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Showing papers on "Caste published in 2000"


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: Termite societies display a wide array of polymorphism patterns, rivalled only by the most complex ant societies as mentioned in this paper, where immatures of either sex deviate from the straight hemimetabolous pathway leading from the egg to the winged imago.
Abstract: Termite societies display a wide array of polymorphism patterns, rivalled only by the most complex ant societies. Caste differentiation in termites occurs when immatures of either sex deviate from the straight hemimetabolous pathway leading from the egg to the winged imago. Two kinds of irreversible deviations are found in primitive termites: one leads to the sterile soldier caste, the other to neotenic reproductives. Social tasks are primitively done by immatures which may postpone their maturation but retain a full range of developmental options. A major event in the evolution of termite caste patterns is the polyphyletic onset of a worker caste which is irreversibly excluded from the imaginal pathway. Termites with workers went through a remarkable behavioural and ecological diversification. After defining terms, I review here the diversity of caste patterns in termites in an evolutionary perspective. I provide examples of relationships between caste patterns and behavioural ecology, and examine the decision and regulatory mechanisms affecting caste determination. Trends in the evolution of termite caste patterns are then outlined, of which the most salient and enigmatic ones are the repeated occurrence of sexual dimorphism among workers and the frequent specialization of one sex in the formation of sterile castes.

281 citations


Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: From Pakistan to Britain, the process of settlement households and family relationships the idiom of caste Biradari solidarity and cousin marriage honour and shame - gender and generation health, illness and the reproduction of the Biradaris taking and giving - domestic rituals and female networks public faces - leadership, religion and political mobilization.
Abstract: From Pakistan to Britain the process of settlement households and family relationships the idiom of caste Biradari solidarity and cousin marriage honour and shame - gender and generation health, illness and the reproduction of the Biradari taking and giving - domestic rituals and female networks public faces - leadership, religion and political mobilization.

217 citations



Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: Gupta as mentioned in this paper argues that any notion of a fixed hierarchy is arbitrary and valid only from the perspective of individual castes and that the idea of difference determines the tendency of each caste to keep alive its discrete nature and this is also seen to be true of various castes which occupy the same rank in the hierarchy.
Abstract: The caste system has conventionally been perceived by scholars as a hierarchy based on the binary opposition of purity and pollution. Challenging this position, leading sociologist Dipankar Gupta argues that any notion of a fixed hierarchy is arbitrary and valid only from the perspective of the individual castes. The idea of difference, and not hierarchy, determines the tendency of each caste to keep alive its discrete nature and this is also seen to be true of the various castes which occupy the same rank in the hierarchy. It is, in fact, the mechanics of power, both economic and political, that set the ground rules for caste behaviour, which also explains how traditionally opposed caste groups find it possible to align in the contemporary political scenario. With the help of empirical evidence from states like Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the author illustrates how any presumed correlations between caste loyalties and voting patterns are in reality quite invalid. Provocative and finely argued, Interrogating Caste is a remarkable work that provides fresh insight into caste as a social, political and economic reality.

185 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: The lack of Indian entrepreneurship is attributed to a combination of historical factors, including the caste system, British occupation, cultural values, and government regulations as discussed by the authors, which has limited innovative entrepreneurship in India, and efforts have focused on changing the cultural mind set in India regarding entrepreneurship and creating entrepreneurs by giving youth the self confidence to become high achievers.
Abstract: The combination of historical factors--including the caste system, British occupation, cultural values, and government regulations--have limited innovative entrepreneurship in India. More recently, efforts have focused on changing the cultural mind set in India regarding entrepreneurship and on creating entrepreneurs by giving youth the self confidence to become high achievers. Situated in southern Asia, the Indian subcontinent has over 7,000 km. of coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The Republic of India shares land boundaries with Bangladesh (formerly Pakistan East), Bhutan, Myanmar (formerly Burma), China (PRC), Nepal, and Pakistan. India's population, officially approaching 1 billion [1], is multicultural. Ethnic groups include Indo-Nordics, Dravidians, and Mongoloids. Among India's socio-religious groups are the Baghdadi Jews, Bene Israels, Christians, Cochini Jews, Hindus, Jains, Moslems, Parsis, and Sikhs. The largest religious group is the Hindu community which is segmented into varna (classes) believed to have originated in functional occupations. The four principal higher varna are Brahmin (priests), Kshtriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders), and Shudra (artisans). The "untouchables" have been assigned the lowest social ranking. Even during the 20th century, these people have been required to maintain a physical distance of 64 feet from the Brahmins, and 30 feet from the Shudras. India's caste system, a social and religious hierarchy, is central to the people's cultural beliefs. Each individual has a dharma (duty) specific to the caste of birth. This combination of social structure and cultural values has constrained entrepreneurship in India. However, in recent years, there have been a number of efforts to shift the national mind set regarding entrepreneurship, particularly among India's youth, in whom it is hoped an entrepreneurial personality can be developed. This article gives an overview of some of these efforts. Entrepreneurship in India: An Historical Perspective Since ancient times, Indian products have made their way to markets abroad, Muslin from India was used by the Pharaohs for Egyptian mummies (Datt and Sundharam 1968). The Jains, an ascetic religious group, have long been a trading sect in India, not out of an entrepreneurial spirit based on materialism, but rather because trading was an occupation that kept them relatively free from conflict with the requirements of their religious practices. The Marwaris (formerly known as Banias) are a non-Bengali caste specializing in domestic trade. Their enterprises have complemented those of English entrepreneurs who allowed the Marwaris to become prominent in a diversified industrial economy. Under the British during the 19th century India began to industrialize, and Indian entrepreneurs were instrumental in the spread of manufacturing (Medhora 1965). In contrast, other groups of Indian entrepreneurs had experiences of another kind. During the 1800s, the British discriminated against those communities (such as the Bengalis) that competed with English entrepreneurs in international commerce. Many Indian entrepreneurs were thus forced out of the business realm. During the 1880s, local firms with established reputations were defrauded by British partners, an action which led to more withdrawals from the business sector. Regarding this, Nafziger comments, "The lack of indigenous entrepreneurship [in India]... stems in part from the discrimination and duplicity of the British in the 19th century" (1971, p.30). Between 1912 and 1945, industrial production in India doubled (Balakrishna 1961). During the 1920s and 1930s, the Jains (especially the Marwari Jains) shifted their activity from trading to manufacturing, breaking away from their scriptural teaching. India's independence, made official on August 15, 1947, was described as a "tryst with destiny," by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. …

125 citations


Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The essays in this volume, each authored by an expert on the subject, include a stimulating assessment of the role of women in perpetuating caste; incisive analyses of the relationship between caste and the economy, and between the caste and Hinduism; a review of the backward class movements in Tamil Nadu; a commentary on the power struggle in UP and Bihar amongst the backward castes; the relationship among efficiency and job reservation; observations on caste amongst Muslims and Christians in India and critiques of the Mandal Commission Report and the Mandal judgement as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: As India attempts to modernize and ready itself for the twenty-first century, the issue of caste takes on an overwhelming importance. What form does caste take today How can its debilitating aspects be countered This book, edited and introduced by one of India's most eminent sociologists, attempts to answer these and other crucial questions. The essays in this volume, each authored by an expert on the subject, include a stimulating assessment of the role of women in perpetuating caste; incisive analyses of the relationship between caste and the economy, and between caste and Hinduism; a review of the backward class movements in Tamil Nadu; a commentary on the power struggle in UP and Bihar amongst the backward castes; the relationship between efficiency and job reservation; observations on caste amongst Muslims and Christians in India and critiques of the Mandal Commission Report and the Mandal judgement.

113 citations


BookDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Sangeeta Ray examines representations of 'native' Indian women and shows how these representations were deployed to advance notions of Indian self-rule as well as to defend British imperialism.
Abstract: "En-Gendering India" offers an innovative interpretation of the role that gender played in defining the Indian state during both the colonial and postcolonial eras. Focusing on both British and Indian literary texts - primarily novels - produced between 1857 and 1947, Sangeeta Ray examines representations of 'native' Indian women and shows how these representations were deployed to advance notions of Indian self-rule as well as to defend British imperialism. Through her readings of works by writers including Bankimchandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Harriet Martineau, Flora Annie Steel, Anita Desai, and Bapsi Sidhaa, Ray demonstrates that Indian women were presented as upper class and Hindu, an idealisation that paradoxically served the needs of both colonial and nationalist discourses. The Indian nation's goal of self-rule was expected to enable women's full participation in private and public life. On the other hand, British colonial officials rendered themselves the protectors of passive Indian women against their savage' male countrymen. Ray shows how the native woman thus became a symbol for both an incipient Indian nation and a fading British Empire. In addition, she reveals how the figure of the upper-class Hindu woman created divisions with the nationalist movement itself by underscoring caste, communal, and religious differences within the newly emerging state. As such, Ray's study has important implications for discussions about nationalism, particularly those that address the concepts of identity and nationalism. Building on recent scholarship in feminism and postcolonial studies, "En-Gendering India" will be of interest to scholars in those fields as well as to specialists in nationalism and nation-building and in Victorian, colonial, and postcolonial literature and culture.

83 citations


Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The history of the Sinhala Bourgeoisie of 'Nobodies' and 'Somebodies' can be found in this article, where the authors describe the creation of the Colombo Tamil Bourgeoisies.
Abstract: * Introduction * Part 1: Mainly 'Nobodies ' in a Colonial Backwater * 1. Trade and Accumulation in the Pre-Plantation Economy * 2. The Beginnings of the Bourgeoisie * 3. Taking Off Through the Arrack Trade * 4. Multi-Caste Class Formation * Part 2: Becoming 'Somebodies' * 5. Transition to Plantation Economy * 6. Marketing Arrack among Workers and Peasants * 7. Profits in the Liquor Trade * 8. Merchant Capitalists Spread Their Wings * Part 3: Accumulating Status and Constructing Identity * 9. Recasting Caste in Class Society * 10. The Sinhala Bourgeoisie of 'Nobodies' and 'Somebodies' * 11. The Creation of the Colombo Tamil Bourgeoisie * 12. Constructing Muslim Identity * 13. Burghers and Eurasians as Modernizers * Part 4: Culture, Religious Revival and Gender * 14. Christianization and Cultural Assimilation * 15. Religious Revival and the Bourgeoisie * 16. The Debut of the Bourgeois Woman * Part 5: Capital and Politics * 17. The Politics of Loyalty and Royalty * 18. Class and Caste in National Politics * 19. Political Capital and Dynasty * 20. Conclusion * Appendices

73 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Frank de Zwart1
TL;DR: Most social scientists today agree that identity is a social construction, not a primordial given, and they also agree that the state is a key agent in the process of identity construction.
Abstract: Most social scientists today agree that identity is a social construction, not a primordial given. They also agree that the state (through its power to dominate discourse) is a key agent in the process of identity construction. The literature on caste in India is illustrative. Caste used to be thought of as an ancient fact of Hindu life, but contemporary scholars argue that the caste system was constructed by the British colonial regime. The social construction thesis should apply a fortiori to a project begun by the Indian government almost 50 years ago and still going strong, namely affirmative action for the 'backward classes'. This project is strikingly similar to the British colonial project that ex hypothesi constructed the caste system. The government defines social categories (official constructions) under which people must register in order to qualify for the material rewards - jobs and education - that made these constructions real in their consequences. The tangible effects of affirmative actio...

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines how an agrarian elite in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), India, seek access to the local police force and argue that rich farmers belonging to the intermediate Jat caste have been quite successful in perpetuating their economic and social advantage through placing relatives in the police force.

62 citations


Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The Future of AnthrOPology FURTHER READING INDEX as mentioned in this paper is a survey on the future of anthropology and its future in the future.
Abstract: 1. FIELDWORK AND ETHNOGRAPHY 2. CULTURE 3. SOCIETY 4. SEX AND BLOOD 5. CLASS AND CASTE, VILLAGE AND CITY, HOME AND THE WORLD 6. LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL LIFE 7. THE CULTURALLY CONSTRUCTED SELF 8. THE FUTURE OF ANTHROPOLOGY FURTHER READING INDEX.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors bring together original essays that help us understand the growing incidence of community conflicts in India, including religious, caste, and regional identities, and discuss the role of social media in these conflicts.
Abstract: Political conflicts around religious, caste and regional identities have multiplied in India. This volume brings together original essays that help us understand the growing incidence of community conflicts in India.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argued that it is necessary to refine the study of Indian inequality by studying patterns of inter group disparity, and highlighted the salience of caste for this purpose, and outlined the imperatives of an economic enquiry into contemporary caste inequality, attempting to highlight the different theoretical perspectives that underlie the literature.
Abstract: Arguing that it is necessary to refine the study of Indian inequality by studying patterns of inter group disparity, this essay highlights the salience of caste for this purpose. Outlining the imperatives of an economic enquiry into contemporary caste inequality, the essay critically reviews the small body of the theoretical and empirical work, attempting to highlight the different theoretical perspectives that underlie the literature.

Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: Using records of religious endowments from Andhra Pradesh, author Cynthia Talbot as mentioned in this paper reconstructs a regional society of the precolonial past as it existed in practice, arguing that medieval India was actually a time of dynamic change and fluid social identities.
Abstract: The society of traditional India is frequently characterized as static and dominated by caste. This study challenges older interpretations, arguing that medieval India was actually a time of dynamic change and fluid social identities. Using records of religious endowments from Andhra Pradesh, author Cynthia Talbot reconstructs a regional society of the precolonial past as it existed in practice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relation of people to land for production (and not for revenue receiving, household living, etc.) and the caste system of India, viz. the jati strati?cation of society, is discussed in this article.
Abstract: After the British conquered Bengal and eventually the whole of India,they set out to administer the colony. In this context they encountered two phenomena with which they were not familiar: (1) the relation of people to land for production (and not for revenue receiving, household living, etc.), and (2) the caste system of India, viz. the jati strati?cation of society.

Book
01 Jan 2000

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the crystallization of lower caste movements in India, arguing that the mobilization of the lower castes was delayed and did not imply any significant change in caste identities: the emancipatory and empowerment agenda in India materialized without any prior ethnicization.
Abstract: In the 1970s, the Janata Party-led state governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India launched new reservation policies for lower castes. The controversy surrounding these policies came to a fore when upper castes resisted the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in 1990. While reservation policies played a role in the crystallization of the low caste movements in South and West India, their momentum was sustained by the ideology of "pre-Aryanism" or Buddhism in these regions. In the North, however, the state policies were more or less the starting point of the whole process. This article will discuss the crystallization of lower caste movements in India, arguing that the mobilization of the lower castes was delayed and did not imply any significant change in caste identities: the emancipatory and empowerment agenda in India materialized without any prior ethnicization.

DOI
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the political economy of the social sciences, with reference to the cases of India and Malaysia and suggest that academic dependency alone is insufficient to explain the continued currency of American-dominated social science in the Third World.
Abstract: The study of the social sciences can be approached in a variety of ways. Various types of meta-analyses exist, and concerns range from the epistemological to the empirical. Metatheory, or the reflexive study of the social sciences, involves the study of the social, cultural and historical contexts of theories and theorists, and their philosophical roots. The particular variety of metatheory that I focus on in this essay is the political economy of the social sciences, with reference to the cases of India and Malaysia. In what follows, I introduce the topic by way of a discussion of the relevance of the social sciences to developing societies, after which I move on to an account of the structure of academic dependency. This account concerns the manner in which the social sciences in developing societies are dependent upon American social science. I then suggest that academic dependency alone is insufficient to explain the continued currency of American-dominated social science in the Third World. There is a rhetorical dimension to the social sciences that in part explains the global spread of the social sciences. The overall aim of this essay is to shed light on the nature and typology of intellectual dependency. The Problem of Relevance and Academic Dependency The institutional and theoretical dependence of scholars in developing countries on Western social science has resulted in an uncritical and imitative approach to ideas and concepts from the United States and, to some extent, Great Britain, France and Germany. Whereas, the relevance of the social sciences for developing countries has been called into question (Myrdal, 1957; Singh Uberoi, 1968, Misra, 1972), the ideas of social science became entrenched. For example, even though it seemed that the humanistic and less technical political economy would be relevant because it stressed the role of non-economic variables in development, it was modern economic science in the form of abstract models that established itself in much of the Third World (Pieris, 1969: 439-440). In the discipline of geography, for instance, it has been noted that in the 1970s more theoretical works addressing the relevance of Western-derived development models began to appear (Raguraman & Huang, 1993: 285).(1) What the discipline of geography experienced is true for other disciplines as well. Political decolonization was accompanied by the spread of a polycentrism in world geography in which the relevance of Western or Anglo-American models is questioned (Hooson, 1994: 5-6). Reflection on the question of the relevance and utility of the social sciences for non-Western societies has resulted in the highlighting of a number of themes that have emerged as a result of the encounter between a largely Western-oriented social science tradition on the one hand, and specifically national/regional socio-political issues on the other. One such theme is academic dependency. The social sciences, as they were introduced in the colonies and other peripheralised regions of the world from the nineteenth century onwards, were imported and implanted without due recognition of the different historical backgrounds and social circumstances of these societies, a greater awareness of which would have warranted modified and revamped theories and methods. Following political emancipation, the intellectual dependence of the former colonies on American and European models continued. Although the leading theoretical perspectives originating in Europe and America have not always been relevant in alien milieus, their continuing presence in university syllabi and lists of references in journal articles in the non-West are testimony to the process of adaptation to the "rules of the dominant caste within the Euro-American social science game" (Kantowsky, 1969: 129). This intellectual dependence can be seen in terms of both the structures of academic dependency and imported ideas whose relevance are in question. …

01 Dec 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the degree and nature of exclusion and inclusion within panchayat raj organizations in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh using a database assembled for a group from six districts in each state.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the degree and nature of exclusion and inclusion within panchayat raj organizations in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. This was examined using a database assembled for a group from six districts-three in each state. The districts in Rajasthan were Ajmer, Bhilwara and Dungarpur, and Neemuch, Mandsaur and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. The villages selected for study included some that sit astride major roads and others that are located some distance away and are relatively hard to access. Villages both large and small, as well as single-caste-dominant and mixed-caste villages are represented in the study. Also represented in the study are villages where the post of sarpanch is open to all, and others where the sarpanch is female, or from a scheduled caste (SC) or scheduled tribe (ST). The central question addressed was whether a person's social and economic attributes determined their participation in gram panchayat activities. Our original hypothesis, which was based on documentation and rural experience, suggests that those who are present and heard during panchayat meetings tend to be the better educated males and those who are wealthier, more articulate and of higher caste than the general population. Our analysis indicates that certain groups-mainly women and tribal people-have very limited participation, but that assumptions relating to caste and wealth as determinants of exclusion do not hold true.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how the rural labor process is constitutive of social identity, particularly status, by harnessing empirical evidence from Kheda District, Gujarat, and other parts of India.
Abstract: In this article I examine how the rural labor process is constitutive of social identity, particularly status, by harnessing empirical evidence from Kheda District, Gujarat, and other parts of India. Emphasis is on the labor practices of the dominant Lewa Patel caste, and only secondarily on the practices of other caste groups. My central claim is that the labor process is a primary arena in which the quest for social distinction occurs and that the primary source of distinction is the ability to withdraw family labor power from the commoditized labor circuit. In this paper I seek to deepen conventional understandings of the labor process within economic geography, agrarian studies, and mainstream economics.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2000-Americas
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a portrait of colonial Afro-Mexicans, focusing on occupational and marriage patterns of free-colored populations in Spanish America, including pardos, morenos, and mulattos, who were found throughout the major urban centers, coastal zones, rural areas, and in selected portions of the northern frontier.
Abstract: Late colonial Mexico possessed one of the largest free-colored populations in Spanish America, numbering around 370,000 in 1793. The colony's pardos, morenos, and mulattos were highly dispersed, being found throughout the major urban centers, coastal zones, rural areas, and in selected portions of the northern frontier. Studies conducted over the past two decades have assisted enormously in reconstructing the free-colored demographic profile, with particular emphasis on occupational and marriage patterns. Much of this research has resulted from sustained examinations of the caste vs. class debate, which has attempted to understand the manner in which the caste system worked in structuring colonial social relations. Broader, regional histories have added even more to our understanding by situating Blacks within the economic, cultural, and social context of important towns and their hinterlands. Institutional studies have also referenced the Afro-Mexican presence and contributions. However, numerous gaps still exist in our portrait of colonial Afro-Mexicans. Notably, the Pacific coastal regions have received proportionately little attention in comparison to the area of Veracruz. This is surprising since the Costa Chica, occupying portions of the modern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, remains home to some of the more significant concentrations of Afro-Mexicans.


Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The authors highlights three themes: the constraints of modernization, the contradictory logic of modernization vis-a-vis assertive political identities, and the politics of the governed and the battle for equal status at the level of the state.
Abstract: Examining the processes of state formation and consolidation, and the erosion of the post-colonial state, this book highlights three themes: the constraints of modernization; the contradictory logic of modernization vis-a-vis assertive political identities; and the politics of the governed and the battle for equal status at the level of the state. It sees the present crisis of the Indian state as a direct result of the post-colonial state's inability to grapple with the social and multicultural realities of the Indian polity, thus making way for various religious, caste and regional frictions to surface.


Journal ArticleDOI
Ben Vinson1
01 Apr 2000-Americas
TL;DR: The question of identity has been one of considerable importance to the study of race in Latin America, particularly for the multitude of racially mixed offspring produced by miscegenation as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The question of identity has been one of considerable importance to the study of race in Latin America. Particularly for the multitude of racially mixed offspring produced by miscegenation, it has been debated, what exactly was the degree of consciousness that race could produce? What degree of strength, if any, should be attributed to the caste boundaries created in the colonial period, and how did the reins of “caste” contribute to the 19th and 20th century heritage of the region? With the new and emerging research on the African Diaspora in Latin America, the question has often been asked: did the free mulatto, moreno, or pardo ever feel a specific identity, especially during colonial times, and especially when racial discourse was apparently created by, and served the interests of those who held the supreme positions of power?

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the state-building process of Travancore and its relations with Christian missionaries and British paramountcy, and investigates the nature of the Hindu state, the relationship between missionaries and imperialism, education and medicine, and caste and communal policies of the state.
Abstract: This book examines the state-building process of Travancore and its relations with Christian missionaries and British paramountcy. It investigates the nature of the Hindu State', the relationship between missionaries and imperialism, education and medicine, and caste and communal policies of the state.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors criticizes academic theories on caste in Indian society and introduces the customs of Dalit freedom fighting and uses case studies to illustrate the Dalits' struggles in a modern world of communalized politics and market reforms.
Abstract: This work criticizes academic theories on caste in Indian society. It introduces the customs of Dalit freedom fighting and uses case studies to illustrate the Dalits' struggles in a modern world of communalized politics and market reforms.

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, a general case is made for a culturological rather than a sociological view of caste; i.e., the consideration of indigenous conceptions of why caste groups are considered different from one another.
Abstract: The A. has two analytical purposes in discussing the question of caste in West Africa. First, a general case is made for a culturological rather than a sociological view of caste; i.e., the consideration of indigenous conceptions of why caste groups are considered different from one another. Second an in-depth ethnographic investigation of local conceptions of caste among Tukulor or Pulaar speakers is presented, and it argues that caste today is better conceived as an indigenous discourse of difference than as a particular type of social organisation. Moreover, this discourse of alterity or difference is symbolically elaborated in terms of bodies of knowledge and competing systems of power, as well as with reference to racial distinction.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In recent years, the inclusion of ascriptive categories like race, ethnicity or caste in national censuses has become a matter of considerable debate as discussed by the authors, and the Indian debate over this issue has attracted much attention.
Abstract: In recent years, the inclusion of ascriptive categories like race, ethnicity or caste in national censuses has become a matter of considerable debate. This article focuses on the Indian debate over...