Chipping Away at the Caste Hierarchy

Chapter 8 is about recognition for SCs in Indian society, and how quotas have affected caste-based discrimination. After summarizing key findings in the literature on intragroup and intergroup relations, and the ritual practices of SCs in India today, the chapter presents evidence from two surveys that provide indications of a lessening in caste-based discrimination in SC-reserved areas. The patterns are not robust and the surveys do not have samples that are representative of large areas, so the findings should be treated as tentative. Nonetheless, in both cases the evidence points toward potentially wide-ranging social changes resulting from implementation of the quota system. These patterns are further corroborated by findings from studies of village-level quotas for SCs.

Caste · Demographic economics · Economics · Geography · Hierarchy · Political science · Social hierarchy · Social science · Sociology · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Social and Economic Development in India · South Asian Studies and Conflicts