This book explores the structural features of Indian society, such as caste, tribe, sect, rural-urban relations, sanskritization and untouchability. Based on a wealth of field research as well as archival material, the book
Interrogates the prevailing thinking in Indian sociology on these structures;
Studies Indian society from contemporary as well as historical perspectives;
Analyses caste divisions vis-à-vis caste hierarchy;
Critically examines the public policies regarding caste-less society, reservations for Backward Classes, and the caste census.
This second edition, with four new chapters, will be a key text for students and scholars of sociology, social anthropology, political science, modern history, development studies and South Asian studies.
Author(s): A.M. Shah
Edition: 2
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 248
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Introduction
1 Caste in the 21st Century: From System to Elements
2 Purity, Impurity, Untouchability: Then and Now
3 Sanskritization Revisited
4 Sects and Hindu Social Structure
5 The Rural–Urban Networks in India
6 The ‘Dalit’ Category and Its Differentiation
7 Can the Caste Census be Reliable?
8 Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat
9 Untouchability, the Untouchables and Social Change in Gujarat
10 The Tribes — So-called — of Gujarat: In the Perspective of Time
11 The Mirage of a Casteless Society in India
12 A Government Programme to Train Scheduled Caste Priests
13 The Village in the City, the City in the Village
14 Myths, Rural and Urban
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
