Caste in and out of place: State, market, and culture

Stig Toft Madsen

doi:10.4324/9781003104919-3

Caste in and out of place: State, market, and culture

Stig Toft Madsen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Caste permeates the state, the economy, and culture posing administrative, political, and legal conundrums many of which are addressed in a well-ordered manner. Nevertheless, caste is rarely treated as an independent policy issue in India. In a neo-Macaulayan vein, and following the leads of Gurcharan Das and Satish Saberwal, this chapter argues that for the state to remain strong and autonomous, it should not be reduced to caste arithmetic. In order not to underwrite caste in perpetuity, reservation policies should be periodically adjusted with a view to foster the “self-development of individuals as reasonable persons” capable of dealing with the complexities of India’s megasociety. At the same time, public policy must acknowledge that caste is part of the chemistry of society. Castes are vast resilient networks offering economic life chances and cultural life worlds. International advocacy networks, as well as statistically informed sociological analysis, can inform policy to provide more opportunities for social mobility at less costs in the form of resentment and inefficiency. Finally, the chapter discusses what a policy addressing excessive caste pride and prejudice may entail

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Caste matters in public policy : Issues and perspectives
Editors	Rahul Choragudi, Sony Pellissery, N. Jayaram
Place of Publication	London & New York
Publisher	Routledge
Publication date	2022
Pages	25-47
Chapter	1
ISBN (Print)	9780367544522, 9780367612672
ISBN (Electronic)	9781003104919
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003104919-3
Publication status	Published - 2022
Event	The interface between caste and public policy in 21st century India - Institute of Public Policy (IPP), National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, India Duration: 10 Dec 2018 → 11 Dec 2018

Conference

Conference	The interface between caste and public policy in 21st century India
Location	Institute of Public Policy (IPP), National Law School of India University
Country/Territory	India
City	Bengaluru
Period	10/12/2018 → 11/12/2018

Bibliographical note

"Caste in India, despite its historical resilience, has been undergoing transformation since independence. If caste as a system of rigid stratification has been on the decline, castes as autonomous interest-serving groups have
been on ascendance. This book critically engages with the changing
notions of caste and its intersection with public policy in India. It
discusses key issues such as social security, internal reservation, the
idea of Most Backward Classes, caste issues among non-Hindu religious
communities, caste in census, caste in market, and service castes and
urban planning. Drawing on in-depth case studies from states including
Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and
West Bengal, the volume explores the cyclical process of how caste
drives policies, and how policies in turn shape the reality of caste in
India. It looks at the impact of factors like protective discrimination,
adult franchise and democratic decentralization, horizontal and vertical
mobilisation, land reforms, and religious conversion on social mobility,
and traditional hierarchy in India. Empirically rich and analytically
rigorous, this book will be an excellent reference for scholars and
researchers of public policy, public administration, sociology,
exclusion studies, social work, law, history, economics, political
science, development studies, social anthropology, and political
sociology. It will also be of interest to public policy and development
practitioners"-- Provided by publisher.

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences
area studies
politics and international relations
Social sciences

Access to Document

10.4324/9781003104919-3

Library access?

Check availability at the Royal Danish Library

Cite this

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title = "Caste in and out of place: State, market, and culture",

abstract = "Caste permeates the state, the economy, and culture posing administrative, political, and legal conundrums many of which are addressed in a well-ordered manner. Nevertheless, caste is rarely treated as an independent policy issue in India. In a neo-Macaulayan vein, and following the leads of Gurcharan Das and Satish Saberwal, this chapter argues that for the state to remain strong and autonomous, it should not be reduced to caste arithmetic. In order not to underwrite caste in perpetuity, reservation policies should be periodically adjusted with a view to foster the “self-development of individuals as reasonable persons” capable of dealing with the complexities of India{\textquoteright}s megasociety. At the same time, public policy must acknowledge that caste is part of the chemistry of society. Castes are vast resilient networks offering economic life chances and cultural life worlds. International advocacy networks, as well as statistically informed sociological analysis, can inform policy to provide more opportunities for social mobility at less costs in the form of resentment and inefficiency. Finally, the chapter discusses what a policy addressing excessive caste pride and prejudice may entail",

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note = " {"}Caste in India, despite its historical resilience, has been undergoing transformation since independence. If caste as a system of rigid stratification has been on the decline, castes as autonomous interest-serving groups have been on ascendance. This book critically engages with the changing notions of caste and its intersection with public policy in India. It discusses key issues such as social security, internal reservation, the idea of Most Backward Classes, caste issues among non-Hindu religious communities, caste in census, caste in market, and service castes and urban planning. Drawing on in-depth case studies from states including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal, the volume explores the cyclical process of how caste drives policies, and how policies in turn shape the reality of caste in India. It looks at the impact of factors like protective discrimination, adult franchise and democratic decentralization, horizontal and vertical mobilisation, land reforms, and religious conversion on social mobility, and traditional hierarchy in India. Empirically rich and analytically rigorous, this book will be an excellent reference for scholars and researchers of public policy, public administration, sociology, exclusion studies, social work, law, history, economics, political science, development studies, social anthropology, and political sociology. It will also be of interest to public policy and development practitioners{"}-- Provided by publisher. ; The interface between caste and public policy in 21st century India ; Conference date: 10-12-2018 Through 11-12-2018",

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doi = "10.4324/9781003104919-3",

language = "English",

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AU - Madsen, Stig Toft

N1 - "Caste in India, despite its historical resilience, has been undergoing transformation since independence. If caste as a system of rigid stratification has been on the decline, castes as autonomous interest-serving groups have been on ascendance. This book critically engages with the changing notions of caste and its intersection with public policy in India. It discusses key issues such as social security, internal reservation, the idea of Most Backward Classes, caste issues among non-Hindu religious communities, caste in census, caste in market, and service castes and urban planning. Drawing on in-depth case studies from states including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal, the volume explores the cyclical process of how caste drives policies, and how policies in turn shape the reality of caste in India. It looks at the impact of factors like protective discrimination, adult franchise and democratic decentralization, horizontal and vertical mobilisation, land reforms, and religious conversion on social mobility, and traditional hierarchy in India. Empirically rich and analytically rigorous, this book will be an excellent reference for scholars and researchers of public policy, public administration, sociology, exclusion studies, social work, law, history, economics, political science, development studies, social anthropology, and political sociology. It will also be of interest to public policy and development practitioners"-- Provided by publisher.

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N2 - Caste permeates the state, the economy, and culture posing administrative, political, and legal conundrums many of which are addressed in a well-ordered manner. Nevertheless, caste is rarely treated as an independent policy issue in India. In a neo-Macaulayan vein, and following the leads of Gurcharan Das and Satish Saberwal, this chapter argues that for the state to remain strong and autonomous, it should not be reduced to caste arithmetic. In order not to underwrite caste in perpetuity, reservation policies should be periodically adjusted with a view to foster the “self-development of individuals as reasonable persons” capable of dealing with the complexities of India’s megasociety. At the same time, public policy must acknowledge that caste is part of the chemistry of society. Castes are vast resilient networks offering economic life chances and cultural life worlds. International advocacy networks, as well as statistically informed sociological analysis, can inform policy to provide more opportunities for social mobility at less costs in the form of resentment and inefficiency. Finally, the chapter discusses what a policy addressing excessive caste pride and prejudice may entail

AB - Caste permeates the state, the economy, and culture posing administrative, political, and legal conundrums many of which are addressed in a well-ordered manner. Nevertheless, caste is rarely treated as an independent policy issue in India. In a neo-Macaulayan vein, and following the leads of Gurcharan Das and Satish Saberwal, this chapter argues that for the state to remain strong and autonomous, it should not be reduced to caste arithmetic. In order not to underwrite caste in perpetuity, reservation policies should be periodically adjusted with a view to foster the “self-development of individuals as reasonable persons” capable of dealing with the complexities of India’s megasociety. At the same time, public policy must acknowledge that caste is part of the chemistry of society. Castes are vast resilient networks offering economic life chances and cultural life worlds. International advocacy networks, as well as statistically informed sociological analysis, can inform policy to provide more opportunities for social mobility at less costs in the form of resentment and inefficiency. Finally, the chapter discusses what a policy addressing excessive caste pride and prejudice may entail

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - area studies

KW - politics and international relations

KW - Social sciences

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SN - 9780367612672

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BT - Caste matters in public policy

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A2 - Jayaram, N.

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