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CASTE

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011

Caste is status group, within a system of hierarchical social stratification, in which membership is hereditary. 

Caste differentiations are usually based on religious and mythical traditions and caste membership determines occupational roles, place of residence and legal and customary rights and duties. 

Caste is maintained from generation to generation by the practice of within-caste marriage (endogamy) and strict formality in social interaction with other castes.

In India for instance the caste system is so well entrenched that in an high to low order, the second last will not marry into the last. The second last in fact look down on the last in the order.

Orientalism, ideology and identity 
Examining caste in South Asian archaeology 
Nicole Boivin, Maison de l’Archéologie et de l’Ethnologie, Université Paris X, France, nlb20@cam.uc.uk 
Journal of Social Archaeology, Vol. 5, No. 2, 225-252 (2005) © 2005 SAGE Publications
While many would argue that the preoccupation with caste in South Asian anthropology can be linked to an essentializing and orientalist project that has increasingly come under fire in post-colonial and subaltern studies, this article suggests that within South Asian archaeology it is, in contrast, the almost complete neglect of caste that hints at deeper problems within the discipline. After attempting to identify why caste has been largely omitted from archaeological studies in South Asia, the article goes on to explore some of the issues that archaeologists will have to consider if they are going to begin to explicitly address caste in their research, including the relationship between caste and material culture, time, place, agency and ideology. The article concludes by examining the reasons why archaeologists need to address caste, and the ways in which archaeology can contribute to a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of caste and its development and contemporary relevance in South Asia. - jsa.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/5/2/225

The Embodiment of Caste 
Oppression, Protest and Change 
Hugo Gorringe, University of Edinburgh 
Irene Rafanell, University of Paisley 
Sociology, Vol. 41, No. 1, 97-114 (2007) DOI: 10.1177/0038038507074721 © 2007 BSA Publications Ltd.
Caste is often presented as a stable or fixed form of social stratification that conditions the behaviour of its members.This occludes the micro-structural process by which caste is embodied.This article uses empirical work on caste protest to discuss the fluid nature of embodied activity, and the analytical utility of two social constructionist accounts: the tacitly pre-given structures of Bourdieu's model are compared to the continuous creation model of Foucault.Whereas the internalized structures of Bourdieu's habitus initially appear to make most sense of the embodiment and permanence of caste, we contend that a Foucauldian approach offers better insight into the interactional basis of social structures and identity formation.The article reconsiders both theories in light of these empirical data and concludes that analysing interaction at a local level enables us to better comprehend the emergence of social structural features in a caste context. - soc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/41/1/97

Caste-Based Reservations and Human Development in India 
Authored by: K S Chalam Union Public Service Commission 
Description: Caste-based reservations have existed in India for more than a century. Initially introduced by the British to bring equality of opportunity in education, reservation was later extended to other sectors of the development process to overcome the problem of economic inequalities attributed to caste. Even today, concepts like affirmative action and quotas are being debated to justify reservation. This book provides a comprehensive assessment of the impact of caste-based reservation on human development in India, taking into consideration the time series data. 
The book also analyzes the impact of caste-based reservations on the target groups, as well as on major human development indices. An alternative strategy of applying the democratic principle of caste-based reservation is also discussed. - sagepub.com

Caste, Culture and Hegemony 
Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal 
Authored by: Sekhar Bandyopadhyay Victoria University of Wellington 
Description: It is widely believed that, because of its exceptional social development, the caste system in colonial Bengal differed considerably from the rest of India. Through a study of the complex interplay between caste, culture and power, this book convincingly demonstrates that Bengali Hindu society preserved the essentials of caste discrimination in colonial times, even while giving the outward appearance of having changed.
Using empirical data combined with an impressive array of secondary sources, Dr Bandyopadhyay delineates the manner in which Hindu caste society maintained its cultural hegemony and structural cohesion. This was primarily achieved by frustrating reformist endeavours, by co-opting the challenges of the dalit, and by marginalising dissidence. It was through such a process of constant negotiation in the realm of popular culture, argues the author, that this oppressive social structure and its hierarchical ideology and values have survived.
Starting with an examination of the relationship between caste and power, the book examines early cultural encounters between `high' Brahmanical tradition and the more egalitarian `popular' religious cults of the lower castes. It moves on to take a close look at the relationship between caste and gender showing the reasons why the reform movement for widow remarriage failed. It ends with an examination of the Hindu `partition' campaign, which appropriated dalit autonomous politics and made Hinduism the foundation of an emergent Indian national identity.
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay breaks with many of the assumptions of two important schools of thought - the Dumontian and the subaltern - and takes instead a more nuanced approach to show how high caste hegemony has been able to perpetuate itself. He thus takes up issues which go to the heart of contemporary problems in India's social and political fabric. This important and original contribution will be widely welcomed by historians, sociologists and political scientists. - sagepub.com

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