Changes in Caste Hierarchies in
Rural India and Their Political Implications
Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, in collaboration with the University of London ‘s School of Advanced Study and South Asian Studies Council, MacMillan Centre, Yale University , is planning to organize an interdisciplinary conference on the changing nature of caste in rural India and its political implication. The proposed dates are 1-3 June 2011 and venue of the conference is IIAS, Shimla. Its purpose is to discuss the changes which have occurred in caste hierarchies in rural India and their implications for democratic politics.
Some analysts believe that caste hierarchies have lost much of their power over the thoughts and actions of Indian villagers, and that caste is increasingly coming to denote ‘difference’ more than ‘hierarchy’. Some even see this as one of the two most important changes to occur in India since Independence – alongside the consolidation of a socially rooted democracy. Others are more sceptical about the scale of this change, and argue that the most vulnerable members of rural society have experienced little or no benefit from it. The proposed conference would reflect and welcome this diversity of views, and promote dialogue between analysts with different perceptions and from different disciplines. It would also pay special attention to something which has been inadequately discussed: the implications for the democratic process of however much change has taken place.
Some studies suggest that the decline in the power of caste hierarchies has made India an even more genuine democracy by providing disadvantaged castes in villages with greater opportunities, capacities and leverage in the political system. Others call this into question, or stress that the main beneficiaries are found in the middle strata of the old hierarchies. Some studies emphasise the positive implications of declining hierarchies, while others point to the increase in violence between castes in certain regions – including, ironically, some (for example, southern Karnataka) in which the old hierarchies were less oppressive than elsewhere.
Some analyses have shown that in certain localities, the formerly dominant castes no longer exercise enough influence at the village level to persuade or compel people to undertake collective action which once made it possible to get important things done. This implies that to get things done, it is increasingly necessary for local-level political entrepreneurs to reach up to higher levels for assistance from government actors and programmes. Other analyses indicate that India has generated far more such local entrepreneurs than have other countries, and that many of them come not from formerly dominant castes but from disadvantaged groups. But sceptics have asked just how extensive these changes have actually been.
Certain studies have argued that a new middle class has emerged in India that includes many rural dwellers and many people from the lower strata in the old hierarchies. They see this as partly the result of reservations, but also as a consequence of the decline in the influence of the old hierarchies – and they argue that this change further undermines that influence. Other commentators argue that the main impact of this trend is to alienate members of the middle class who come from the lower strata from their caste fellows who remain outside the middle class.
These and other key issues have not been adequately discussed by the kind of formidable group of analysts which this conference would bring together. The implications for Indian democracy of whatever change has occurred in caste hierarchies cries out for serious examination.
For more see regular:
http://iias.org/caste-hierarchies.html
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