Caste in Indian Politics

Contents: Preface. I: 1. Introduction: caste in Indian politics/Rajni Kothari. II: 2. Learning the use of political means: The Mahars of Maharashtra/Eleanor Zelliot. 3. Federating for political interests: the Kshatriyas of Gujarat/Rajni Kothari and Rushikesh Maru. 4. Political participation and primordial solidarity: the Nadars of Tamilnad/Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. 5. Caste and faction among the dominant caste: the Reddis and Kammas of Andhra/Carolyn M. Elliot. III: 6. Caste and political factions in Rajasthan/Richard Sisson. 7. Caste and political recruitment in Bihar/Ramashray Roy. 8. Caste and political group formation in Tamilnad/Andre Beteille. 9. Caste and political mobilisation in a Gujarat district/Anil Bhatt. 10. Caste and political participation in two cities/Donald B. Rosenthal. Index.

"The confrontation in India between the age-old caste system and the parliamentary form of government based on universal suffrage vividly illustrates the manner in which old and historical societies get involved in, and provide content to, the modernizing process. Caste in Indian politics is a collection of studies dealing with this theme.

Rejecting the prevailing dichotomy between traditional society and modern polity, these studies examine the interaction between the two in given community and territorial settings. An analytical essay by Rajni Kothari provides the framework. Of the nine studies that follow, four are based on detailed investigation of individual caste movements and structures and their induction into the political process. The other five deal with certain macro dimensions of the political involvement of caste. Each of these studies tries to bring out the substantial change that has taken place in the inter-relationship between the antecedent social structure of Indian and democratic politics and underlines the emerging idiom of social-political behaviour."