1. Why study Indian Social Structure at
all?
Rural and Urban Social Structure
Three Basic Pillars of Traditional Indian
Society:
Caste, Village and Joint Family

2. A1: Caste and Its Recasting –
Caste as a System
– Hierarchy
– Endogamy
– Commensality
– Lack of Mobility
– Ascribed Status
– Principle of Separation and Revulsion
– Relation between caste and occupation

3. Change in the Caste System
• Caste is changing from
cooperation to competition, from
hierarchy to difference, division,
separation or revulsion, from
whole to parts, from system to
elements, from structure to
substance.

4. Caste in Rural Areas - I
The dominant view of Caste system was that
it had its origins in rural society. Hence its
significance in village studies.

“The Soil grows caste, the machine makes
classes.” (Young)
However the nature of caste in urban areas is
very different.

5. Caste in Rural Areas II

Caste in the context of the village was
marked by
− a small population divided into relatively a
small number of castes
− little possibility of existence of sub castes
− face to face interactions
− mutually overlapping, relations- hence of
multiplex nature

6. Caste in Urban Areas -I
They are characterized by
− A large population divided into a large
number of castes,further divided into
many sub-sub-castes
− Sometimes a division itself is an
endogamous unit
− Many spheres of interaction, hence
minimal overlap
− Nature of intercaste relations contractual
and market oriented

7. Caste in Urban Area II
− In urban areas relations between castes
characterized by a principle of difference,
division or separation, rather than
hierarchy.
− The city or urban centers have been the
ground of many ideas/movements that
challenged caste hierarchy.
− Caste as a system has given way to the
rise of individual castes.

8. Caste in Urban Areas -III
Increasing salience of Caste today in urban
areas due to
− increasing urbanisation
− Increase in population
− easy transference of the urban culture of
any caste to its rural sections
− Urban castes to wield greater influence
than caste in the rural areas in 21st
century

9. Growth of Individual Castes

Growth of individual castes ensured that
concerns of identity emerged as the prime
characteristic of caste in 20th century.

Two contradictory process are seen
a) Quest for boundary maintenance
b) Growth of megacastes

10. Growth of Mega Castes

Castes with small population could close off
their boundaries

Tendency to break the sub caste
boundaries and amalgamate into larger
castes. Castes became conglomerates
leading to the 'growth of mega castes'
(Shah)

Castes have become globalized

11. Weakening of Castes Today
4 reasons for the weakening of caste
boundaries today :
− Decline in significance of ideas of purity
and pollution in Hindu society today
− Decline in distinctiveness of castes and
emergence of a certain uniformity among
castes
− The relation between caste and
occupation has disappeared
− Declining role of caste panchayats

12. Changes in System of Marriage

Caste endogamy was an important way to
maintain the caste boundaries – also
considered as a defining feature of caste!

Caste endogamy alone decides the
hereditary nature of caste membership.

But emphasis on caste endogamy led to the
neglect of the practice of hypergamy
prevalent historically.

13. Changes in system of Marriage- II

Hypergamy (Anuloma) – marriage of a high
caste man with a low caste woman.

Hypogamy (Pratiloma) – marriage of a low
caste man with a high caste woman.

14. Changing System of Marriage - III
Hypergamy has several implications -

It helps the castes to rise in social status,
claim equality, adopt the names of higher
castes.

Upper castes of course resist it.

Hypergamy thus implies loose and fluid
boundaries of castes.

15. Hypergamy among tribes

Hypergamy also existed among the tribes,
between tribes and castes.

It enabled tribal groups to claim equal
status with the rajput castes, marrying off
their women to them, thus blurring the
boundaries between castes.

Hypergamy was also found in the higher
echelons eg. Rajput royal families

Thus caste endogamy was not adhered to
strictly.

16. Inter caste marriages
− Intercaste marriages especially in the
urban areas is prevalent today.
− Trend is increasing in the rural areas too.
− Opposition to these trends exist but they
are not really tenable in the long run
− This again, loosens caste boundaries.

17. Dissolving Caste ?

Some of the forces of change affecting
caste endogamy and caste solidarity today
are-

Inter caste marriages

rising age at marriage

ideology of freedom of choice in marriage

increasing freedom in gender relations in
the public sphere,

powerful role of the electronic and print
media

18. Dissolving Castes ? - II

Shrinking networks of relatives in urban
areas weakening the foundations for unity
of individual castes

Joint families losing spatial cohesion due to
migration to urban areas and even outside
the country

Marriages taking place outside the caste
Unit.

19. Rise of Caste Associations
− Caste associations as new institutions
aiding the rise of individual castes.
− Initially in the 19th century they existed
as small units in cities and towns
− Main role was to promote welfare
− Usually they have written constitutions,
membership fees, rules and regulations,
offices and elections

20. Rise of Caste Associations - II
− They expressed specific political claims
in early 20th century
− After independence, their specific goal
was to represent caste in electoral
politics, and claim the benefits of
reservation.
− Today caste associations try various
strategies to check the rising trend in
intercaste marriages.
− Organise caste based activities with
wider political implications.

21. Limits of Caste Associations
− Caste associations do not always
succeed because :
a) not everybody seeks to become a member
of these associations
b) Castes are internally differentiated, no
caste association can represent the
interest of the whole caste
c) Internal conflicts between rival
associations within the same caste
d) Lack of disciplinary authority like the caste
panchayats.

22. Recasting of Caste
a) Castes do not exist as a monolith
b) Internal differentiation within castes has
always existed and is likely to increase
c) Every individual castes have a complex
internal structure and organisation
d) Identity of castes have to be cultivated
continuously by a variety of means

23. Recasting of Caste -II
e) Increase in population and Internal
differentiation has led to a change in the
way castes behave politically.
f) Castes play an important political role in the
issue of reservation of backward classes.
g) This in turn leads castes to define their
boundaries clearly.
h) But again, processes mentioned earlier
have made the boundaries of castes fuzzy.

24. Recasting of Caste - III
I) Increasing influence of the metropolitan
culture on caste- a culture of freedom
j) Those arguing for caste based reservations
are actually casteless intellectuals.
k) Thus the dynamics of individual caste is
likely to be the dominant feature of caste in
the 20th Century.
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