Mainstream sociological studies look for the roots of the caste system in ideas, religious ideas of Hinduism in particular, in isolation from economic-political relations a historically. In contrast, this book examines the intersection of economic, political, and ideological components of the caste system in historical perspective, demonstrating that the caste system is actually grounded in a hierarchy of land rights and political power supported by religious and secular ideology. Accordingly, as mainstream sociologists contend, the caste system is characterized by exploitation and coercion, not interdependence and consensus. The volume also shows that mainstream sociologists focus on ritual homogeneity and draw attention away from intra-caste inequality, thus portraying castes as internally undifferentiated. Singh illuminates intra-caste differentiation by locating the roots of caste in economic and political hierarchy. A significant finding of this book is that members of a caste fail to unite for collective mobilization if their class interests diverge, while members of different castes or sub-caste groups unite politically if their class interests converge. Such patterns of action dispel the misconception that, in India, caste consciousness trumps class consciousness. Finally, using archival and ethnographic data on indentured Indians and their descendants in colonies - South Africa and the Caribbean Islands – the author shows that Hinduism among Indians in colonies has survived without caste, contrary to the most persistent myth that caste is the creation of Hinduism and that caste is essential to the survival of Hinduism held by many eminent sociologists and political thinkers with divergent views on caste, the latter including Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar. INDICE: Preface: Growing up in Caste, Studying Caste: A Personal and Professional StoryIntroductionStudying Caste: Ideas, Material Conditions and HistoryPriest and Prince: Status–Power MuddleVarna to Caste: Religious and Economic-PoliticalCaste and Subaltern Studies: Elite Ideology and Revisionist HistoriographyInequalities between and within Castes: Kin, Caste and LandChanging Land Relations and Caste: View from a VillageIndenture, Religion and Caste: The Twin Myths about Hinduism and CasteAppendicesGlossaryBibliographyIndex
- ISBN: 978-8-1321-1346-1
- Editorial: SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 312
- Fecha Publicación: 30/10/2013
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: