Caste, Class Structure In India

The division of Indian society into various jatis, together with the practice of untouchability, and the geographic isolation of some tribal communities has meant that these communities have lagged behind others in terms of educational and occupational attainment, political participation and with regard to opportunities for social mobility. In order to overcome these disadvantages the Indian Constitution in 1950 specified various preferential policies involving reservation of places in government institutions of education, employment and the legislature for the most deprived of these groups: the Scheduled Castes (SCs, ex-untouchables) and Scheduled Tribes (STs, isolated tribal communities). The books studies the changing patterns of caste, class structure in India. It recounts the gradual transformation of a social system that, till the end of the nineteenth century, was structured primarily on distinctions of caste-between the Brahmins, the middle-level non-Brahmins and the Sudra. The book profiles of caste, class, power and social mobility highlighting conceptual and substantive issues. It should prove to be a handy source book for researchers, teachers and students of sociology and other social science disciplines.