You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Session 1: 'Understanding caste'
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Tanushka Dutta
10:12
The Economics of Soil in conversation with Prof. Surinder Singh Jodhka,
10:13
Caste, Prof. Jodhka says, "could take any form, and exist in many parts of the world in diverse ways".
But colonial classifications did take on a life of their own. The colonial census was a significant moment on the history of caste. People began to see themselves through the varna lens.
10:14
They began to form caste associations and seek representation. The Indian constitution also uses the colonial narrative if caste as a Hindu religious reality and a Pan Indian identity.
Caste is a conflicting identity. It enters politics in contemporary India, but there was a selective institutionalization. Only scheduled castes were identified.
10:15
Prof. Jodhka elaborates how location disabled only the SCs and OBCs whereas the upper castes were seen as outside the system.
10:16
Prof. Surinder Singh Jodhka on the Politics of Caste
10:17
Talking about contemporary India, Prof. Jodhka says that even when we talk about poverty, there is no mention of caste. The material reality of caste is ignored.
Caste persists, but it has not disappeared as hoped with modernity. Caste continues in a new context.
The relevance if reservations is declining as there are fewer jobs in the state sector. But corporate jobs value soft skills, which is influenced by caste.
96% of top corporate positions are held by upper castes.
10:18
Prof. Jodhka on India's Agrarian Question: Class, Caste and Agrarian Change,  
10:19
He elaborates: "ascription based identities intersect with emerging class orders, they do not disappear."
Caste is reproduced from above. Dalits and OBCs talk about caste not to keep it alive but for equal citizenship by smashing caste.
10:22
With that, Prof. Jodhka wraps up his talk on understanding the semantics and the politics of caste.
10:23
Up next, Dr. Nalini Rajan introduces the next speaker, Prof. S. Anandhi.
10:25
Prof. Anandhi kickstarts her lecture by taking from Prof. Jodhka's talk which laid the foundation on the concept of caste.
She adds that her focus today is going to be the persistence of caste in contemporary India. This has been talked about by scholars but there is a concept that caste is a socio-religious problem.
10:28
Prof. Anandhi moves on to talk about Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians' inclusion.
"Caste-based discrimination is faced by Dalit Hindus only, supposedly. Even among the Dalits, such an argument persists. There is definitely anxiety around conversion and anxiety related to quota. Caste is referred to as a static problem. This is not something related to the right-wing government's refusal to intervene but we also notice that it goes back to history there is an eagerness to separate caste from the Hindu discourse," says Prof. Anandhi.
Prof. Anandhi adds: "We notice is caste is constantly protected as a part of Indian identity and often celebrated."
"We know from the 1990s that with the Mandal commission, caste was brought as an important category in Indian politics," says Prof. Anandhi.
10:29
"If we notice, there is a new trend among the OBCs and OBC feminist movement towards the right-wing government," says Prof. Anandhi.
10:30
Prof. S Anandhi on Confronting Caste - Marriage and Modernity: The Making of Dravidian Feminism in South India. 
10:31
She talks about how feminists have reshaped politics by talking about their experiences and feminist rights issues. "Brahminical patriarchy and the issue of caste and how it affects gender issues," says Prof. Anandhi.
"It is also placing it in the persistence of endogamy. Caste is a material reality," she adds.
10:36
"Endogamy is applied in 95 per cent of marriages. Only 5 per cent are intercaste marriages," says Prof. Anandhi.
"Caste is very central to Indian marriages. The Indian government may have made untouchability illegal but nothing stops the higher castes to discriminate," she adds.
10:37
'Rethinking Social Justice' by Prof. S. Anandhi 
10:39
She adds: "The brutal killing of intercaste couples has been rampant, in north Indian castes and also in Tamil Nadu."
"In the neo-liberal contemporary scenario, it causes anxiety to females. But we also need to talk about men within these conditions. There has been a shift of Dalits and OBC communities to service sectors. In the informal sector, sexual harassment is quite rampant," says Prof. Anandhi.
Prof. Anandhi: "In voting for caste-preferred members or in matrimonial columns, preference for dominant caste is an example of the predominance of castes in Indian society."
10:40
With Tamil Nadu in context, Prof. Anandhi says: "What is significant in Tamil Nadu is that the Ambedkar celebration led to more studies on the Dalit context."
10:41
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on Caste and Religion
She goes on to say that the crisis that has happened to the intermediary castes is not well studied. The women in these middle classes have suffered due to complex caste gender issues.
10:43
Prof. S Anandhi: "There has been a significant shift of OBCs and Dalits to service and education sectors."
10:44
On the issue of women and caste, Prof. Anandhi says: "Women's mobility even in Tamil Nadu, where we can see the workforce shift, even there, caste plays a part."
Women workers in various sectors such as agriculture and other informal sectors have more SC and ST and OBC representation. She adds that the percentage of higher-caste women is higher in the service sector.
10:45
She points out how this is significant "because with the change in caste dynamics, not just in Tamil Nadu, but also in Punjab."
10:46
Prof. Anandhi says: "The shift from agriculture to services has had a huge impact on the caste dynamic. The crisis of caste and crisis of masculinity and what is happening to the intermediary caste. Gender inequality is very central to the caste crisis."
10:47
She makes an important point while pointing out that female infanticide has been rampant because of dowry in the last 20 years and that it is more prevalent among non-Dalit OBCs.
10:51
Prof. Anandhi argues that, in the last 20 years, there has been a decline in females in this society. The shift of males from agriculture to services has changed a lot.
She says: "The upliftment has led to a new crisis. They now want bridegrooms from better service sectors which has triggered a new crisis".
10:52
"When young women from OBC sought services outside their villages, it triggers anxiety among the men as to how to continue their practices of marriage," she adds.
10:53
"Any aspiration of mobility is marriage to a higher caste. Young boys with a good education would be waiting for decent jobs and salaries while for young women, after education, they either have to get married immediately or get a job immediately," says Prof. Anandhi as a serious concern.
Talking about the Kumbh Mela, Prof. Anandhi says that there are men in the Kumbh Mela community and men above 30 are still waiting to be married. Young women provide a certain amount of mobility by getting married to these men.
Connecting…