Caste is one of the oldest concerns of the social sciences in India that continues to be relevant even today. This book tracks how scholars from different disciplines have responded to the caste question in independent India and highlights recent shifts in perspective.
The general perception about caste is that it is an outdated concept that was slowly but inevitably dying out until it was revived by colonial policies and promoted by vested interests and electoral politics after independence. However, this hegemonic perception changed irrevocably in the 1990s after the controversial reservations for the Other Backward Classes recommended by the Mandal Commission. Mandal triggered a new awakening by revealing that only a privileged upper caste minority believed in the declining significance of caste—for the vast majority of Indians caste continued to be a crucial determinant of life opportunities.
This volume collects significant writings spanning seven decades, three generations and several disciplines. The introduction contextualises established perspectives in relation to emergent concerns, and is followed by forty essays organised into six sections.
The first section offers a sample of disciplinary responses ranging from sociology to law. The second explores the relationship between caste and class, while the third highlights the interplay between caste and politics.
The fourth section covers old and new challenges in law and policy. Emergent research areas are represented in section five and section six showcases post-Mandal innovations in caste studies.
This transdisciplinary volume brings together sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, historians, economists and others. It will be essential reading for students and scholars across these disciplines.
Satish Deshpande is Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics.
List of Tables and Box Acknowledgements Introduction Caste Concerns in the Contemporary Social Sciences: Six Decades of Writings in the Economic and Political Weekly, 1958–2013 Satish Deshpande Section I Disciplinary Perspectives 1. Caste as a Status Group Irawati Karve 2. The Future of Indian Caste M. N. Srinivas 3. Continuous Hierarchies and Discrete Castes Dipankar Gupta 4. The Peculiar Tenacity of Caste André Béteille 5. Rise of the Dalits and the Renewed Debate on Caste Rajni Kothari 6. Kosambi and the Questions of Caste Kumkum Roy 7. Caste and Economic Discrimination Sukhadeo Thorat and Katherine S. Newman 8. Untouchability and the Law Marc Galanter 9. Phenomenology of Untouchability Sundar Sarukkai 10. How Egalitarian are the Social Sciences in India? Gopal Guru
Section II Caste and Class 11. Secularisation of Caste and the Making of the New Middle Class D. L. Sheth 12. Caste and Agrarian Class A View from Bihar Anand Chakravarti 13. Employment, Exclusion and ‘Merit’ in the Indian IT Industry Carol Upadhya 14. Where the Path Leads The Role of Caste in Post-university Employment Expectations Ashwini Deshpande and Katherine S. Newman 15. Ruptures and Reproduction in Caste/Gender/Labour Meena Gopal Section III Caste and Politics 16. Religion and Caste in the Punjab Sidhwan Bet Constituency Baldev Raj Nayar 17. The Satyashodhak Samaj and Peasant Agitation Gail Omvedt 18. Ramaswami Naicker and the Dravidian Movement Mohan Ram 19. Anti-reservation Agitation and the Structure of Gujarat Society I. P. Desai 20. This Anti-Mandal Mania K. Balagopal 21. The Dalit Question and the Political Response A Comparative Study of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Sudha Pai 22. Khairlanji and Its Aftermath Anand Teltumbde 23. Comparative Contexts of Discrimination Caste and Untouchability in South Asia Surinder S. Jodhka and GhanshyamShah
Section IV Caste, State and Law 24. Who Are the Other Backward Classes? Marc Galanter 25. Justice for Dalits among Dalits K. Balagopal 26. Reservations and the Return to Politics Susie Tharu, M. Madhava Prasad, Rekha Pappu and K. Satyanarayana 27. Census in Colonial India and the Birth of Caste Padmanabh Samarendra 28. The Politics of Not Counting Caste Satish Deshpande and Mary E. John Section V Caste and Gender 29. Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India Uma Chakravarti 30. Enforcing Cultural Codes Gender and Violence in Northern India Prem Chowdhry 31. Periyar, Women and an Ethic of Citizenship V. Geetha 32. Dalit Women Talk Differently A Critique of ‘Difference’ and Towards a Dalit Feminist Standpoint Position Sharmila Rege 33. Work, Caste and Competing Masculinities Notes from a Tamil Village S. Anandhi, J. Jeyaranjan and Rajan Krishnan 34. Dalit Women as Political Agents A Kerala Experience Rekha Raj Section VI Contemporary Explorations 35. Reservations Experience as Framework of Debate Kancha Ilaiah 36. The Impossible Subject Caste and the Gendered Body Susie Tharu 37. Secularism, Modernity, Nation Epistemology of the Dalit Critique Aditya Nigam 38. One Step Outside Modernity Caste, Identity Politics and Public Sphere M. S. S. Pandian 39. Caste and Castelessness Towards a Biography of the ‘General Category’ Satish Deshpande 40. Archaeology of Untouchability Gopal Guru List of Authors