CASTE SYSTEM AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• Societies are divided into hierarchical groups where groups are considered inequal in relation to each other but members within a group are viewed as equals.
• The two main criteria of social stratification are caste and class, but other recognized units include age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
• Social stratification is different from social differentiation.
• The term differentiation is broader and makes individuals and groups separate and distinct for comparison.
• Within class strata, income, occupation, and education provide the basis for differentiation and comparison.
• Stratification occurs when differences are ranked hierarchically.

Caste as a Unit and a System

• In India, both caste and class are used as bases of hierarchical ranking and exist side by side.
• However, caste, which is rooted in religious belief, is considered a more important basis of social stratification for social, economic, and religious purposes.
• Caste is a hereditary social group that does not permit social mobility to its members.
• Caste involves ranking according to birth, affecting occupation, marriage, and social relationships.
• Caste is used both as a unit and as a system.
• As a unit, caste is a closed-rank status group, where members’ status, occupations, mate-selection, and interactionsare fixed.
• As a system, caste refers to a collectivity of restrictions, such as restrictions on change of membership, occupation, marriage, and social relations.
• The presupposition is that no caste can exist in isolation, and each caste is closely involved with other castes in the network of economic, political, and ritual relationships.
• The closed-rank group feature of caste also explains its structure.

Caste: Structural and Cultural Concepts

• Caste is seen as both a structural and a cultural phenomenon.
• As a structural phenomenon, caste refers to interrelated statuses, patterned interaction among castes based on different restrictions, and a stable set of social relations.
• As a cultural phenomenon, caste is viewed as a set of values, beliefs, and practices.
• Most scholars view caste as solidarity, not just a set of values and attitudes.
• The structure of the caste system includes an organized pattern of interrelated rights and obligations of members of each caste and individual castes as groups, in terms of statuses, roles, and social norms.
• Bougle (1958) described castes as hereditarily specialised and hierarchically arranged groups with three key characteristics: hierarchy, hereditary specialisation, and repulsion.
• Repulsion is seen in endogamy, commensal restrictions, and social contact.
• However, this view of repulsion is challenged, as castes need each other for survival.
• Gough (1960) viewed castes as ranked birth-status groups that are usually endogamous and tend to be associated with an occupation.
• Senart (1930) described caste as a closed corporation, hereditarily bound, with a common occupation, governed by a council imposing penalties, though not all castes have councils.
• Bailey and Srinivas viewed caste as structures and avoided strict definitions.
• Dutt (1931-34) discussed restrictions on marriage, eating, drinking, occupation, change in hereditary membership, and hierarchical gradation of castes.
• Morris (1950) argued that a short definition of caste is inadequate, instead emphasizing hereditary membership, endogamy, and norms regulating social interaction.
• Ghurye (1957) listed features such as hereditary membership, caste councils, hierarchy, endogamy, and restrictions on feeding, social intercourse, occupation, and civil/religious disabilities.
• D’Souza (1969) defined caste as the integration of heterogeneous groups into a status hierarchy, explaining both superior and subordinate relationships.
• Singh (1974) identified two tendencies in the caste system: segmental (mutual repulsion, social distance, and inequality) and organic (mutual interlinking through reciprocity, e.g., the jajmani system).
• Bailey (1960) referred to caste stratification as a closed organic stratification, contrasting it with the class principle, which is based on segmentary stratification (interaction through competition rather than cooperation).

Caste: Three Perspectives of the Study

• The caste system in India has been studied from three perspectives: Indological, socio-anthropological, and sociological.
• Indologists view caste from the scriptural point of view, social anthropologists from the cultural point of view, and sociologists from the social stratification point of view.
• The indological perspective is based on the scriptures, focusing on the origin, purpose, and future of the caste system.
• According to indologists, varnas originated from Brahma’s body, and castes (or jatis) are fissioned units within the varna system, developed due to hypergamy and hypogamy practices.
• Smrits (written around 200-100 BC) prescribed customs and rituals for different castes, but regional, linguistic, ethnic, and sectarian variations affected the ordering of jati relationships.
• The origin of castes, according to indologists, was the division of labor.
• Castes gradually became more rigid, with hereditary membership and occupation.
• The rigidity in the caste system is linked to beliefs in karma (deeds) and dharma (duties and obligations), suggesting that caste dogmas were driven by religious motives.
• Indologists argue that since castes are divine, they will continue to exist in the future (Verma, 1972).
• The cultural perspective of social anthropologists (e.g., Hutton, Risley, Kroeber) is categorized into three approaches: structural, institutional, and relational.
• The structural view focuses on the origin, development, and changes in the caste system.
• The institutional approach (e.g., John Rex) views the caste system as a unique phenomenon in India, but also seen in ancient Egypt, medieval Europe, and the Southern United States.
• The relational approach identifies caste situations in army, business, factory management, politics, etc. In these settings, caste is weak if mobility is normal and strong if mobility is restricted.
• The sociological perspective views the caste system as a form of social inequality, with society distributing members into different social positions based on its structural aspects.
• The reference to three perspectives does not imply that sociologists ignore the origin and development of the caste system, or that social anthropologists do not recognize caste as a result of social stratification.