Showing papers on "Caste published in 2019"

Caste and the Indian Economy

Abstract: Caste plays a role at every stage of an Indian's economic life, in school, university, the labor market, and into old age. The influence of caste extends beyond private economic activity into the public sphere, where caste politics determine access to public resources. The aggregate evidence indicates that there has been convergence in education, occupations, income, and access to public resources across caste groups in the decades after independence. Some of this convergence is likely due to affirmative action, but caste-based networks could also have played an equalizing role by exploiting the opportunities that became available in a globalizing economy. Ethnic networks were once active in many advanced economies but ceased to be salient once markets developed. With economic development, it is possible that caste networks will cease to be salient in India. The affirmative action programs may also be rolled back, and (statistical) discrimination in urban labor markets may come to an end if and when there is convergence across caste groups. In the interim period, however, it is important to understand the positive and negative consequences of caste involvement across a variety of spheres in the Indian economy.

Annihilation of caste with a reply to mahatma gandhi

Abstract: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar "Know Truth as Truth and Untruth as Untruth” — BUDDHA "He that WILL NOT reason is a bigot. He that CANNOT reason is a fool. He that DARE NOT reason is a slave" — H. DRUMMOND I I appreciate greatly the honour given to me by the Mahatma in taking notice of his Harijan for the speech on Caste which I had prepared for the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal. From a perusal of his review of my speech, it is clear that the Mahatma completely dissents from the views I have expressed on the subject of Caste. I am not in the habit of entering into controversy with my opponents unless there are special reasons which compel me to act otherwise. Had my opponent been some mean and obscure person I would not have pursued him. But my opponent being the Mahatma himself, I feel I must attempt to meet the case to the contrary which he has sought to put forth. While I appreciate the honour he has given me, I must confess to a sense of surprise on finding that of all the persons, the Mahatma should accuse me of a desire to seek publicity as he seems to do when he suggests that in publishing the undelivered speech my object was to see that I was not ―forgotten.‖ Whatever the Mahatma may choose to say my object in publishing the speech was to provoke the Hindus to think and to take stock of their position. I have never hankered for publicity and if I may say so, I have more of it than I wish or need. But supposing it was out of the motive of gaining publicity that I printed the speech who could cast a stone at me? Surely not those, who like the Mahatma, live in glass houses.

Violence, religion, and masculinism in contemporary India: an analysis of the writings of Vivekananda, Golwalkar, and Gandhi

Abstract: This thesis enquires into the process of normalisation of violent masculinity and masculinism in India through the use of religion. Masculinism is defined as the presence of excessive masculine values, malecentred view of social relationships and symbolisation of masculine hegemony (Kriesky 2014). This thesis shows the pervasive existence of masculinism across the Indian political spectrum through analysis of the major works of three leaders from different ideological positions – Swami Vivekananda, M. S. Golwalkar, and M. K. Gandhi. These three leaders had very different visions of the future of India; however, this thesis found recurrent connections between masculinity and violence in the works of all three. This link is shown to have been bolstered in the works of all three – even in the ‘non-violent’ teachings of Gandhi – through the use of religion. Religious texts like the Bhagavad Gita, and ideas like karma, dharma, and karma yoga are used to link ideas of masculinity with structural, symbolic violence in the form of caste, class, and racial discrimination. This research found three different forms of religion-influenced masculinity in the works of Vivekananda, Golwalkar, and Gandhi – ascetic masculinity, culinary masculinity and violent masculinity. A feminist rhetorical analysis of the written works of these leaders shows how these religionsanctioned masculinities result in Bourdieusian symbolic violence against women, dalits, and other minority communities in India. All these leaders subscribed to a hegemonic idea of masculinity – virile, upper caste, and heteronormative – with its forms of violence practiced to this day. Vivekananda espoused a spiritual, ascetic form of masculinity, distinctly religious in its aspiration of Hindu conquest. Golwalkar’s political violent masculinity also aimed to re-establish Hindu supremacy in India. The ‘Othering’ of Muslims in Golwalkar’s writings was also a response to Gandhi’s alleged effeminate influence on Hindu masculinity. Ironically, this work shows how despite these allegations, masculinism in Gandhi’s writings resulted in his supporting honour killings and structural forms of violence, like the caste system. The continued relevance of the ideas of these three leaders and the allied prevalence of masculinism is underlined through an analysis of contemporary Indian politics, which shows that all these three forms of masculinities remain relevant. The beef lynchings by Gau Raksha committees, the growing political capital ascribed to celibacy, increasing violence against women and the rising nationalist othering of minority communities are evidence of religiously motivated violent masculinities gaining ground in contemporary India.

Does caste determine farmer access to quality information

Abstract: This paper explores the social inclusiveness of agricultural extension services in India. We estimate the probability and frequency of farmers' access to extension services and resulting changes in crop income across different caste groups. The literature suggests that caste-based social segregation manifests in various spheres of life, and perpetuates economic inequality and oppression. An econometric analysis of nationally-representative data from rural India verifies this with respect to the agricultural sector. Farmers belonging to the socially-marginalized castes are found to have a lower chance of accessing the public extension services, primarily due to their inferior resource-endowment status. Contacting extension agents at least once increased the average annual crop income by about 12 thousand Indian rupees per household, which is equivalent to 36% of the annual crop income of those without access to extension services. There exists significant impact heterogeneity. Farmers from the socially-marginalized castes hardly benefited from accessing the extension services. Based on these observations, we have developed a number of policy recommendations that could improve the social inclusiveness of agricultural development strategies in rural India.

Decasticization, Dignity, and ‘Dirty Work’ at the Intersections of Caste, Memory, and Disaster

Abstract: In this qualitative study we examine the role of caste, class, and Dalit janitorial labor in the aftermath of floods in Chennai, India, in 2015. Drawing from a variety of sources including interviews, social media, and news coverage, we studied how Dalit (formerly known as ‘untouchable’) janitors were treated during the performance of janitorial labor for cleaning the city. Our study focuses on two theoretical premises: (a) caste-based social relations reproduce inequalities by devaluing Dalit labor as ‘dirty work’; and (b) Dalit subjectivities, labor, and sufferings including occupational hazards become invisible and ungrievable forcing Dalits to provide a counter narrative to preserve the memory of their trauma and dignity injuries. We find that the discursive construction of janitorial labor as dirty work forced Dalit janitors to work in appalling and unsafe working conditions. Janitors suffered several dignity injuries in terms of social exclusion and a lack of recognition for their efforts and accomplishments. Specifically, we examine various ways through which caste, dirty work, and dignity intersected in the narrative accounts of Dalit janitors. We also explore memory and how processes of remembering and forgetting affected the dignity claims of Dalit janitors.

Experience, Caste, and the Everyday Social

Abstract: This book develops a radically new way of understanding the social by focussing on different experiences we have of the everyday empirical reality. This book offers a new way of understanding the social processes of societies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, all of which have complex experiences of the everyday social. The authors begin with the argument that the everyday social is the domain where the first experiences of the social are formed and these experiences influence to a great extent meaning-making of the structural social. Following a critique of some dominant trends in social ontology, they discuss in detail, and with many common examples, how the social is experienced through the perceptual capacities of sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell. They then discuss the relation between experience of belongingness and the social, and show how the social gets authority in a way similar to how natural gets authority in the natural sciences. Moreover, the social appears through the invocation of we-ness, suggestive of a social self. The everyday social also creates its sense of time, a social time which orders social experiences such as caste. Finally, the authors explain how the ethics of the social is formed through the relationship of Maitri (drawn from Ambedkar) between the different socials that constitute a society. This is not just a new theory of the social but is filled with illustrations from the everyday experiences of India, including the diverse experiences of caste.

Caste in Early Modern Japan: Danzaemon and the Edo Outcaste Order

Abstract: "Caste", a word normally used in relation to the Indian subcontinent, is rarely associated with Japan in contemporary scholarship. This has not always been the case, and the term was often used among earlier generations of scholars, who introduced the Buraku problem to Western audiences. Amos argues that time for reappraisal is well overdue and that a combination of ideas, beliefs, and practices rooted in Confucian, Buddhist, Shinto, and military traditions were brought together from the late 16th century in ways that influenced the development of institutions and social structures on the Japanese archipelago. These influences brought the social structures closer in form and substance to certain caste formations found in the Indian subcontinent during the same period. Specifically, Amos analyses the evolution of the so-called Danzaemon outcaste order. This order was a 17th century caste configuration produced as a consequence of early modern Tokugawa rulers’ decisions to engage in a state-building project rooted in military logic and built on the back of existing manorial and tribal-class arrangements. He further examines the history behind the primary duties expected of outcastes within the Danzaemon order: notably execution and policing, as well as leather procurement. Reinterpreting Japan as a caste society, this book propels us to engage in fuller comparisons of how outcaste communities’ histories and challenges have diverged and converged over time and space, and to consider how better to eradicate discrimination based on caste logic. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Japanese History, Culture and Society.

The persistent influence of caste on under-five mortality: Factors that explain the caste-based gap in high focus Indian states.

Abstract: Objective Although under-five mortality rate (U5MR) is declining in India, it is still high in a few selected states and among the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) population of the country. This study re-examines the association between caste and under-five deaths in high focus Indian states following the implementation of the country’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) program. In addition, we aim to quantify the contribution of socioeconomic determinants in explaining the gap in under-five death risk between the SC/ST population and non-SC/ST population in high focus states in India. Data and method Using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we calculated the U5MR by applying a synthetic cohort probability approach. We applied a binary logistic regression model to examine the association of under-five deaths with the selected covariates. Further, we used Fairlie's decomposition technique to understand the relative contribution of socioeconomic variables on under-five death risk between the caste groups. Findings In high focus Indian states, the under-five mortality risk between well-off and deprived caste children has declined in the post-NRHM period, indicating a positive impact in terms of reducing caste-based inequalities in the high focus states. Despite the reduction in under-five death risk, children belonging to the SC population experience higher mortality rates than children belonging to the non-SC/ST population from 1992 to 2016. Both macro level (district level mortality rates) and individual (regression analysis) analyses showed that children belonging to SCs experience the highest likelihood of dying before their fifth birthday. A decomposition analysis revealed that 83% of the caste-based gap in the under-five deaths is due to the distribution of women’s level of educational attainment and household wealth between the SC/ST and non-SC/ST population. Program indicators such as place of birth and number of antenatal care (ANC) visit also contributed significantly to widening caste-based gaps in U5MR. Conclusion The study indicates that there is still room to improve access to health facilities for mothers and children belonging to deprived caste groups in India. Continuous efforts to raise the level of maternal education and the economic status of people belonging to deprived caste groups should be pursued simultaneously.

Assessing the Role of Caste/Ethnicity in Predicting Menstrual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Nepal.

Abstract: Menstruation is a natural, physiological process, but it can be a challenging experience for millions of women around the world. In Nepal, a geographically small yet diverse country of 125 caste/ethnic groups, understanding how caste/ethnicity impacts menstrual health is critical for developing context-specific interventions to improve women's health. A community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 679 women and girls between the ages of 13-51 from the country's most populous castes/ethnic groups. Forty eight percent had high menstrual knowledge, 60% had positive menstrual attitudes, and 59% had positive menstrual practices. Caste/ethnicity was a significant predictor of menstrual knowledge and practices. The caste/ethnic groups Tarai/Madhesi/Other, Newar, Janajati, and Muslim all had statistically significant fewer odds of positive menstrual practices compared to Brahman/Chhetri (high caste groups), with Janajati (indigenous ethnic groups) having the poorest outcomes. Despite Nepal making impressive advances in health, certain caste/ethnic groups have fallen behind in terms of menstrual health outcomes. Consequently, blanket menstrual health programs may not be sufficient for improving menstrual knowledge and practices for all. Future programming should consider the use of local languages and context-specific content that incorporates indigenous beliefs, as well as cultivate partnerships with indigenous health organizations, and develop outcome indicators disaggregated by caste/ethnicity to ensure improved menstrual health for all.

Class and Caste in the 2019 Indian Election–Why Do So Many Poor Have Started to Vote for Modi?

Abstract: In the 2009 and 2014 elections, the poorer the voters were, the less BJP-oriented they were too. The situation changed in 2019, when the prime minister appeared to be equally popular among all the ...

The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print

Abstract: In spite of a growing body of works on the gendered dimensions of caste from across disciplines, ‘Caste’ and ‘Gender’ as pervasive systems of inequality have remained a relatively unexplored area o...

Recasting inequality: residential segregation by caste over time in urban India:

Abstract: This paper analyses residential segregation over time in Indian cities. We examine the change in caste-based segregation longitudinally, while exploring how caste dynamics manifest differently acro...

The Puzzle of Open Defecation in Rural India: Evidence from a Novel Measure of Caste Attitudes in a Nationally Representative Survey

Abstract: Uniquely widespread and persistent open defecation in rural India has emerged as an important policy challenge and puzzle about behavioral choice in economic development. One candidate exp...

Caste, Gender, and Occupational Outcomes

Abstract: In this chapter, Borooah discusses an important concern of public policy in India which is to ensure that all persons, regardless of gender, caste, or religion, are treated fairly in the jobs market. A key aspect of this relates to inter-group differences in the likelihood of attaining different levels of occupational success. The issue here is whether these differences in likelihood are justified by differences in the distribution of employee attributes or whether they are, wholly or in part, due to employer bias. This chapter attempts to answer these questions using unit record data from the Indian Human Development Survey relating to the period 2011–12. Of particular interest to this chapter is that the Survey provides details about the occupations of approximately 62,500 persons by placing them in one or more of 99 occupations; these are aggregated in the chapter into six broad occupational categories. Using these data, the chapter (focusing on men and women between the ages of 21 and 60) employs the methods of multinomial logit to estimate the probabilities of persons being in these occupational categories, after controlling for their gender/caste/religion and their employment-related attributes. The main focus is the issue of differences between men and women, and differences between persons belonging to different social groups, in their likelihood of being in the different employment categories. Data on these men and women were used to decompose the observed difference between the groups, in their average proportions in the different occupations, into an “employer bias” and an “employee attributes” effect.

Caste, Economic Inequality, and Climate Justice in India

Abstract: This paper examines the deepening of economic inequities in India as a result of caste and climate change. Caste as a structure of disadvantage and discrimination determines social, economic, and political status in India. Access to the non-agricultural labor market, financial resources like banking and microfinance resources, and rural cooperatives is shaped by one’s position in the caste hierarchy. Further, the social mobility of the rural poor, migration trajectories, and navigation of the urban labor market are shaped by caste networks in India. In recent years, climate change has also adversely affected various caste groups in India. The change in the monsoon cycle, the depleting water table, and unexpected droughts have led to poor agricultural outcomes, causing some caste groups to experience cycles of debt and impoverishment. As part of these transformations, there is increasing exacerbation of economic inequities among caste groups as evidenced in growing inequalities in incomes, property holdings, and other material resources. The paper analyzes the reproduction and deepening of economic inequities among caste groups by looking at climate change and the adaptive capacity of various castes in terms of (a) their ability to navigate non-agricultural rural and urban labor markets; (b) their ability to diversify economic activities, which is shaped by access to material and non-material resources, and (c) their capacity to access financial resources and state social security options. In so doing, the chapter provides a substantive perspective on caste and climate justice as a human rights issue, which is interlinked with exacerbating economic inequalities in India. Presenter information: Dadasaheb Tandale is a Ph.D. student at School of Global Inclusion and Social Development at UMass, Boston. He holds an M.A. in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. Dadasaheb is passionate about social justice and working for socio-economic and political inclusion of marginalized communities. He has been working in the development sector at the intersections of health rights, land rights and climate justice for the most vulnerable populations in India. As a professional, he has worked in research, advocacy, project management, program operations and communications with government, partner agencies and communities.

Caste and Credit: A Woeful Tale?

Abstract: This paper examines caste-based differences in farmers’ access to bank loans in rural India. We investigate whether banks practice taste-based discrimination on the basis of caste. In order to identify potential discrimination, we consider loan applications and approval decisions separately. We find significant inter-caste differences in application rates, and evidence of discrimination against Scheduled Tribe borrowers at the approval stage. To rule out the role of statistical discrimination, we simulate unobserved credit histories with various distributions. Evidence for taste-based discrimination persists despite accounting for unobservables. However, we find that this discrimination does not affect small farmers.

Understanding Hegemony of Caste in Political Islam and Sufism in Sindh, Pakistan:

Abstract: This paper is an attempt to investigate the historical trajectory of Ashrafia hegemony in Sindh, the province of Pakistan. I begin with the analysis of biopolitics of caste, class and religion orga...

Governing nutrition, performing state : workers of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, India

Abstract: The failures of state implemented development programmes have been largely attributed to governance issues. I study one of the largest child development programmes in the world, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme of India to understand how its governance is determined and gaps between design and practice produced. Building on a non-normative concept of governance, my research ethnographically examines the everyday processes and practices of the ICDS, through ten months of fieldwork in a community development block of Aurangabad District, Maharashtra. State practices have been studied but the role of state functionaries has not been adequately addressed. I research everyday state practices as performative - negotiated and constructed by ICDS functionaries in interaction with the local politics of caste, vertical systems of ‘corruption’ and initiatives of bureaucratic reform. I find that ICDS functionaries use state practices to: (a) perform caste, exercising dominance but also contesting caste-based subordination, (b) develop and manage informal systems of financial practices, and (c) stage performance to make it appear as if targets have been met and rules followed. The improvisation of programme practices by ICDS functionaries generates gaps and variations from programme design including the dominant caste capture of field level ICDS positions, exclusion of Scheduled Caste beneficiaries and localities from programme benefits and manipulation of programme records and performance audits. But such improvisation is also facilitative providing sites for challenging the dominant political and social order and enabling the delivery of ICDS services despite resource poor contexts and unsuitable programme rules. These findings suggest that ICDS governance at the sub-district or implementation level is determined in interaction with the politics of caste and the un-implementability of bureaucratic rules. Additionally, I highlight that implementation gaps do not always reflect the incapacity of state functionaries but may also represent their ingenuity in constrained circumstances.

Rural Civilities: Caste, Gender and Public Life in Kerala

Abstract: This essay investigates how public life in Kerala is shaped by spatially distributed gendered caste practices. The essay first investigates rural publics, such as rural libraries, and sugge...

Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India.

Abstract: This study investigates disparities in child height-an important marker of population-level health-among population groups in rural India. India is an informative context in which to study processes of health disparities because of wide heterogeneity in the degree of local segregation or integration among caste groups. Building on a literature that identifies discrimination by quantifying whether differences in socioeconomic status (SES) can account for differences in health, we decompose height differences between rural children from higher castes and rural children from three disadvantaged groups. We find that socioeconomic differences can explain the height gap for children from Scheduled Tribes (STs), who tend to live in geographically isolated places. However, SES does not fully explain height gaps for children from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Among SC and OBC children, local processes of discrimination also matter: the fraction of households in a child's locality that outrank her household in the caste hierarchy predicts her height. SC and OBC children who are surrounded by other lower-caste households are no shorter than higher-caste children of the same SES. Our results contrast with studies from other populations where segregation or apartheid are negatively associated with health.

Village in the City: Residential Segregation in Urbanizing India

Abstract: One of the normative promises of Indian urbanization is the potential breaking down of the rigidities that characterize traditional caste hierarchies in an agrarian regime. In particular, urbanization holds the promise of breaking down spatial barriers between traditional caste groups. Using a unique census-scale dataset from urban Karnataka containing detailed caste and religion data, we present a contemporary snapshot of the relationship between urbanization and patterns of residential segregation. Our analysis shows that urban wards (the extant elementary spatial unit used in the literature) are heterogeneous and segregation within the wards at census-block scales account for a significant part of the overall patterns of city scale segregation. In particular, we show how intra-ward segregation is a central driver of ghettoization of the most spatially marginalized groups in urban India – Muslims and Dalits. We provide the first census-scale evidence in independent India that corroborates anecdotal accounts of urban ghettoization. The cross-section snapshot presented in this paper suggests that degree of residential segregation is uncorrelated with levels of urbanization. We report high levels of segregation across a diverse set of urban centers that include semi-urban settlements to arguably India’s most globalized metropolis of over ten million residents, Bengaluru.

The persistent influence of caste on under-five mortality: Factors that explain the caste-based gap in high focus Indian states

Abstract: Objective: Although under-five mortality (U5M) is declining in India, it is still high in a few selected states and among the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) population of the country. This study re-examines the association between castes and U5M in high focus Indian states following the implementation of the country9s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) program. In addition, we aim to quantify the contribution of socioeconomic determinants in explaining the gap in U5M between the SC/ST population and non-SC/ST population in high focus states in India. Data and method: Using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we calculated the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) by applying a synthetic cohort probability approach. We applied a binary logistic regression model to examine the association of U5M with the selected covariates. Further, we used Fairlie9s decomposition technique to understand the relative contribution of socioeconomic variables on U5M risk between the caste groups. Findings: In high focus Indian states, the parallel gap in U5M between well-off and deprived caste children has disappeared in the post-NRHM period, indicating a positive impact in terms of reducing caste-based inequalities in the high focus states. Despite the reduction in U5M, particularly among children belonging to STs, children belonging to the SC and ST population still experience higher mortality rates than children belonging to the non-SC/ST population from 1992 to 2016. Both macro level (district level mortality rates) and individual (regression analysis) analyses showed that children belonging to SCs experience the highest likelihood of dying before their fifth birthday. A decomposition analysis revealed that 78% of the caste-based gap in U5M is due to the effect of women9s level of educational attainment and household wealth between the SC/ST and non-SC/ST population. Program indicators such as place of delivery and number of antenatal care (ANC) visits also contributed significantly to widening caste-based gaps in U5M. Conclusion: The study indicates that there is still scope to improve access to health facilities for mothers and children belonging to deprived caste groups in India. Continuous efforts to raise the level of maternal education and the economic status of people belonging to deprived caste groups should be pursued simultaneously. Key words: Under-five mortality, NFHS, NRHM, scheduled tribe, scheduled caste, maternal education, high focused states, India, SDG Goals

Migration, caste and livelihood: evidence from Indian city-slums

Abstract: This paper based on a primary survey of slum dwellers in four Indian cities examines the caste dimension of migrants and the nexus, if any, between caste and the job market participation. Based on ...

The Problem Without a Name: Comments on Cultural Difference (Racism) in India

Abstract: This paper is about race and race relations in India with a focus on the experiences of violence and discrimination that people from India’s Northeast face in mainland India. This has become a ‘pro...