Flexibility and Persistence of Caste Relations in India: An Overview

Caste is defined “as a small and named group of persons characterized by endogamy, hereditary membership, and a specific style of life that may or may not include the pursuit of a specific occupation and is usually associated with a more or less distinct ritual status in a hierarchical system” (Beteille 1964, 46). Berreman (1967, 70) has defined the caste system as a “system of birth assigned stratification, of socio-cultural heterogeneity, and of hierarchical interaction”. Although the caste system is rigid and closed if we talk in Indian context. It has shown some trends of dynamic reality and great degree of flexibility in terms of internal structure and functions. There have been perceived changes in the norms of caste hierarchy from time to time. If we talk in context of modernity, there are some institutionalised and continuing processes existing within the boundaries of the caste system to facilitate upward mobility by emulating the lifestyle of upper caste Hindu However in Indian context there have been simultaneously trends of downward caste mobility and it is not only the upward caste mobility that is peculiar to caste system in India. During the last few decades, caste has become less pervasive in individuals everyday life as a result of forces of modernization, industrialization, urbanization. However, in recent years, inter-caste and inter-religious marriages have taken place. The term “caste” is used by sociologists and social anthropologists in two different ways. As a result, locating the genesis of caste flexibility and persistence in Indian society becomes important. Hence the paper seeks to analyse the various claims put forth by different scholars on the debate of caste system in Indian context. It seeks to do this by bringing in the theoretical framework of writers like Marx, Weber, Hutton G.S. Gurye, M.N Srinivas, Andre Beteille, Surinder Jodhka, on caste relations in India.