Caste without a System. A Study of South Indian Harijans

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3342953
AutoresRobert Deliege (autor de correspondencia)
Año1993
Volumen41
Número1_suppl
Páginas122-146
Fecha de publicación1993-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.1993.tb03403.x
OpenAlexW1998484942
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas14

According to Dumont, caste can be understood as the institutionalisation of hierarchy, and the principle of hierarchy permeates all relations within Indian society. So understood, caste ideology is uniform throughout the society. This point has been contested by several ethnographers, especially those working among untouchables whom they often described as more 'egalitarian'. This chapter aims to discuss the concepts of hierarchy and equality among the Paraiyar caste in a Tamil Nadu village. It will show that in spite of a basic acceptance of the value of caste, the Paraiyar espouse a strongly egalitarian ethic so far as relations among themselves are concerned; while there are forms of differentiation within the village, these cannot be conceived according to a hierarchical model. There is a general resistance to any form of internal leadership or domination, to which constant disputes, jealousies and accusations of theft bear witness. Gender roles are not as sharply demarcated as is generally expected in the subcontinent and the relations between affines are not conceived hierarchically. Although hierarchy can be taken as an intellectual device to grasp the foundations of Indian society, it cannot account for all the social relations within that society, which require theorisation of a different kind. It is a mistake to think that people are either egalitarian or hierarchical

Caste · Epistemology · Hierarchy · Ideology · Mistake · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Tamil · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies