caste

caste An institution of considerable internal complexity, which has been oversimplified by those seeking an ideal type of rigid hierarchical social stratification, based on extreme closure criteria. In Max Weber's writings it was synonymous with ethnic status stratification and constituted one end of the continuum which contrasted status honour stratification with commercial classes and the market. Possibly the clearest definition is that proffered by André Béteille, who describes a caste as ‘a small and named group of persons characterized by endogamy, hereditary membership and a specific style of life which sometimes includes the pursuit by tradition of a particular occupation and is usually associated with a more or less distinct ritual status in a hierarchical system, based on concepts of purity and pollution’ (Caste, Class and Power, 1965).

Caste orders the lives of Indian Hindus and has as its basis the fivefold varna division embracing Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Untouchable. Within each varna there exist myriad jati, which are small endogamous groups, tied to a defining occupation, based in a village or group of villages, and which provide for the element of mobility within a system where otherwise birth determines social rank.

The varna system provides the system of values, the jati its functional organization and practice. Jatis may seek promotion within the caste hierarchy by adopting the practices of higher varna, which can result in promotion within their varna but not between varna, a process known as sanskritization. It is believed that mobility between varna can only be achieved through rebirth, where the successful practice of the caste code or dharma earns for the individual an increased karma and therefore higher status at rebirth.

The major dividing-line between and within the castes centres around the rules of pollution. These affect commensality (sharing and preparing of food), intermarriage, and any form of social intercourse. Since pollution of food is most likely, the higher varna tend towards vegetarianism, and are also teetotal. For this reason too, meat consumption is gradated, with distinctions being made between mutton, pork, and beef. Spatial segregation is a natural consequence of the jati system, and the segmentation inherent in the system and its attendant rules are overseen by a caste court. The caste system has been able to assimilate non-caste, non-Hindu outsiders very successfully.

Since independence in 1947, the Indian state has attempted to break down caste divisions, although in practice caste retains an important role in the social structure. Some sociologists have attempted (controversially) to extend the term beyond the Indian situation, and to apply it to the analysis of the South African system of apartheid, and even to the system of racial segregation in some parts of the United States during the twentieth century. See also CASTE SCHOOL OF RACE RELATIONS; HINDUISM.