Caste and power

An ethnography in West Bengal, India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3665971
AutoresDayabati Roy (University of Copenhagen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Volumen46
Número4
Páginas947-974
Fecha de publicación2012-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x11000680
OpenAlexW2143853624
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas23
Referencias citadas4

This paper explores the institution of caste and its operation in a micro-level village setting of West Bengal, an Indian state, where state politics at grass roots level is vibrant with functioning local self-government and entrenched political parties. This ethnographic study reveals that caste relations and caste identities have overarching dimensions in the day-to-day politics of the study villages. Though caste almost ceases to operate in relation to strict religious strictures, under economic compulsion the division of labour largely coincides with caste division. In the cultural-ideological field, the concept of caste-hierarchy seems to continue as an influencing factor, even in the operation of leftist politics

Archaeology · BENGAL · Caste · Ethnography · Geography · Hierarchy · Hinduism · Ideology · Left-wing politics · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Social science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · State (computer science · West bengal · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Religious studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies