Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T04:29:37.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What Is Happening to Caste? A View from Some North Indian Villages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

Anirudh Krishna
Get access

Extract

The role of caste in indian politics is undergoing considerable change. Caste and patron-client links have been regarded traditionally as the building blocks of political organization in India (Brass 1994; Manor 1997; Migdal 1988; Kothari 1988; Weiner 1967), and vertical and horizontal mobilizations by patrons and caste leaders, respectively, have been important influences on political outcomes (Rudolph and Rudolph 1967). There are indications, however, that the influence of patronage and caste might have declined considerably in recent years:

[National-level] survey data reveal some important facts that run counter to the conventional wisdom on voter behavior. … In 1996, 75 percent of the sample said they were not guided by anyone in their voting decision. … Of the 25 percent who sought advice, only 7 percent sought it from caste and community leaders … that is, less than 2 percent of the electorate got direct advice on how to vote from caste and community leaders. … The most important survey data show the change over time. In 1971, 51 percent of the respondents agreed that it was “important to vote the way your caste/community does” (30 percent disagreed), but in 1996 the percentages were reversed: 51 percent disagreed with that statement (29 percent agreed). … In 1998, “caste and community” was seen as an issue by only 5.5 percent of the respondents in one poll … and [it] ranked last of nine issues in another. All the evidence points to the fact that these respondents are correct: members of particular castes … can be found voting for every party. … It is less and less true that knowing the caste of a voter lets you reliably predict the party he or she will vote for.

(Oldenburg 1999, 13–15, emphasis in original)

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 62 , Issue 4 , November 2003 , pp. 1171 - 1193
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Ahluwalia, Montek S. 2000. “Economic Performance of States in Post-Reforms Period.” Economic and Political Weekly 35(19):1637–48.Google Scholar
Bailey, Frederick G. 1960. Tribe, Caste, and Nation: A Study of Political Activity and Political Change in Highland Orissa. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Brass, Paul. 1994. The Politics of India since Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Census of India. 2001. “Literacy Rate: India.” Provisional Population Totals. Office of the Registrar General, India. Accessed 28 August 2003 at www.censusindia. net/results/provindia3.html.Google Scholar
Chakravarti, Sudeep. 1998. “So Whatapos;s New, Anyway?” India Today, 9 February, 38–40.Google Scholar
Chandra, Kanchan. 2000. “The Transformation of Ethnic Politics in India: The Decline of the Congress and the Rise of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Hoshiarpur.” Journal of Asian Studies 59(1):26–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chhibber, Pradeep. 1999. Democracy without Associations: Transformation of the Party System and Social Cleavage in India. New Delhi: Vistaar Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, Bernard S. 1969. “Structural Change in Indian Rural Society.” In Land Control and Social Structure in Indian History, Edited by Frykenberg, Robert. E.. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Dreze, Jean, and Sen, Amartya. 1997. Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. Delhi: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Echeverri-Gent, John. 1993. The State and the Poor: Public Policy and Political Development in India and the United States. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frykenberg, Robert E. 1969. “Village Strength in South India.” In Land Control and Social Structure in Indian History. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Government Of India (GOI). 1998. Indian Economic Survey, 1997–98. New Delhi: Ministry of Finance, Government of India.Google Scholar
Government Of Rajasthan (GOR). 1997. Some Facts About Rajasthan. Jaipur: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Rajasthan.Google Scholar
Government Of Rajasthan (GOR). 1998. General Elections, 1998, to the 11th Vidhan Sabha. Jaipur: Election Department, Government of Rajasthan.Google Scholar
Government Of Rajasthan (GOR). 1999. Progress Report: Eighth Five-Year Plan: 1992–1997. Jaipur: Planning Department, Government of Rajasthan.Google Scholar
Heller, Patrick. 2000. “Degrees of Democracy: Some Comparative Lessons from India.” World Politics 52(4):484–519CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Indian National Congress. 1999 “Manifesto.” Accessed 19 September 2003 at www.congresssandesh.com/manifesto/1999/manifesto6.html#jobs.Google Scholar
Jain, S. P. 1993. “Reorganizing Grassroots Institutions for Sustainable Development.” Indian Journal of Public Administration 39(3):396–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohli, Atul. 1990. Democracy and Discontent: Indiaapos;s Growing Crisis of Governability Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kohli, Atul. 1997. “From Breakdown to Order: West Bengal.” In State and Politics in India, Edited by Chatterjee, Partha. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kothari, Rajni. 1988. State Against Democracy: In Search of Humane Governance Delhi: Ajanta Publishers.Google Scholar
Krishna, Anirudh. 2002. Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Democracy and Development. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, Berthold. 1998. Participatory Development in Rural India. New Delhi: Radiant Publishers.Google Scholar
Ladejinsky, Wolf. 1972. “Land Ceilings and Land Reforms.” Economic and Political Weekly 7(7):401–8.Google Scholar
Manor, James. 1990. “How and Why Liberal and Representative Politics Emerged in India.” Political Studies 38(1):20–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manor, James. 1997. “Karnataka: Caste, Class, Dominance, and Politics in a Cohesive Society.” In Politics in India, Edited by Kaviraj, Sudipta. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Manor, James. 2000. “Small-Time Political Fixers in Indiaapos;s States.” Asian Survey 40(5):816–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayaram, Shail. 1998. “Panchayats and Women: A Study of the Processes Initiated before and after the 73rd Amendment in Rajasthan.” Jaipur: Institute of Development Studies. Mimeograph.Google Scholar
Migdal, Joel S. 1988. Strong Societies and Weak States. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mitra, Subrata K. 1991. “Room to Maneuver in the Middle: Local Elites, Political Action, and the State in India.” World Politics 43(3):390–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitra, Subrata K. 1992. Power, Protest, and Participation: Local Elites and the Politics of Development in India. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
National Democratic Alliance. 1999. “For a Proud, Prosperous India: An Agenda.” Accessed 16 September 2003 at bjp.org.Google Scholar
Oldenburg, Philip. 1999 The Thirteenth Election of Indiaapos;s Lok Sabha (House ofthe People). New York: Asia Society. Also available at www.asiasociety.org/ publications/indian_elections.l 3-html.Google Scholar
Pal, Mahi. 2000. “Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Elections: From Politics to Tactics.” Economic and Political Weekly 35(37):3289–91.Google Scholar
Reddy, G. Ram, and Haragopal, G.. 1985. “The Pyraveerkar: The ‘Fixer’ in Rural India.” Asian Survey 25(11): 1147–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Eva Cheung. 1998. Greening at the Grassroots: Alternative Forest Strategies in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Robinson, Marguerite S. 1988. Local Politics: The Law of Fishes: Development through Political Change in Medak District, Andhra Pradesh (South India). Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rudolph, Lloyd I., and Hoeber Rudolph, Susanne. 1967. The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sheth, D. L. 1999. “Secularization of Caste and Making of New Middle Class.” Economic and Political Weekly 34(34–35):2502–l0.Google Scholar
Sisson, Richard. 1972. The Congress Party in Rajasthan: Political Integration and Institution-Building in an Indian State. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney. 1911. Between Center and Periphery: Grassroots Politicians in and France. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Varshney, Ashutosh. 1995. Democracy, Development, and the Countryside: Rural Struggles in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varshney, Ashutosh. 2000. “Is India Becoming More Democratic?” Journal of Asian Studies 59(1):3–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vlthal, B. P. R. 1997. “Evolving Trends in the Bureaucracy.” In State and Politics in India, Edited by Chatterjee, Partha. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Weiner, Myron. 1967. Party Building in a New Nation: The Indian National Congress. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Weiner, Myron. 1989. The Indian Paradox: Essays in Indian Politics. New Delhi and London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Yadav, Yogendra. 1996. “Reconfiguration in Indian Politics: State Assembly Elections, 1993–95.” Economic and Political Weekly 31(2–3):95–104.Google Scholar
Yadav, Yogendra. 1999. “Politics.” In India Briefing: A Transformative Fifty Years, Edited by Bouton, Marshall and Oldenburg, Philip. New York: Asia Society.Google Scholar