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This volume offers a new understanding of caste in contemporary India. It argues that the traditional view of caste - as a single hierarchy, with Brahmans at the top and the untouchable castes at the bottom - is no longer valid. Based on fieldwork, the articles in this volume prove that ritual dominance does not determine the nature of caste interactions in any way. From politics to gender to economic interaction, the single, pure hierarchy is constantly being questioned and weakened. Castes that once had the status of shudras are now claiming, on occasions, a position superior to Brahmans and Kshatriyas; agrarian castes - such as Jats, Ahirs and Gujars - are at the political forefront, taking caste identities outside the village; the once passive untouchable castes are now aggressive and militant, and aware of their rights in a democratic society. This exciting collection of original articles demonstrates how caste identity today challenges the outdated notion of a single, all-encompassing hierarchy, within which each caste co-exists peacefully.
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Caste in question
Contributions to Indian Sociology Occasional studies 1. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1976. Muslim communities of South Asia: Society and culture (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Vikas.* 2. SATISH SABERWAL, ed., 1978. Process and institution in urban India: Sociological studies (vol. 11, no. 1, 1977). New Delhi: Vikas. Second impression (New Delhi: Vikas), 1978.* 3. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1982. Way of life: King, householder, renouncer: Essays in honour of Louis Dumont (vol. 15, nos 1&2, 1981). New Delhi: Vikas. Paris: Maison des Sciences de lHomme. Second impression (New Delhi: Vikas), 1982. Second edition (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass), 1988. 4. VEENA DAS, ed., 1986. The word and the world: Fantasy, symbol and record (vol. 19, no. 1, 1985). New Delhi: Sage.* 5. McKIM MARRIOTT, ed., 1990. India through Hindu categories (vol. 23, no. 1, 1989). New Delhi: Sage. Fifth impression (New Delhi: Sage), 1998. 6. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1995. Muslim communities of South Asia: Culture, society and power (Revised enlarged edition) (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Manohar (First published by Vikas*). 7. PATRICIA UBEROI, ed., 1996. Social reform, sexuality and the state (vol. 29, nos 1&2, 1995). New Delhi: Sage. Third impression, 1998. 8. VEENA DAS, DIPANKAR GUPTA and PATRICIA UBEROI, eds, 1999. Tradition, pluralism and identity: In honour of T.N. Madan (vol. 32, no. 2, 1998). New Delhi: Sage. 9. JONATHAN P. PARRY, JAN BREMAN and KARIN KAPADIA, eds, 1999. The worlds of Indian industrial labour (vol. 33, nos 1&2, 1999). New Delhi: Sage. 10. SUMATHI RAMASWAMY, ed., 2003. Beyond appearances? Visual practices and ideologies in modern India (vol. 36, nos 1&2, 2002). New Delhi: Sage. 11. FILIPPO OSELLA and KATY GARDNER, eds, 2004. Migration, modernity and social transformation in South Asia (vol. 37, nos 1&2, 2003). New Delhi: Sage. * Out of print
Caste in question: Identity or hierarchy?
Edited by Dipankar Gupta
CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY OCCASIONAL STUDIES 12
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