Secularisation of Caste and Making of New Middle Class
Author(s): D. L. Sheth
Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Aug. 21 - Sep. 3, 1999, Vol. 34, No. 34/35 (Aug.
21 - Sep. 3, 1999), pp. 2502-2510
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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Secularisation of Caste and Making
of New Middle Class
D L Sheth
The changes that have occurred in Indian society, especially after India's decolonisation, ha
a de-ritualisation of caste. With the erosion of rituality a large part of the support system of caste has col
Caste now survives as a kinship-based cultural community but operates in a different newly emerge
of social stratification. By forming themselves into larger horizontal social groups, members of d
castes now increasingly compete for entry into the middle class, changing its old pre-independence
and composition. This new and vastly enlarged middle class is becoming, even if slowly, polit
culturally more unified but highly diversified in terms of the social origins of its members.
EXISTING for thousands of years, status
the terms, but also as a plurality of 'self- structed largely from its depiction in the
governing' cultural communities. Fifth, religious scriptures. In the event, Barbosa' s
caste system got its name about 500 years
he stuck to a matter-of-fact account of
empirical view of caste was now superago from the Portuguese when they landed
what he saw and was told about caste, and
on the Malabar coast and began to have
imposed by the scriptural (ideological)
vara view of caste. Three, with the
refrained from moralising and passing
'direct experience' with Indian society.l
Derived from 'casta' in Portuguese, value
the judgments on it.
'discovery' of Hindu scriptures by the
term caste has since been used generiOrientalist scholars, caste became a prism
COLONIAL DISCOURSE
cally to describe the whole ('vama-jati')
through which the colonial rulers began
to see Indians and the whole Indian society:
system as well as specifically to refer to
its various orders and the units within anNothing much of significance was added
Caste
was now seen as representing a
order. The Portuguese 'discovery' of caste,
or any improvement made to Barbosa's
worldview of Indians and a totality of
India's social and cultural life. Certain
however, went much beyond giving a name
account for the next 250 years by his
to India's vama-jati system. Portuguese
European successors reporting on caste.
non-ritual, even non-religious elements
It was only after the British rule was
were the first among Europeans to provide
which always existed in the caste system
in India that a second
detailed accounts of its functioning. established
The
and informed quite a few aspects of inter'discovery' of caste was madecaste
by relations,
the
were theoretically ruled
most perceptive, empirical account of caste
out of the system.
Europeans. The Western Orientalist
was given by the 16th century Portuguese,
Duarte Barbosa. Barbosa identified the
scholars, the Christian Missionaries
and in the course of setting-up its
Four,
administration, a number of land
main features of caste: (a) Caste as a
the British administrators began,revenue
in their
of village
this surveys were launched by the
hierarchy, with brahmans at the top and different ways, to make senseand
'untouchables' at the bottom;
regime in different regions of
complex phenomenon. A new, colonial
colonial
India. This focused the attention of revenue
discourse
(b) untouchability as linked to the
idea on
of caste was born. It marked
important
administrators, many of whom were
'pollution'; (c) existence of a plurality
ofdepartures from pre-colonial
anthropologically inclined scholars, on the
'castes' separated from each other
accounts
byof caste. It is important to note
some distinctive feature of this discourse
Indian village - which was also a revenue
endogamy, occupation and commensality;
for decades after India's
unit. This focus developed into a view of
(d) application of sanctions by because
castes to
maintain their own customs and independence
rules; (e)
village
as a microcosm of the Indian society,
the studies of
caste
caste
as constituting its social,
continued to be guided by the and
terms
set
relationship of caste with political
by the colonial discourse.
economic and political organisation
organisation.
One, the new discourse centred on
Although Barbosa did not provide a
legitimated by its religious ideology.
whether caste was a system beneficial to
'systematic' account, the elements of caste
In this village view of caste, caste was
he identified remain central to any
Indians or it worked against them. The seen as an ensemble of local hierarchies,
definition of caste, even today. Moreover Orientalist scholars viewed caste as serving each contained within a village or a group
Barbosa's approach to reporting about some positive functions, whereas the of villages. This view contributed to the
missionaries saw it as an unmitigated evil. image of the village as a stable, unchanging
caste had some distinctive qualities.
First, he described caste as he saw it Second, both its sympathisers and social system. In the latter ethnographic
functioning on the ground; he got his facts opponents, saw caste in highly schematised studies of caste carried out by Indian
by talking to common people in their own and unidimensional terms: as an inflexible
sociologists, although the vara theory
language. Second, he did not use the hierarchy of vertically ranked ritual was discarded, caste continued to be seen
religious scriptures as a source of
statuses. The idea of pollution which as a vertical hierarchy of ritual statuses
information on caste; there is no reference Barbosa saw in the context of untouchembedded in the religious and cultural
to the varnatheory of caste in his narratives. ability was now generalised for the whole
context of the village.
Three, he related the idea of pollution to system in which the idea of ritual purityFifth, the administrative and anthrothe practice of untouchability and not to and impurity of statuses was considered
pological concerns of the British officers
led them to counter both the Orientalist
functioning of the whole system. Fourth, the central principle governing the castehe saw caste not exclusively in ritual- system. The reality of caste was reconand the Missionary views of caste. Their
2502 Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999
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concern was utilitarian, about finding
administrative and political ways to tame
and change this formidable system
arbitrate and fix the status claims made
'depressed castes' and 'oppressed
classes'.4
or contested by various castes about their
locations in the ritual hierarchy. At the Second, seveal castes occupying more
functioning from ancient times, to suit the
same time the enumeration of castes and
needs of the colonial polity and economy.
This concern of the colonialists prompted
an ideological debate on caste. The debate
their ethnographic descriptions compiledhierarchies began to organise themselves
by the state, highlighted how the social
horizontally into regional and national level
and economic advantages accrued to someassociations and federations, as it became
achieved a degree of political sophis-
tication which was not shown earlier either
castes and not to others in the traditional
or less similar locations in different local
increasingly necessary for them to negotiate
hierarchy. This led to demands among with the state and in the process project
many castes for special recognition by the their larger social identity and numerical
state for receiving educational and strength.5
the caste system. The debate introducedoccupational benefits as well as for political Third, movements of the lower castes
anew, theoretical-comparative dimension representation. The colonial state assumed for upward social mobility, which were
for viewing caste. Caste now began to be a dual role: of a super brahmin who located not new in the history of the caste system,
by the Orientalists in their appreciation or
the Missionaries in their condemnation of
seen in comparison with the normative and relocated disputed statuses of castes acquired a qualitatively new dimension as
(values of equality, individualism, etc) in the traditional hierarchy and of a just they began to attack the very ideological
and social (estate, race, class, etc) categories and modern ruler who wished to
foundations of the ritual hierarchy of castes,
of the western societies. Eventually, with 'recognise9 rights and aspirations
of his
in terms
not internal to the system (as was
the casethe
with the Buddhist and Bhakti
the English educated nationalist Indians weak and poor subjects. This helped
state to protect its colonial political
movements), but in the modem ideological
the colonial regime, caste became a bone economy from incursions of the emerging
terms of justice and equality.
joining the debate, on the terms set-up by
of contention between conservatives and
nationalist movement. Among otherthings,
Changes that occurred in the caste system
progressives, traditionalists and reformers.it also induced people to organise
andthe colonial period have greatly
during
Valuation became the mode of observation.
represent their interests in politics intensified
in terms after India's de-colonisation.
Sixth, the method the British admini- of caste identities and participate
Further,
in the
with India establishing a liberal
strators adopted in reporting about caste, economy on the terms and through
democratic state and the growth of
unlike that of the Orientalist scholars, was mechanisms set by the colonial regime. institutions of competitive, represen-
empirical. The British did not see the caste-
On the whole, the colonial regime, not tational democracy, the changes acquired
system only in terms of the varna categories. only introduced new terms of discourse
They also saw castes as separate com-
newer dimensions and a greater trans-
on caste, but brought about some changes formative edge. All this has produced some
munities often divided by descent, political in the caste system itself. A large part of fundamental structural and systemic
organisation and customs. Consequently these changes, however, were unintended changes in the traditional stratificatory
they theorised caste in terms of its racial consequences of the colonial policies; system.6
Despite the fact that after India's
and tribal origins and character. In fact they were related to the larger historical
multiple and elaborate systems of classi- forces of moderisation, secularisation
independence such qualitative changes had
fication of castes were evolved by them and urbanisation which had begun to make
occurred in the stratificatory system, the
based on a variety of ethnographic mate- some impact on the Indian society by the
changes continued to be interpreted, in the
rials, officially obtained through various end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th
old. colonial ideological-evaluative frame.
village and caste surveys.2
century. But some specific policies of the
The terms and categories used for
Seventh, crucial to the colonial discourse
colonial regime, aimed at delegitimising
describing these changes - by the socio-
logists studying caste as well as by social
was the relationship between caste and the the power of the traditional social elites
state. From 1901 Census, the colonial state and creating support for its own rule, had
reformers and political thinkers wanting
began castewise enumeration of the entire direct consequences for the caste system.
India to become a caste-less society - were
Indian population. The decennial censuses Towards the end of the colonial rule such
derived from the colonial discourse. This
not only updated, every 10 years, the policies alongside the larger historicalgave rise to two opposite views of change
population figures for enumerated castes, forces, had produced some profound and in the caste system. which in fact
but gave them specific names/labels and far-reaching changes in the caste system.3 represented mirror-images of each other.
ranks. In doing so, the census officers
The most important among the changesOne view, that has long dominated studies
tended to rely on their 'reading' of the was the formation of a new, trans-local
of caste in post-independent India,
scriptures as well as local knowledge and identity among 'lower castes', collectively emphasises certain structural and cultural
practice. But when a name and/or a rank as a people with the consciousness ofcontinuities the Indian society has
given to a caste was in dispute - and this being 'oppressed' by the traditional system manifested in the course of modernisation.
happened frequently - the census officer's of hierarchy. The discourse of rights, until In this view, changes in caste are seen in
'anthropological' judgment, albeit tem- then quite alien to the concepts governing terms of functional adjustment made by
pered by representations received from ritual hierarchy, made its first appearance the system for its own survival and
leaders of concerned caste, prevailed. Thus, in the context of the caste system. New maintenance. The other view, that domi-
ideological categories like 'social justice' nated the political-ideological discourse
end of the day, the criterion of 'social began to interrogate the idea of ritual on caste until recently, sees modernisation
precedence of one caste over the other', purity and impurity according to which as a linear, universal force of history,
i e, the scriptural principle of ritual status the traditional stratificatory system transforming the caste system into a
hierarchy, was explicitly and officially endowed entitlements and disprivileges polarised structure of economic classes.
On the whole, the discourse on caste in
recognised.
to hereditary statuses. The established
The colonial state, thus, acquired an categories of ritual hierarchy began to be post-independent India remained bogged
down in the dichotomous debate on
agency, even a legitimate authority, to confronted with new categories like
despite the diversity of the debate, at the
Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999 2503
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'tradition' verses 'modernity' and 'caste'
verses, class'O
and structural contexts - each articulatingFundamental changes have occurred in
the occupational structure of the society.
a form of rituality. More specifically, these
A vast number of non-traditional,
contexts pertain to: (a) the religious
unbound-to-caste occupations and a new
ideology of purity and pollution (b) the
Secularisation of Caste
type of social relations among occupational
religiously sanctioned techno-economic
groups have emerged. This has resulted
and political organisation of the village,
The dichotomous view of change has
especially its food production andin breaking down the nexus between
distribution system; (c) customs and
prevented scholars, policy-makers and
hereditary?ritual status and occupation I
traditions of castes evolved over centuries.
one of the caste-system' s defining features.
political activists alike, from taking a view
of the process by which caste has changed
Caste not only survived but grew in these It is no longer necessary to justify status
and acquired its systemic of one's occupation in terms of its
and a new type of stratificatory systemcontexts
has
character; they constituted its 'support correlation with degree of ritual purity or
emerged. This process, which can broadly
be characterised as secularisation of caste,
system' of the ritual hierarchy.
impurity associated with it. The traditional,
has detached caste from the ritual status
In what follows, I argue that the changes ritualistic idea of cleanliness or otherwise
hierarchy on the one hand, and has impartedthat have occurred in Indian society,
especially after India's decolonisation,
it a character of the power-group functionhave led to de-ritualisation of caste ing in the competitive democratic politics
of the occupation one follows has become
unimportant; crucial consideration is what
brings a good income to the individual.
on the other. Changes in caste thus couldmeaning delinking of caste from various
A brahman dealing in leather or an exto a
be observed along these two dimensionsforms of rituality which bounded ituntouchable
dealing in diamonds is no
of secularisation: de-ritualisation and
longer looked upon as a socially deviant
fixed status, an occupation and to specific
behaviour.
That the former is more a
rules of commensality and endogamy.
I
politicisation. These changes have
frequent
occurrence than the latter has
of
(a) pushed caste out of the traditional further argue that with the erosion
only to do with the resources at one's
stratificatory system, (b) linked it to the rituality, a large part of the 'support system'
command
and not with observance of ritual
new structure of representational power, of caste has collapsed. Uprooted from
its
and (c) in their cumulative impact they ritually determined ideological, economic
prohibitions attached to the statuses
have made it possible for individual and political contexts it has ceased to
involved.
More importantly, the cleanliness
be
or otherwise of an occupation is increasmembers of different castes to acquire a unit of the ritual-status hierarchy. Caste
ingly seen in physical and biological sense
new economic interest and social-political now survives as a kinship-based cultural
than in ritual or moral terms.7
identification and own class-like as well
community, but operates in a different,
Significant structural differentiations
newly emergent system of social
as ethnic-type identites. Thus secularisation
stratification.
have taken place within every caste.
of caste, brought about through its deritualisation and politicisation, has openedModernisation of India's economy and Traditionally, an individual caste bounded
up a third course of change. For a lack democrati
of
sation of its political institutions, by rituals and customs, functioned
have released new economic and political internally as a truly egalitarian community,
more appropriate term I call it classisation.
In the following sections I shall describe
power in the society. The hierarchically both in terms of rights and obligations of
members vis-a-vis each other and of lifeordered strata of castes now function as
these three processes of change in caste
styles, i e, the food they ate, the clothes
and their implications for the emergence
horizontal groups, competing for power
and control over resources in society.they wore, the houses they lived in, etc.
of a new type of stratificatory system in
India.
Differences in wealth and status (of clans)
Alongside this change in the organisational
structure, i e, its horizontalisation, the
that existed among households within the
DE-RITUALISATION
form consciousness takes has also changed.
same caste were expressed, often apoThat of members belonging to a caste logetically,
is
on such occasions as weddings
and funerals but rarely in power terms visCaste has been conventionally conceived expressed more in the nature of community
as an insulated system of ritual status consciousness, rather than in hierarchical
a-vis other members of the caste. Today,
households within a single caste have not
hierarchy, embedded in the 'perennial' terms. Caste consciousness is now
religious culture of India. Rituality (i e, articulated as political consciousness
only been
ofgreatly differentiated in terms
rootedness of caste behaviour and
their
groups staking claims to powerofand
tooccupations, educational and
income levels and lifestyles but these
organisation in the religious ideology
new and
places in the changed opportunity
structure.
differences have led them to align outside
practices) thus constituted the core
of the It is a different kind of collective
the caste,
whole system of castes. It enabled
consciousness
caste
from that of belonging
towith different socio-economic
to maintain autonomy and stability
a 'high'
ofor 'low' ritual status-group.
The and groupings in the society networks
rise of such consciousness of castes has
categories which can not be identified in
status-hierarchy in the face of changes,
both economic and political, that led
occur
in
terms of the caste system.
to disruption
of hierarchical relations
The caste rules of commensality (i e,
the wider society. In this perspective,
caste
and to
increase in competition and conflict
'accommodated' these changes only
to an
among
them. Far from strengthening restrictions
the
about accepting cooked food
from members of other castes) have become
extent the system could absorbcaste
them
system, the emergent competitive
without losing its structural and character
cultural of 'caste consciousness' has
almost totally inoperative outside one's
household. Even within the household,
integrity. In responding to thesecontributed
changes
to its systemic disintegration.
caste was seen to have found 'new fields
The disintegrating system of traditional
observance of such rules has become quite
of activity' and assume new functions, but statuses is now thickly overlaid by
the
relaxed.
In 'caste dinners', for example,
friends and wellwishers of the host,
new power system created by elections,
political parties and above all by social
ideological (religious) core. The insularity
belonging to both the ritually lower as well
as higher strata than that of the host are
policies - such as of affirmative action
of the caste system is thus guaranteed,
- of the state.
invited and are seated, fed and served
because itis bounded by certain ideological
all this to retain its basic structure and
2504 Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999
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together with the members of the caste
hosting the dinner. The caste panchayats,
where they exist, show increasingly less
concern to invoke any sanctions in such
situations.
The castes which occupied a similar
ritual status in the traditional hierarchy,
but were divided among themselves into
sub-castes and sub-sub-castes by rules of
required, from nearby towns. Members of
In a few specific contexts where ritual
such castes continuing to live in the relationships between castes still survive,
villages have largely moved out of the they have acquired contractual, often
'village-system' of economic and social conflictual, forms negating the system's
interdependence of castes. They hierarchical aspect. Ritual roles which
increasingly function in the emergent members of some castes (e g, the role of
national-market related rural economy or a priest or a barber) still perform have
the secondary and tertiory sectors of been reduced to those of functionaries
employment.
called upon to do a job for payment on
endogamy, are now reaching out
In this process many a caste has specific occasions (weddings, deaths, etc).
increasingly into larger endogamous structurally severed its relationship from Performance of such roles/functions by
circles, in some cases their boundaries co- the system of ritual obligations and rights a few members of a caste, however, has
which once governed its economic and no relevance for determining its place in
social existence and gave it an identity in the changed stratificatory system. Such
terms of its status in the ritual hierarchy. roles, it seems, now survive outside the
marriages across different ritual strata, even Intercaste relations in the village today stratificatory system, as a part of Hindu
often crossing the self acknowledged varna operate in a more simplified form, as religious practices. But such phenomenal
boundaries, are no longer uncommon. Such between castes of land holders/operators changes have, occurred in Hinduism itself
marriage alliances are frequently made by and those of the landless labour. This
in recent years, that intercaste relations
matching education, profession and wealth relationship between them is often
can no longer be viewed as constitutive
of brides and grooms and/or their parents, articulated in terms of political consof a ritually determined religious practice.
ignoring traditional differences in ritual ciousness of two groups of castes
The growth in popularity of new sects,
status among them. Significantly, such representing different economic interests
of deities and shrines, and the growing
intercaste marriages are often arranged by in the changed political-economy of the
importance of gurus and godmen and the
terminate with those of the respective varna
in a region to which they supposedly
belong. More importantly, intercaste
the parents or approved by them when village.
arranged by the prospective spouses on The socio-religious content of economic
their own. The only 'traditional' consi- relationships in the village has thus largely
deration that enters into such cases is the
disappeared; they have become more
vegetarian-meat-eating divide which is also contractual and almost totally monetised.
becoming quite fuzzy. Although statis- The traditional jajmani relationships,
tically the incidence of such inter-caste which regulated economic transactions
marriages may not be significant, the trend between castes in social-ritual terms, have
new practice of public celebrations of
Hindu religious festivals on a much wider
social and geographical scale, involving
participation of members of a number of
castes across ritual hierarchy and regions,
have all shored up popular-cultural and
political aspects of Hinduism. These have
considerably weakened the traditional
they represent is. A more important point been replaced by relationships of employer
is that the mechanisms through which and employee, of capital and wage labour.
ritual and social organisational aspects of
castes-enforced rules of endogamy have When the traditional social and religious
weakened in many castes.
aspects of economic relationships are
The ideology and organisation of the insisted upon by any caste, such as
relations have not only lost systemic
context, but also to a large extent the
Hinduism. In this process. intercaste
religious reference. Castes, now negotiate
their status claims in the newly emergent
stratificatory system.
conflicts and violence in the villages. In
The simultaneous processes of detachbrief, the pattern of social relations ment of castes from ritual hierarchy and
sustained by the internal system of food the growth, albeit in varying degrees, of
production of a village and by conformity economic, social and cultural differen-
traditional caste system have thus become traditional obligations of one status group
vastly eroded. Its description as a system to another, it often leads to intercaste
of ritual status hierarchy has lost theoretical
meaning.8 As may be expected, such
erosion has taken place to a much greater
extent and degree in the urban areas and
at the macro-system level of social
stratification. But the local hierarchies of
of status groups to their religiously tiations within every caste have resulted
assigned roles in the system and to norms in castes entering into various new, larger
castes in rural areas are also being defining the roles, has virtually
progressively subjected to the same disintegrated.
process.9 In the villages, too, traditional
social relationships are being redefined in
economic terms. This is largely because
in the last three decades, particularly after
the 'Green Revolution' and with the
social-political formations which have
emerged in India's changing stratificatory
In sum, while castes survive as micro- system. As we shall see in the next section,
communities based on kinship sentiments each such formation grew in the process
and relationships, they no longer relate to of politicisation of castes and has acquired
each other as 'units' of a ritual hierarchy. a new form of collective consciousness,
The caste system, for long conceived as a consciousness different from that of a
increasing role of the state and other outside
a ritual
status system, has imploded. ritual-status group. Yet the new consagencies in the food production Having
and
failed to cope with the changes ciousness is not of a 'class' as in a polarised
distribution system in rural areas, the social
that have occurred in the larger society, class structure. This consciousness is
organisation of the village has substantively
particularly after India's decolonisation, based on a perception of common political
changed. From the kind of social-religious
the caste 'system' is unable to maintain interest and modem status aspirations on
system the Indian village was, ititself,
is
on the basis of its own principle the part of members of these new
increasingly becoming primarilyof
anritual hierarchy. It cannot sustain formations. In this process, the unitary
economic organisation. The priestly,
vertical linkages of interdependence and consciousness of individual castes has
trading and service castes, i e, social groups
cooperation among its constituent units, become diffused into an expanded consnot directly related to agricultural
nor can it enforce its own rules governing ciousness of belonging to a larger social-
operations, are leaving villages or serving obligations and privileges of castes vis- political formation, which cannot be desthem, if and when such services are still a-vis each other.
cribed as a 'caste' or 'class'.
Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999 2505
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POLITICISATION OF CASTES
liberal-modernist intellectuals who saw,
being politically aware of the changeThis
in collaboration between the two types
of elites, created a new structure of
the agrarian context, saw castes as socioeconomic entities seeking new identities
representational power in the society,
through politics in the place of thearound
old
which grew a small middle class.
identities derived from their traditional
This class constituted of the upper caste
status in the ritual hierarchy. Thus, by
national elite living in urban areas and the
rather simplistically, changes in the caste
relying on the caste calculus for its electoralrural social elite belonging to the dominant
For some two decades after independence, the political discourse on caste was
dominated by left-radical parties and
system in linear terms, i e. changes as
suggestive of its transformation into a
system of polarised economic classes. In
believing so, they ignored the fact that
while caste had lost its significance as a
politics and, at the same time, articulatingpeasant castes as well as those upper caste
political issues in terms of economic
members living in rural areas. The ruling
development and national integration, the
national elites, although they belonged to
Congress was able to evolve durable
electoral bases across castes and to
the upper 'dwija' castes had become
detached from their traditional ritual status
ritual status-group it survived as a
maintain its image as the only and
truly
and
functions. They had acquired new
national party. This winning combination
interests in the changed (planned)
similar communities with whom it shared
of 'caste politics' and 'nationalist
economy, and lifestyles which came
commonality of political interest and ideology' secured for the Congress Party
through modem education, non-traditional
consciousness. Consequently, political a dominant position in Indian politics
for
occupations,
and a degree of westemisation
parties of the left, both the communist and nearly three decades after independence.
12 accompanied this process. The
which
the socialist, by and large, sought to The Congress Party rarely used dominant
such
castes of the regional elites, still
articulate political issues and devise dichotomies as upper castes vs lower castes
depended more on sanskritisation than on
strategies of mobilising electoral support or the capitalists vs working class in
its
'westernisation'
in their pursuit of upward
in terms of economic interests which in
political discourse. Its politics was largely
social mobility. But they encouraged their
their view divided the social classes in
addressed to linking vertically the rule
new of
generations to take to modem,
India. 0 In the event, although these parties
the newly emergent upper casteEnglish-medium
and
education and to new
could credibly claim to represent the poorer
English speaking- 'national elite' to lower
professions. In the process, despite their
strata and they even occupied some
caste support. And the ideology used'sudra'
for origins, but thanks to their
significant political spaces in opposition
legitimation of this vertical social linkage
acquisition of new power in the changed
to the Congress Party at the time of
in politics was neither class-ideology
noreconomy and politics, several peasant
rural
independence, they failed to expand their
caste-ideology; the key concept was
communities succeeded in claiming social
'community', seeking alliances with other
electoral support in any significant measure
'nation-building'.
status equivalent to the middle class
The Congress Party projected its politics dwijas.
for decades after independence.
and programmes at the national level as Consequently, such communities as
Put simply, competitive politics required
that a political party seeking widerelectoral
representing 'national aspirations' of the patidars, marathas, reddys, kammas, and
bases view castes neither as a pure category
Indian people. At the regional levels, the their analogues in different regions were
of 'interest' nor of 'identity'. The
party consolidated its social base by identified with 'upper castes', and not
endorsing the power of the numerically with 'backward castes'. Acquisition of
involvement of castes in politics fused
'interest' and 'identity' in such a manner
strong and upwardly mobile dominant, modem education and interest in the new
that a number of castes could share
but traditionally of lower status, castes of (planned) economy enabled them, like the
common interests and identity in thelandowing
form
peasants, e g. the marathas in dwija upper castes, to claim for themselves
Maharashtra, the reddys in Andhra, the a new social status and identity, i e, of the
of larger social-political conglomerates.
The process was of politicisation of castes,
patidars in Gujarat, the jats in Uttar middle class.
At the same time, the caste identities of
which by incorporating castes in
Pradesh, and so on. In the process it created
competitive politics reorganised and recastpatron-client type of relationships in both these sections of the 'middle class'
the elements of both hierarchy and
electoral politics, relationships of unequal were far from dissolved. They could
separation among castes in larger social but reliable exchanges between political
collectivities.11 These new collectivities patrons - the upper and dominant
did not resemble the varna categories or (intermediate) castes - and the numerous
anything like a polarised class-structure in 'client' castes at the bottom of the pile,
politics. The emergence of these socio- popularly known as the Congress' 'votepolitical entities in Indian politics defied banks'. Thus, in the initial two decades
comfortably own both the upper caste
status and the middle class identity as both
categories had become concomitant with
each other. While the alliance between the
upper caste national elite and the dominant
caste regional elites remained tenuous in
the convental categories of political after independence, the hierarchical caste politics, they together continued to function
analysis, i e. class analysis versus caste relations were processed politically as a new power-group in the larger society.
analysis. The singular impact of
through elections. This ensured for the In the formation and functioning of this
competitive democratic politics on the caste
Congress a political consensus across middle class as a power group of elite
system thus was that it delegitimised the
castes, despite the fact that it was presided caste had indeed fused with class and
old hierarchical relations among castes,
over by the hegemony of a small upper- status dimension had acquired a
caste, English-educated elite in
pronounced power dimension. But insofar
facilitating new, horizontal power relations
collaboration with the regional social elites
among them.
as this process of converting traditional
The process of politicisation of castes
status into new power was restricted only
belonging by and large to the upwardly
acquired a great deal of sophistication inmobile castes of landed peasants. The
to the upper rungs in the ritual hierarchy,
the politics of the Congress Party, whichlatter, however, were often viewed by the
they sought to use that power in establishing
scrupulously avoided taking any
their own caste-like hegemony over the
former (i e. the "national elite', with the
theoretical-ideological position on the issue
rest of the society. It is this nexus between
self-image of modemisers) as parochial
traditionalists. Still the alliance held.
of caste versus class. The Congress Party,
the upper traditional status and new power
2506 Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999
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that inhibited the transformative potentials
of both modernisation and democracy in
India.
functioned in politics with the self-identity
that too not through open competition but
of a class (ruling or 'middle') and theon 'caste-based' reservations. This created
a confrontation of interest between the
lower castes, despite their class-like
political aspirations, with the con-upper and intermediate castes on the one
system with the new power system, sciousness of their separate caste hand and the lower castes on the other.
This conflation of the traditional status
however, worked quite differently for the identities. The latter were linked to the But, it led to a resurgence of lower castes
numerous non-dwija lower castes. In
former in a vertical system of political
in national politics. This resurgent politics,
negotiating their way into the new power- exchange through the Congress Party,
guided by lower caste aspirations to enter
system, theirtraditional low status, contrary rather than horizontally with one another.
the middle class, was pejoratively derided
to what it did for the upper and the interas the 'Mandalisation of politics' by the
mediate castes, worked as a liability. The
POLITICS OF RESERVATIONS
English-educated elite. The so called
Mandalised politics, an euphemism for
traditional statuses had lost relevance or
It took some three decades after
politicisation of lower castes, has since
were devalued in the modem occupational independence for the lower castes
of
resulted
in radically altering the social
system. Moreover, since formal education peasants, artisans, the ex-untouchables
bases of politics in India.
functions attached to their very low
was not mandated for them in the traditional and the tribals to express their resentment
Firstly, the Congress Party-dominated
status system, they were slow to take to about the patron-client relationship
that of social consensus, presided over
politics
moder education when compared with had politically bound them to the
by the hegemony of an upper caste,
the upper castes. Nor did they have the Congress Party. With a growing awareness English-educated elite came to an end.
advantage of inherited wealth as their of their numerical strength and the role The Congress organisation could no longer
traditional status had tied them to
it could play in achieving their share in function as the system of vertical
subsistence livelihood patterns of
the power, their resentment took the management of region-caste factions. The
political
jajmani system.
form of political action and movements. elite at the top could not accommodate
In brief, for the lower castes ofAn
small
awareness among the lower castes the ever increasing claims and pressures
and marginal peasants, artisans, the
exabout
using political means for upward from below, by different sections of the
untouchables and the numerous tribal
social mobility and for staking claims as lower castes, for their share in power.
communities, their low statuses in the
larger social collectivities for a share in Since mid- 1970s through the 1980s, large
traditional hierarchy worked negatively
political power had arisen during the sections of the lower strata of social groups
for their entry in the modem sector.
colonial period, but it was subdued after abandoned the Congress and constituted
Whatever social capital and economic
independence, for almost three decades themselves into shifting alliances of their
security they had in the traditional status
and a half of Congress dominance.
own separate political parties. The vertical
system was wiped out through theIt was around mid-1970s that the upper arrangement of the region-caste factions
moderisation process; they no longer
caste hegemony over national politics that the Congress had perfected just
enjoyed the protection that they had inbegan
the to be seriously challenged. This was collapsed. The national parties - the
traditional status system against largely
the
due to the social policies of the Congress, the BJP, and the Communist
arbitrary use of hierarchical power by state,
the
particularly that of reservations parties alike - had to now negotiate for
action). Despite tardy political support directly with the socialupper castes. On top of that they had(affirmative
no
means or resources to enter the modem
implementation, towards the end of the political collectivities of the other
sector in any significant way, except
1970s the reservations policy that was for backward castes (OBCs) the scheduled
becoming its underclass. They remained
long inexistence in many states of the castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs)
Indian union had created a small but
at the bottom rung of both the hierarchies,
or with the regional-caste
the sacred and the secular, of caste and
significant section, in each of theconstituted
lower
by them.
parties
class.
Secondly, the categories of the OBCs,
caste groups, which had acquired modem
SCs and the STs, expressly devised for
This did objectively create an elite- education, had entered the bureaucracy
the administrative
In
purpose of implemass kind of division in politics, but itand other non-traditional occupations.
vocal the reservations policy, perhaps
still did not produce any awareness ofthe process a small, but highlymenting
as an unintended consequence, acquired
polarisation of socio-economic classes inpolitical leadership emerged from among
a strong social and political content and
the society. In any event, it did not create the lower castes.
surfaced as new social formations in the
any space for class based politics. In fact, The process of politicisation of castes,
all attempts of the left parties at politicalhowever, came to a head at the beginning
macro-stratificatory system. They now
mobilisation of the numerous lower castes
of the 1980s. This was when the Second
operated in politics with the self-
as a class of proletarians did not achieve Commission for Backward Classes (the
consciousness of socio-economic groups.
any significant results either for their Mandal Commission) proposed to extend
Not content with proxy-representations
electoral or revolutionary politics. Neitherreservations in jobs and educational seats
by the upper caste - middle class elites,
did their politics, focused as it was on to the other backward classes (i e, to
they wanted political power for
class ideology, make much of a dent on castes of lower peasantry and artisans) in themselves. Politics now became a contest
Congress-dominated politics marked by all states and union territories and at the
for representation among horizontal power
the rhetoric of national integration and central government level. This proposalgroups, representing social collectivities
social harmony. In effect, the Congress was stoutly opposed by sections of the as identified by the policy of
could establish the political hegemony of upper and the intermediate castes who byreservations.13 These groups began to
the upper castes oriented middle class then were largely ensconced in the middle-bargain with different existing parties or
with the electoral consent of the lower
class. They saw the newly politicised lower formed their own new parties. Whatever
castes! A very peculiar caste-class linkage
castes forcing their way into the middle survived of the hierarchical dimension of
was thus forged in which the upper castes
class (particularly into white-collarjobs),the traditional stratificatory system in
Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999 2507
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politics was thus effectively hori-
zontalised.
them in its own image to maintain its upward social mobility today motivates
people of all castes (not just of the 'lower'
castes), collectively as well as individually.
generating aspirations among the lower teleological course of change nor does it For, the quest today is not for registering
castes to attain 'middle class' status and
higher ritual status; it is universally for
represent the caste-system's own
lifestyles prevented the process of class
reproductive process. I, therefore, view wealth, political power and modern
classisation as a twofold process:
(consumerist) lifestyles. In short, caste has
polarisation. This politics created new
(a) releasing of individual members of allceased to 'reproduce' itself, as it did in
compulsions in the social arena. The old
castes (albeit, extent of which may varythe past.
middle class, dominated by the upper and
Thirdly, Mandalised politics by
systemic continuity.
Classisation neither follows a linear,
from one caste to another) from the
intermediate castes, was now compelled
religiously sanctioned techno-economic
to admit expansion beyond itself and make
II
and social organisation (i e, occupational Emergence of a New Middle Class
spaces, even if grudgingly, for different
sections of the lower castes. At the same
and status hierarchy) of the village system;
(b) and linking of their interests and
time, lower castes while forming coalitions
All these changes have imparted a
identities to organisations and categoriesstructural substantiality to the macroin politics, began to compete among
stratificatory system of a kind it did not
relevant to urban-industrial system and
themselves intensely at the social level for
moder politics. This process operates
have in the past. In absence of a centralised
an entry into the growing middle class.
not only in urban areas, but also
polity, the system functioned superIn sum, the state policy of affirmative
increasingly in the rural areas. The twostructurally as an ideology of varna
action gave a big impetus to the process
aspects of the process are not temporallyhierarchy. Lacking structural substance,
of politicisation of castes (as well as to
de-ritualisation of inter-caste relations).
sequential, nor spatially separated. Theyit served as a 'common social language'
criss-cross, and the changes become and supplied normative categories of
The policy itself, by providing special
visible in form of elements of the newlylegitimation of statuses to various local,
educational and occupational opportunities
to members of the numerous lower castes,emergent, macro-system of social
substantive hierarchies ofjatis. 4 But after
stratification. Thus viewed, classisation
converted their traditional disability of
India became a pan-Indian political entity
low ritual status into an asset for acquiring
is a process by which castes, but more governed by a liberal democratic state, as
frequently their individual members, we saw earlier, new social formations new means for upward social mobility.
relate to categories of social strat- each comprising a number of jatis, often
What politicisation of castes has thus done,
ification of a type different from that of across ritual hierarchies and religious
along with the spread of urbanisation and
industrialisation, is to have contributed tocaste.
communities - emerged at the regional
and all-India levels. Deriving its nomenthe emergence of a new type of strati- The emergent stratificatory arrangement,
clature
a from the official classification
ficatory system in which the old middlehowever, is far from having acquired
'systemic' form. Yet, new and different
devised by the state in the course of
class has not only expanded in numbers,
implementing its policy of affirmative
types of social and economic categories
but has begun to acquire new social and
action (reservations), the new formations
have emerged at all levels of the society
political characteristics.
began to be identified as: the forward or
by relating to which caste is not only
CLASSISATION OF CASTE
losing its own shape and character,the
but'upper castes', the backward castes
(OBCs), the dalits or scheduled castes
is acquiring a new form and ideology.
(SCs) and the tribals or the scheduled
'Classisation' is a problematic, andThus, as we saw earlier, caste survives,
admittedly an inelegant, concept used for
but as a kinship-based cultural community, tribes (STs).
Unlike status groups of the caste system,
not as a status group of the ritual hierarchy.
describing certain type of changes in caste.
It has acquired new economic interest and the new social formations function as
As a category derived from the conventional class analysis it articulates the issue
a political identity. Its members now relatively loose and open-ended entities,
negotiate and own larger and multiple competing with each other for political
of change in linear and dichotomous terms,
i e, how (rather 'why not') is caste social and political identities. In this power. In this competition, members of
transforming itself into a polarised structure
process, caste-identity has lost its old the upper-caste formation have available
of economic classes? Just as the role of
character and centrality. The economic to them the resources of their erstwhile
status and other 'non-class' elements (e g,
and political activities in which members traditional higher status and those of
of a caste are now engaged are of a radically lower-caste formations have the
gender, ethnicity, etc) is routinely ignored
in analyses of class in the western society,
different type from the ones perpetuated advantages accruing to them from
by the caste system. The ritually
state's policy of affirmative action. T
class analysis in India undermines the role
of caste elements in class and vice versa.
determined vertical relationship of the emergent stratificatory syst
statuses, which encouraged harmony and represents a kind of fusion between
At the other end the spectrum are scholars
devoted to caste-analysis; they have little
co-operation among castes, has got
old status system and the new pow
transformed into that of horizontally system. Put differently, the ritual hierar
Accustomed to viewing caste as a local competing, often conflicting power blocs, of closed status groups has transfor
hierarchy and to interpreting changes in each constituted of a number of castes
into a fairly open and fluid system
social stratification.
it, in terms of the caste system's own occupying different statuses across
use for a concept like classisation.
ideology and rules, they view class traditional local hierarchies. In the process,
This system is in the making; it cannot
described either in caste terms or in
elements in caste (e g, the role of modem new socio-economic formations, somebeof
'ethnic-type',
have
emerged
at
the
macropure
class terms. However, the salience
education, occupational mobility,
level of the society. They compete for
economic and political power, etc) as
of one category in this newly emergent
elements extraneous to the caste system; control of economic, political and cultural
stratificatory system has become visible
which, it, of course, incorporates and recastresources in the society. The idea of
in recent years. It can be characterised as
2508 Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999
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the 'new middle class': 'New' because its
The survey, based on a stratified-random of the sample population, their 50 per cent
emergence is directly traceable to the
sample (probability proportionate to size) representation in the middle class is much
disintegration of the caste system, this of
has
9,614 Indian citizens (male and female) lower than that of the upper and intermade it socially much more diversified
drawn from all the Indian states, except mediate castes. But seen in the context of
the state of Jammu and Kashmir, was their inherited lower ritual status in the
compared to the old, upper caste oriented
middle class that existed at the time of
conducted by the Centre for the Study of traditional hierarchy, this is a significant
independence. Moreover, high status Developing
in
Societies (CSDS) Delhi, in development. Even more significant is
the traditional hierarchy worked implicitly
June-July 1996. Based on the preliminary the fact that when members of the loweras a criterion for entry into the old middleanalysis of the survey data, I provide castes, including those belonging to castes
class, and 'sanskritised' lifestyles conbelow a broad profile of the new middle of 'ex-untouchables', acquire moder
class.15
stituted its cultural syndrome. Both rituality
and sanskritisation have virtually lost their1) The middle class which was almost
relevance in the formation of the 'new'
exclusively constituted at the time of
middle class. Membership of today's
Independence by English educated
middle class is associated with new life
members of the upper castes, had expanded
styles (modem consumption patterns),
to include the upwardly mobile dominant
ownership of certain economic assets and
castes of rich farmers, during the initial
the self consciousness of belonging to the
three decades after independence. In other
middle class. As such, it is open to members
words this period saw the emergence of
a small rural-based middle class.
of different castes - which have acquired
means of social mobility, such as
education, wealth, political power, etc,
their low ritual status does not come in
the way of their entering the middle class
and, more importantly, acquiring the
consciousness of being members of the
middle class.
5) The analysis of the survey data also
revealed statistically highly significant
differences in political attitudes and
modern education, taken to non-traditional
2) The survey conceived the category
preferences, between members of the
occupations and/or command higher
middle class in terms of subjective and
middle class and the rest of the population.
incomes and the political power - to enter
objective variables. The subjective variable
More importantly, on certain crucial
this middle class.
pertained to respondent's own identipolitical variables (e g, support to apolitical
And yet, the new middle class cannot
fication as 'middle class' and an explicit
party) and cultural variables (e g, belief in
be seen as constituting a pure class rejection of 'working class' identity for
the 'Karma' theory), the difference
category - a construct which in fact is ahimself/herself. Using self-identity asbetween
a
the lower caste and upper-caste
theoretical fiction. It carries some elements precondition, certain objective criteria
members of the middle class was found
to be much less than that between members
of caste within it, insofar as entry of an
were applied for inclusion of a respondent
individual in the middle class is facilitated
of the middle class and their caste
in the 'middle class' category. Thus, from
by the collective political and economic among those with middle class selfcompatriots not belonging to the middle
class.
resources of his/her caste. For example, identification, respondents possessing two
upper caste individuals entering the middle of the following four characteristics were
6) The Indian middle class today has
a significant rural component, thanks to
class have at their disposal the resources included in the middle class category:
that were attached to the status of their
the earlier inclusion in it of the rural based
(i) 10 years or more of schooling,
caste in the traditional hierarchy. Similarly(ii) ownership of at least three assets out dominant castes and now of the members
for lower caste members, lacking inof four, i e, motor vehicle, TV, electric of the lowercastes participating in modem
traditional status resources, their entrypumping-set and non-agricultural land, economy and administration. In brief, the
into the middle class is facilitated by the(iii) residence in a pucca house - built of middle class in India today is not a simple
modem-legal provisions like affirmative
brick and cemen, (iv) white-collar job. demographic category comprising of
action to which they are entitled by virtueAccordingly, 20 per cent of the sample certain ritual-status groups. It is a socialof their low traditional status. It seems the population was identified as belonging to cultural formation in which as individuals
from different castes and communities
Indian middle class will continue to carrythe middle class.
caste elements within it, to the extent that 3 ) The survey analysis revealed that
enter, they acquire new economic and
moder status aspirations are pursued, even today, the upper and the rich farmer
political interests, and life styles, in
common with the other members of that
and the possibility of their realisation iscastes together dominate the Indian 'middle
'class'. Within this new middle class, caste
seen, by individuals in terms of the castes class'. While members of the two upper
to which they belong.
identities of its members survive, but
categories, the dwija upper castes and the
Yet, crucial to the formation of the newnon-dwija dominant castes, account for
operating in conjunction with the new,
overarching identity of middle class, they
middle class is the fact that while usingabout a quarter of the sample population,
collective resources of their castes,
they constitute nearly half of the new
acquire a different political and cultural
individuals from all castes entering itmiddle class. But this also means the
meaning.
To conclude, secularisation of caste,
undergo the process ofclassisation; (a) they representation of upper castes has reduced
become distant from ritual roles and
in today's middle class, for the old middle
occurring along the dimensions of defunctions attached to their caste,
class was almost entirely constituted
ritualisation,
by
politicisation and classisation,
them.
(b) acquire another, but new, identity of
has reduced caste to a kinship-based microbelonging to middle class, (c) their 4) About half of the middle class
community, with its members acquiring
economic interest and life style converge
population came from different lower-new structural locations and identities
more with other members of the middle
caste social formations, i e, the dalits derived from categories of stratification
class than with theirnon-middle class caste (SCs), the tribals (STs) the backward
premised on a different set of principles
compatriots.
communities of peasants and artisans than those of the ritual hierarchy. By
forming themselves into larger horizontal
The process of middle class formation (OBCs) and the religious minorities.
in India is empirically illustrated by Considering that members of all these
social groups, members of different castes
findings of a recent all-India sample survey. social formations constituted 75 per now
centincreasingly compete for entry into
Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999 2509
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the middle class. The result is, members
of the lower castes have entered the middle
class in sizeable numbers. This has begun
to change the character and composition
of the old, pre-independence, middle class
which was constituted almost entirely by
a small English-educated upper caste elite.
The new and vastly enlarged middle class
constituting about one-fifth of Indian
population, is becoming, even if slowly,
politically and culturally more unified but
highly diversified in terms of social origins
of its members.
Notes
Concomitantly, the traditional patterns of
organisation and leadership in the village
setting were displaced by voluntary
in rural India as a 'system'. Castes exist as
individual groups, but no longer integrated
authority derived from elections". Galanter, into a system, with the dovetailing of their
interests" (106).
(note 1 supra) p 23.
6 For a recent argument articulating a
10 The writings and politics of Ram Manohar
Lohia, a renowned socialist leader, however,
contrary position emphasising that the caste
system has, even in the face of such changes,
constituted an exception to this approach of
maintained systemic continuity, see A M
the Left parties to political mobilisation. In
his view, horizontal mobilisation of lower
Shah, 'A Response to the Critique on Division
associations with officials whose delimited
and Hierarchy' in A M Shah and I P Desai,
Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of
Caste in Gujarat, Hindustan Publishing
Corporation, Delhi, 1988, pp 92-133. Shah
sees horizontal divisions as intrinsic to the
[An earlier version of the paper was presented
to the conference on Contemporary India in
Transition, Lisbon. Portugal: 18-20 June 1998.
The conference was sponsored by Fundacao
Oriente as part of its larger programme of
promoting north-south civilisational dialogues.
The paper will appear in Peter deSousa (ed)
Transitions: Contemporary India (forthcoming).
the essay, observes: "In the first place, it may
not be appropriate any more to refer to caste
castes on issues of social justice had greater
political potential for organising the poor
and deprived populations of India than the
ideology of class-polarisation which, in his
view, lacked an empirical, social-basis for
caste-system itself, representing another mobilisational politics. See Ram Manohar
principle of caste organisation which has Lohia, The Caste System (Ram Manohar
always operated in juxtaposition with
Lohia Samata Vidyalaya Nyas, Hyderabad,
'hierarchy'. The horizontal divisions in caste, 1964). Also see, D L Sheth, 'Ram Manohar
in his view, are thus produced and reproduced Lohia on Caste in Indian Politics', Lokayan
as part of the continuous process within the Bulletin (Vol 12, No 4, January-February
system, a kind of change that a system 1996) pp 31-40; also D L Sheth, 'Ram
Manohar Lohia on Caste, Class and Gender
undergoes for its own survival and
maintenance. Whereas for his interlocutor in
in Indian Politics', Lokayan Bulletin (Vol 13.
No 2, September-October 1996) pp 1-15.
financial support and to Peter deSouza for histhe debate I P Desai, the horizontal divisions
which are prior to caste but were integrated 11 The concept 'politicisation of castes' was first
very useful editorial comments.]
in the system of castes by the principle of
used by Rajni Kothari in early 1970s, to
describe changes that had occurred in the
I The Portugese account of caste presented hereritual hierarchy, are now breaking away from
I am indebted to Fundacao Oriente for their
and the following discussion on the colonial that hierarchy and interact in horizontal social
discourse draw heavily on: Bernard S Cohnand political spaces. In this sense, for Desai,
'Notes on the History of the Study of Indian horizontal divisions represent a new principle
Society and Culture', An Anthropologistfor the emerging stratificatory system which
Among the Historians and Other Essays,has undermined the caste principle of ritual 12
Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987, hierarchy, I P Desai, 'A Critique of Division
and Hierarchy' in the above cited Division
and Hierarchy, pp 40-49.
pp 139-40.
2 Ibid, pp 141-62.
3 For a detailed discussion on changes in castes
under British Rule in India and the impact
the colonial policies had on the caste system,
see G S Ghurye. 'Caste during the British
Rule' in his Caste and Race in India Popular
Prakashan, Bombay: 1962, pp 270-305. Also
see Marc Galanter, 'Reform, Mobility, and
7 For an illuminating discussion on the changed
relationship between ritual status and
occupation and its implications for the
emergence of a new type of stratificatory
system in India, see I P Desai, 'Should 'Caste'
be the Basis forRecognising Backwardness?'
Politics Under British Rule' in his Competing
Economic and Political Weekly,Vol 19,
No 28, July 1984, pp 1106-16.
Equalities: Law and Backward Classes in
8 Of late, such recognition of systemic changes
India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1984,
pp 18-40.
4 Collective self-awareness among the lower-
caste as a people, oppressed socially and
economically by the ritually high-ranking
castes, developed and found organisational
articulation through their participation in
caste-system with its involvement in
democratic politics See 'Chapter 1:
Introduction' in his Caste in Indian Politics,
(22) pp 3-25.
Rajni Kothari in his pioneering work on the
Congress Party saw this aspect of Congress
politics, i e, expanding its social base through
management of caste-based political factions
regionally and seeking consensus on issues
of development and modernisation nationally,
as crucial to the Congress Party's prolonged,
political and electoral dominance. See Rajni
Kothari, 'The Congress System in India',
'Asian Survey (Vol 4, No 12, December 1964)
pp 1161-73; see also 'The Congress System
Revisited', in his Politics and People: In
Search of Humane India, Vol 1 (Ajanta
in caste is reflected in the mainstream
Publishers, Delhi, 1989) pp 36-58.
13 N
See D L Sheth, 'Reservations Policy
sociological writings. For example, M
Revisited', Economic and Political Weekly,
Srinivas in one of his latest writings has
November 14, 1987, pp 1957-87.
characterised the changes that have
occurred in the caste-system as systemic 14 M N Srinivas, 'Varna and Caste' in Caste
in Modern India and Other Essays. Asia
in nature: "As long as the mode of production
Publishing House, Bombay, 1962, pp 63-69.
at the village was caste-based, denunciation
of inequality from saints and reformers, or
from those professing other faiths proved
Also see, Andre Betelle, 'Varna and Jati',
Socialist Education Trust, Bombay: 1976;
urbanisation and industrialisation spread that
author and the research team at the CSDS
see also Eugene F Irshick, Politics and Social
Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahman
systemic changes occurred in caste" (italics
mine). See 'Introduction' in Caste: Its
Twentieth Century Avatar, M N Srinivas
middle class membership. In the final analysis
percentage figures for the representation of
(ed), Viking, Penguin India, New Delhi, 1996,
social formations into the middle class and
anti-Brahman movements which grew in the
Sociological Bulletin, Vol 45, No 1, March
1996, pp 15-27.
ineffective. It was only when, along with
Society: The Non-Brahman Movements inideological attacks on caste, education and 15 I would like to emphasise that presented here
Western India - 1873 to 1930, Scientific
are preliminary findings of the survey. The
employment were made accessible to all, and
early decades of this century. See Gail
Omvedt, Cultural Revolt in a Colonial
Movements and Tamil Separatism 1916-
1929, University of California Press,
Berkeley, 1969.
5 Galanter sees this development during the
colonial rule as having brought about some
important changes in the caste-system: "Caste
Organisation brought with it two important
and related changes in the nature of castes.
The salient groups grew in size from
endogamous jatis into region-wise alliances.
are in the process of refining the index of
p XIV.
9 For an overview of comprehensive,
for the magnitude of the middle class may
slightly change (by about + 1 to 2 per cent
difference. I have reported here 'work in
systemic changes that have occurred in local
hierarchies of castes in rural areas see G K
progress' and not a completed analysis of the
Karanth, 'Caste in Contemporary Rural composition of the middle class, which will
India' in M N Srinivas (ed) Caste: Its
soon appear in a separate monograph. The
Twentieth Century Avatar (note 7) pp 87- idea is to give a broad, even if bit tentative,
109. Karanth, in his concluding remarks to picture of the emerging new middle class.
2510 Economic and Political Weekly August 21-28, 1999
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