Feminist views and feminism is not the same thing. These terms imply two different phenomena or stages of development
of human history and civilization. The former could be traced in the ancient civilizations of Greece and China which manifested through some respective literature whereas the latter is a twentieth century invention. As a set of ideas and concepts it stands for a distinctive and established socio-political ideology developed during the second half of the twentieth century that challenged the most basic assumptions of conventional political thought which kept the role of women off the political agenda on the basis of their sexual disability or disadvantage. However, with the flowering of radical feminist thought in the late 1960s and early 1970s, feminism emerged as a political ideology to reckon with. Since then ‘Feminism’ as a term has been quite familiar in everyday language and has become almost a fashion and an identity of being called as a feminist. It implies a diverse collection of socio-political theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by a concern for co-equal social role and position and right of women vis-à-vis the male members in a society. Feminism, however, is not a coherent ideology. It is a combination of some major traditions developed within feminism. These are Liberal Feminism, Socialist Feminism, Radical Feminism and Post Feminism. Despite its variety, says Heywood, ‘feminism as an ideology has succeeded in establishing gender and gender perspectives as important themes in a range of academic disciplines and in raising consciousness about gender issues in public life in general’. Today feminist organizations form a substantial part of civil society in almost all countries across the globe. Feminism as an ideology has traveled a long way. From the ‘First Wave’ in 1960s followed by the ‘Second Wave’ it has been stretched till its present de-radicalisation and ‘Post Feminism’ phase. The basic assumption of feminism is that it believes in the equal socio-economic and political rights for women as men. It treats men and women as equal and objects vehemently to the discrimination of women made on the basis of sex. It is critical about the imposition of men centric dress codes and taboos against women. It urges that all women should have the choice of everything in their lives and women should have the same chance as men in everyday things. It is critical of patriarchy. It seeks to uncover the influence of patriarchy not only in politics, public life and the economy, but in all aspects of social, personal and sexual existence. According to some feminists ‘feminity’ is being imposed upon women by men. Women’s liberation, female emancipation and gender inequality are its chief concerns. Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical framework. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women''s rights, interests, and issues. It is understood that theories and ideologies are a crucial resource for ordering, defining and evaluating political reality and establishing political identities. Therefore, in the backdrop of these feminist theories, the proposed study “Feminism in the context of tribal society: an empirical study of two tribal villages in Koraput, Orissa” seeks to explore the applicability of this theory of feminism to the tribal society. Since Koraput is the most tribal dominated district in Orissa and which is a home to all 62 tribes found in the province the study assumes importance and relevance. The hill people are considered as marginalized and backward. Therefore the status and social role of tribal women in their communicould be assessed in light of the feminist theories. Whether the hill people are feminists in their attitude, behaviour and way of life (?); what are the male members approach to tribal female(?); whether the tribal women are conscious about their social disadvantages(?); have they ever projected as activists(?); whether their society is patriarchal in structure(?); what is their approach to the birth of a girl child in their family(?); what is the tribal parents expectation of a daughter (?);what is their approach to the education of their female child(?); what is their approach to property possession and inheritance by the women (?);are the women having access to modernization(?); what political role they are taking now after the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments had come into effect followed by the complying Acts of the Government of Orissa which has secured 33 percent reservation for women(?);what are the impacts of polyandry on the status of women in tribal society (?) and finally what impact has been put on the tribal women by self help groups(SHGs) etc – are the issues to be covered by the proposed study. The study proposes to explore the position of women in the Holva tribe because it is one of the advanced tribes in Koraput.