancy forums on Reddit. I wouldn’t update my period tracker or use a pregnancy app.

Nearly every time we load new content on an app or a Web site, ad-exchange companies—Google being the largest among them—broadcast data about our interests, finances, and vulnerabilities to determine exactly what we’ll see; more than a billion of these transactions take place in the U.S. every hour. Each of us, the data-privacy expert Wolfie Christl told me, has “dozens or even hundreds” of digital identifiers attached to our person; there’s an estimated eighteen-billion-dollar industry for location data alone. In August, 2022, Mozilla reviewed twenty pregnancy and period-tracking apps and found that fifteen of them made a “buffet” of personal data available to third parties, including addresses, I.P. numbers, sexual histories, and medical details. In most cases, the apps used vague language about when and how this data could be shared with law enforcement. (A 2020 FOIA lawsuit filed by the A.C.L.U. revealed that the Department of Homeland Security had purchased access to location data for millions of people in order to track them without a warrant. ICE and C.B.P. subsequently said they would stop using such data.) The scholar Shoshana Zuboff has called this surveillance capitalism , “a new economic order that claims human experience as free raw material for hidden commercial practices of extraction, prediction, and sales.” Through our phones, we are under perpetual surveillance by companies that buy and sell data about what kind of person we are, whom we might vote for, what we might purchase, and what we might be nudged into doing.

A decade ago, the sociology professor Janet Vertesi conducted a more rigorous form of the hidden-pregnancy experiment. Using an elaborate system of code words and the anonymous browser Tor, she managed to digitally hide her pregnancy all the way up to the birth of her child. In an article about the experience, for Time , she pointed to a Financial Times report, which found that identifying a single pregnant woman is as valuable to data brokers as knowing the age, gender, and location of more than two hundred nonpregnant people, because of how much stuff new parents tend to buy. She also noted that simply attempting to evade market detection—by, for example, purchasing stacks of gift cards in order to buy a stroller—made her and her husband look as though they were trying to commit fraud.

I wasn’t going to do anything so strict or elaborate. I’d allow myself to text and send e-mails about my pregnancy, and to talk about it with my phone nearby. I assumed that, eventually, it would notice; I’d just wait and see when a diaper ad popped up on Instagram. I liked the idea of establishing a buffer zone between my psyche and the object that most closely monitors it. I found it almost shocking to remember that this was possible.

Pregnancy tends to erode both your freedom and your privacy. Past a certain point in your second trimester, strangers will begin reaching toward your stomach and telling you about the real difference between boys and girls. But I had eluded this during my first pregnancy, because COVID hit before I started showing. In the months that followed, I began to feel the difference between witnessing something and surveilling it, and to recognize that the most pleasurable moments in my life had occurred out of the reach of any oversight. I had felt then an almost psychedelic sense of autonomy; time was dilating, and the slow bloom inside me was beyond anyone’s reach. I wanted to see if I could feel anything like that again.

During pregnancy, and in the early days of parenthood, one is both the object and the conductor of intense surveillance. Last year, the artist and filmmaker Sophie Hamacher co-edited an anthology of writing on the subject, called “ Supervision ,” which was published by M.I.T. Press. “As I became absorbed with tracking and monitoring my child,” Hamacher writes in the preface, “I was increasingly aware that I was a subject of tracking and monitoring by others: advertisers, medical professionals, government entities, people on the street. I began to wonder about the relationship between the way I watched her and the ways we were being watched.” Surveillance encompasses both policing and caretaking, Hamacher notes. In practice, its polarized qualities—“beneficial and harmful, intimate and distanced”—intertwine. Baby monitors use technology developed for the military. Many contemporary models run on CCTV.

Most American households with young children use baby monitors or trackers; two recent surveys put market penetration at seventy-five and eighty-three per cent, respectively. (Both surveys were conducted by companies that make these devices.) And there are now countless other ways that technology will help you to observe and scrutinize your child: nanny-cam Teddy bears, G.P.S. stroller accessories, scales that track your baby’s weight over time, disks that can be affixed to diapers and which will notify you if your baby rolls onto his stomach while he’s asleep. Increasingly, such products use A.I. to detect signs of distress. “The need to know whether a child is safe and well is perfectly natural, which makes the nature of such surveillance appear innocent,” the writer and scholar Hannah Zeavin notes in “Family Scanning,” one of the essays in “Supervision.” But, she adds, “these technologies conceal the possibility of false positives, disrupted emergency services, and of collaboration with state forces—wittingly or unwittingly—all in the name of keeping children safe.” As a general rule, these devices don’t lead to better outcomes for the babies they monitor. More often—like social media, which promises connection as a salve for the loneliness created by social media—parenting tech exacerbates, even calls into existence, the parental anxieties that it pledges to soothe.

This has become a common pattern in contemporary life. Nearly a fifth of U.S. households are estimated to use doorbell cameras, many of them from Ring, the Amazon-owned company that has expanded its reach through police partnerships and a dedicated app that encourages users to post footage of strangers. Ring cameras haven’t made neighborhoods measurably safer, but they have made users measurably more paranoid, and placed more people, sometimes with grave outcomes, in contact with the police. Until recently, police could readily access surveillance footage from the Ring network without a warrant by posting requests on the app. It also gave its own employees and third-party contractors “ ‘ free range ’ access” to view and download videos from users’ homes.

In 2015, the company Owlet started selling a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar Smart Sock, which monitored babies’ heart rates and oxygen levels, and alerted parents if these figures were abnormal. Although the company insists that it has made clear that the product is not intended to “treat or diagnose” sudden infant death syndrome—and there is no evidence that it reduces the risk of SIDS occurring—such devices are sometimes referred to as “ SIDS monitors.” But, in 2017, an opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association cautioned physicians against recommending the product. “There are no medical indications for monitoring healthy infants at home,” the authors wrote. The device, they noted, could “stimulate unnecessary fear, uncertainty, and self-doubt in parents about their abilities to keep their infants safe.” The following year, a study in the same journal found “concerning” inaccuracies in oxygen readings. When Owlet went public, in February, 2021, the company had a valuation of more than a billion dollars; later that year, the F.D.A. issued a warning letter that the Smart Sock wasn’t an authorized medical device, and the company pulled it off the market. A million units had already been sold. The following year, Owlet launched a new version, called the Dream Sock, which would receive F.D.A. approval. Most of the reviews for the Dream Sock exude profound gratitude. Parents write about the peace of mind that comes from knowing the baby is being constantly monitored, about not knowing what they would do if the device didn’t exist.

Surveillance capitalism, Zuboff writes, “aims to impose a new collective order based on total certainty.” But little is certain when it comes to babies. The control that we feel when we’re engaged in surveillance almost always proves illusory, though the control, or at least the influence, that others exert on us through surveillance is real.

It is not a coincidence that Roe v. Wade, a ruling grounded in the right to privacy, was overturned at a time when privacy in the U.S was on its conceptual deathbed. There are other legal principles that might have served as a stronger foundation for abortion rights: the right to equal protection, or the right to bodily integrity. As Christyne Neff wrote, in 1991, the physical effects of an ordinary pregnancy and delivery resemble those of a severe beating—flesh lacerated, organs rearranged, half a quart of blood lost. Can the state, she asked, rightfully compel a person to undergo this?

Since Roe fell, two years ago, fourteen states have claimed that power in absolute terms, banning abortion almost completely. Two states have successfully passed abortion-vigilante laws, which confer the power of carceral supervision on the public. Indiana’s attorney general has argued that abortion records should be publicly available, like death records; Kansas recently passed a law that would require abortion providers to collect details about the personal lives of their patients and make that information available to the government. Birth control and sex itself may be up next for criminal surveillance: the Heritage Foundation , last year, insisted, on Twitter, that “conservatives have to lead the way in restoring sex to its true purpose, & ending recreational sex & senseless use of birth control pills.”

For many women in America, pregnancy was a conduit to state surveillance long before the end of Roe. Poor women, especially poor nonwhite women, are often drug-tested during pregnancy, and sometimes during labor and delivery, without their informed consent. Women who take drugs during pregnancy have been charged with child abuse or neglect, including in cases in which the drugs were legal; women who have miscarried after taking drugs have been charged with manslaughter, even homicide, even when no causal link was proved. Sometimes this happens because the woman in question had responded to billboards and service announcements promising to help pregnant people who are struggling with substance use. In multiple states, women have been taken into custody when the safety of the fetus was called into question. “To be pregnant and poor in the United States is to play a game of roulette with one’s privacy, presumed confidential relationship with medical providers, and basic constitutional and medical rights,” the law professor Michele Goodwin writes in “ Policing the Womb ,” from 2020.

Goodwin describes the case of a woman in Iowa named Christine Taylor, who, in 2010, as a twenty-two-year-old mother of two, was accused of attempted feticide after she fell down the stairs while pregnant. Part of the evidence cited by the police was that she reportedly told a nurse that she hadn’t wanted the baby. (Ultimately, prosecutors decided not to press charges.) The carceral surveillance of pregnancy entails the criminalization of ambivalence, the inspection of these innermost desires. But the deepest truths about motherhood seem to me to be rooted in conflicting, coexisting emotions: nightmare and rapture in the same moment during labor, the love and despair that box each other at night in the weeks that follow, the joy of cuddling my nine-month-old undergirded by the horror of knowing that other babies are starving and dying in rubble. Before I had my first child, I had badly wanted to get pregnant. I had planned for it, prepared for it, hoped for it. Still, when I saw the positive test result, I cried.

My modest experiment went surprisingly smoothly. Because I’d had my first child not long before, this time I didn’t need to buy anything, and I didn’t want to learn anything. I smooth-brained my way to three months, four months, five; no diaper ads. I called up a lawyer and data-privacy specialist named Dominique Shelton Leipzig to get her perspective. Globally, she told me, we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes—that’s eighteen zeroes—of data per day. “The short answer is, you probably haven’t hidden what you think you have,” she said. I told her about the rules I’d set for myself, that I didn’t have many apps and had bought nothing but prenatal vitamins, and that Instagram did not appear to have identified me as pregnant. She paused. “I’m amazed,” she told me. “If you didn’t see any ads, I think you might have succeeded.” I congratulated myself by instantly dropping the experiment and buying maternity pants; ads for baby carriers popped up on my Instagram within minutes.

I had felt little satisfaction hiding from the ad trackers—if anything, I’d only become more conscious of how much surveillance I was engaged in, as both subject and object, and how much more insidious the problem was becoming. We rarely have a clear understanding of what we’re doing when we engage in surveillance of ourselves or others. Life360, an app that’s used by more than sixty million people and is marketed as an easy way to track your child’s location via their smartphone, was found in 2021 to be selling raw location information to data brokers. (The company said it now sells only aggregate data.) In a Pew survey from 2023, seventy-seven per cent of Americans said they had very little to no trust in how social-media executives handle user data, and seventy-one per cent were concerned about how the government uses it. In another survey, ninety-three per cent of Americans said they wouldn’t buy a doorbell camera if it sold data about their family. People just want to be safer. I had wanted security, too, and affirmation—and I had wanted to be a writer. I had disclosed so much of my life to people I’ll never know.

My husband and I had not bought a baby monitor for our first child, a choice that satisfied his desire to not buy things and my desire to insist that certain aspects of experience are fundamentally ungovernable. But shortly after the second child was born she developed eczema, and started scratching her sweet, enormous cheeks in her sleep. One morning, my husband went to her and found that she’d clawed her face open, leaving blood smudged all over her sleep sack and smeared all over her face. “We need a video monitor!” I wailed, already Googling options. “We need to buy a video monitor today.”

We didn’t buy one, but for weeks I regretted it and second-guessed myself. And I surveilled the baby with technology in other ways all the time. In the early weeks, I relied on an app to tell me how much milk she’d drunk and how many soiled diapers she’d had that day—activities that I myself had witnessed just hours before. I felt like a Biblical angel with a thousand eyes, somehow unable to see anything. I took pictures because I knew I would have no memory of the precise contours of this exact baby in a month. When she didn’t seem hungry enough, I panicked, obsessing over every feed.

“What’s the line between pathological self-surveillance and care for a newborn? Is there one?” Sarah Blackwood, an English professor at Pace University, asks, in “Supervision.” Blackwood contrasts the “fantasy of efficiency and sterility” built into parenting tech with the “psychic state of watchfulness so many mothers find themselves in”—a state that is “metastatic, fecund, beyond.” One afternoon, my husband took the baby from me: she was sobbing, and I was incoherently frantic, trying to get her to eat. She was O.K., he told me; she’d eat when she needed to. But I know what’s good for her, and it’s my job to make her do it, I thought, furious. Around the fringes of my consciousness, I felt a flicker of understanding about how this idea that everything was controllable had become so ubiquitous, how we had confused coercion with care. ♦

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