scholarly journals Caste Formation in India.

2020 ◽  
pp. 323-326
Author(s):  
Sajitha D V ◽  
Ajith Kumar M P
Keyword(s):  
Structural Feature ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Caste Politics ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Social Reformers

The purpose of this study is to look at how caste formation, a structural feature of Indian society and the changes that have taken place in caste formations over time, are used by caste in today’s society. The structure of Indian society is based on the caste system. But the caste system was only a product of the upper caste Brahmins of India. In fact, the upper castes enslaved the lower castes only for economic purposes. For that, they used caste as the first extreme. According to historians, the caste system in India was only part of a division of labor and was never caste-based. Because there is no mention in Manusmriti, Bhagavat Gita, Vedic and Later-Vedic literatues about a caste society that separates man from man on the basis of caste. That is why our social reformers proclaimed that caste evils should be eradicated from the society and they worked hard for it and succeeded to some extent. Thus, Independent India was able to build a casteless society as a result of the work of social reformers. But after independence we were able to see a caste politics. What we see today is that every political party is using caste as a tool for their vote bank during elections to consolidate their power. Therefore, caste politics is one of the major challenges facing India.

scholarly journals Plasticity and Marginalization in The God of Small Things: A Liquid Modern Reading

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-87
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Liquid Modernity ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Small Things

The God of Small Things is set in the post-partition India which deals with the cultural and societal change and fluidity in the Indian society caused under the influence of westernized culture and societal values, while predominantly dealing with the stereotypical, discriminatory and unfair treatment of certain gender and cast. The study is an attempt to look into how people tend to be seduced by some specific cultural values and discard some others even when they are moving towards being modernized, and in this case, under a group of colonizers whose so called agenda was to teach the uncivilized the civilized ways of life. The study is conducted under the idea of Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman from which two postulates are picked. The first one being the tendency of a constant change with in a society and how the idea of modernity was the cause of decline in societal norms while the individuals are seduced by the ways of the west. The second postulate picked from Bauman’s Liquid Modernity is how he terms the society to be plastic, meaning that it is something that can constantly be reshaped regardless of where and in what state it is. Another important objective of the paper is to highlight the ways in which the plastic society challenges the traditional power structures in which women and lower castes are marginalized and suppressed by patriarchal hierarchy and caste system. Thus, the paper highlights the positive as well as negative impact of the liquid modern society and in this way this paper itself becomes a manifestation of liquid modernity in which there is no certainty or fixedness. The findings show that the characters in the selected novel are strongly influenced by the modern western values and their native culture is significantly altered by that of the English, both in positive and negative ways, and there are no fixed cultural values.

scholarly journals Understanding the persistence of caste: A commentary on Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj and Kumar (2014)

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 554-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yashpal A. Jogdand ◽  
Sammyh S. Khan ◽  
Arvind Kumar Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Caste Differences

We contextualise Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj, and Kumar’s (2014) paper within a broader literature on caste and collective mobilisation. Cotterill and colleagues’ paper represents a fresh and timely attempt to make sense of the persistence of caste from the perspective of Social Dominance Theory. Cotterill and colleagues, however, do not examine caste differences in the endorsement of karma, and take behavioural asymmetry among lower castes for granted. Cotterill and colleagues also adhere to a Varna model of the caste system that arguably is simplistic and benefits the upper castes of Indian society. We caution that emphasising behavioural asymmetry and endorsing the Varna model might further stigmatise lower castes, especially Dalits, and feed into a conformity bias already predominant in caste-related psychological research. We argue that the conceptualisation and operationalisation of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation and legitimising myths in the Indian context needs to take into account the particular meaning and functions of these constructs in specific intergroup contexts, and for identity positions salient within these contexts. We contend that any examination aimed at better understanding the nature of social hierarchy and oppression within the caste system and Indian society in general remains inconclusive without including a focus on the construction and contestation of social categories and social identities.

Trade Networks and the Management of the Combat Frontier

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Topher L. McDougal
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
Causal Mechanisms ◽  
Cell Leaders ◽  
Lower Castes

This chapter fleshes out the causal mechanisms motivating the results of Chapter 5 with interviews of traders who cross the Maoist territorial border. It contends the hierarchical form of the caste-based Indian society gives rise to trade networks in which a caste-based division of labor arises: lower-castes engage in local trade, higher-castes in long-distance trade. By enforcing the caste bar on tribal people in long-distance trade, long-distance traders ensure that trade taking place between Maoist-held hinterlands and government-controlled cities remains in the hands of an elite few. Those elite long-distance traders can then strike deals with Maoist cells for trade access, thereby incentivizing Maoists to firmly hold onto their own territory, while discouraging them from taking over such profitable towns. Moreover, this mechanism helps explain why well-connected towns are less violently targeted by rebels: they tend to have more upper-caste traders, limiting their bargaining power vis-à-vis Maoist cell leaders.

The Caste-Class Association in India

Asian Survey ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Vaid
Keyword(s):  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Scheduled Castes ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This paper empirically analyzes the association between caste and class in India. I find a tentative congruence between castes and classes at the extremes of the caste system and a slight weakening in this association over time. Although Scheduled Castes have low upward mobility, higher castes are not entirely protected from downward mobility.

Shilpakar Mahasabha in Colonial Uttarakhand: Subjective Representation of Collective Self

2021 ◽  
pp. 2455328X2110267
Author(s):  
Isha Tamta
Keyword(s):  
Caste System ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
British Raj ◽  
Collective Self ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Colonial Government ◽  
First Time ◽  
Subjective Representation ◽  
Different Parts

The caste system in India got transformed as a consequence of the policies of the British Raj. The introduction of the census under the colonial government, among other things, made the most direct impact because for the first time the castes have been enumerated with great details. As a result, castes immediately not only organized themselves but also formed caste associations in order to get their status recorded in the way they thought was honourable to them. Caste associations emerged over the period to pressurize the colonial administration to improve their rank in the census. This process was especially prevalent among the lower castes in different parts of India. Shilpakar Mahashaba was a case in point in Uttarakhand. Shilpakar Mahasabha claimed new advantages from the state like reservations (quotas) in educational institutions and in the civil service. Subsequently, they also became mutual aid structures. Shilpakar Mahasabha founded schools and hostels for the children of Shilpakars and led a sort of co-operative movement. Some have argued that caste associations acted like a collective enterprise with economic, social and political objectives for their caste.

scholarly journals Colonial State as ‘New Manu’? Explorations in Education Policies in Relation to Dalit and Low-Caste Education in the Nineteenth-Century India

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-107
Author(s):  
Parimala V. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Colonial Administration ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Priestly Class ◽  
Colonial Government ◽  
Implementation Stage

The colonial state always asserted itself as a harbinger of ‘modernity’ and emphasised its role in India as a ‘civilising mission’. The 1811 Educational Minute of Governor General Minto, declared Hindus and Muslims of India as inherently corrupt and insisted on the British role as ‘civilising’. Conventionally the terms ‘modern’ and ‘civilising mission’ have been considered as offensive, and scholars have critiqued them as Eurocentric and racist. However, these terms have not been analysed at the implementation stage in India. The colonial government used these terms to actually strengthen the structures of the traditional hierarchy. When Minto declared that the education policy was to civilise Hindus and Muslims of India, it was through the ‘the dread of their religion in this world and the next’ and through strengthening and empowering the priestly class of Hindus and Muslims (Sharp, 1920, pp. 19–21). The colonial administration regarded this kind of education as the corner stone of its education policy. This article looks at the education policies of the colonial state towards lower castes in the nineteenth-century India and how these policies upheld and reinforced the caste system.

Did They Mind the Gap? Voter/Party Ideological Proximity between the BQ, the NDP and Quebec Voters, 2006–2011

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Gauvin ◽  
Chris Chhim ◽  
Mike Medeiros
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Party Manifestos ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
The Face ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe 2011 Canadian federal election results changed the face of federal politics in Quebec. In a sudden and spectacular reversal of electoral fortunes, BQ support crumbled while that of the NDP surged. While most commentators focused exclusively on the 2011 election itself to explain what had happened, we offer an interpretation that takes a longitudinal approach. Using data from the Canadian Election Study and political party manifestos from 2006 to 2011, we propose a three-dimensional proximity model of voter/party congruence to explore the evolution of the ideological stances of Quebec voters and parties. Empirical results suggest these ideological distances between the NDP and Quebec voters decreased over time, whereas the BQ has distanced itself from voters. Furthermore, ideological distances between party and voters are a significant predictor of vote.

Metaphors of Conquest: Towards the Aesthetics of Dalit Feminism through Select Texts and Contexts

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Jaydeep Sarangi
Keyword(s):  
Indian Society ◽  
Social Oppression ◽  
Disadvantaged Populations ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
Caste Politics ◽  
Class Distinction ◽  
Social Machine

One of the aims of writing dalit literature in India has been to reveal to the readers the injustice, oppression, helplessness and struggles of many of the disadvantaged populations under the social machine of stratification in India. Caste politics in India is unique and culture specific. Dalit feminism is unique in Indian context. The stratified Indian society beguiles the dalit women to the whirlpool of social oppression and exploitation. It is against any sort of class distinction. Conceiving the ideology of Dr B. R. Ambedkar: ‘Educate, agitate, organize’ dalit women write back.

Bhabani Bhattacharya Vs ‘He Who Rides A Tiger’

2021 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Ajay Kr. Singh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social System ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Spiritual Growth ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Freedom Movement

Bhabani Bhattacharya’s ‘He Who Rides a Tiger’ is yet another novel of man’s epic struggle against the unjust social equations which are as old as the ancient vedic civilization. It is the story of a blacksmith, Kalo, living in a small town, Jharana, in Bengal, and his daughter, Chandra Lekha. It is set against the backdrop of a widespread famine of Bengal of 1943. Though ‘He Who Rides a Tiger’ and ‘So Many Hungers’ treat the theme of hunger, exploitation and debasement of man, ‘He Who Rides a Tiger’ is no rehash of the latter novel. It launches a scathing critisism on the evil of caste system which has been the bane of Indian society. Arguably the writer’s best novel, it touches the pulse of the irony of Indian social life. The Indian social realities are presented with increasing bitterness within the perspective of the freedom movement. Its greatness as a piece of literature lies in its assertion of tremendous potentialities of the spiritual growth of man, and a thorough exposure of an imperfect social system.

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