Caste as a Social Kind

Bibliographic Data

ID21497472
AuthorsAnkita Deshmukh (0000-0003-3121-6878, Department of Philosophy University of Manchester Manchester UK), Ajinkya Deshmukh (0000-0002-0401-9521, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume43
Issue2
Pages431-450
Publication date2026-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Applied Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0264-3758 • E-ISSN: 1468-5930
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/japp.70067
OpenAlexW7117303659
LanguageEN
References cited19

Gender and race have received significant philosophical attention recently; they are the paradigm cases of social kinds in most philosophical accounts. I argue for the inclusion of caste as a social kind because it affects the lives of many people, and because it presents itself as an important test case for philosophers of social kinds. I explain some key concepts in the caste discourse, and show how caste is similar and dissimilar to gender and race. I consider how existing theories of social kinds can be adapted to explain the key features of caste. I argue that versions of an ameliorative account, a biologically realist account, and a conferralist account do not sufficiently explain caste as a social kind. I settle in favour of a structuralist account as the most promising theory for caste

Caste · Social life · Social relation · Social relationship · Social theory · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy

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