Caste in India: Continuity and Change

Caste is one of the most enduring institutions of Indian society. Traditionally, caste involved hierarchical ranking, hereditary membership, restrictions on marriage, occupational association and rules concerning food and social interaction. The concepts of varna and jati are related but not identical: varna provides a broad ideological classification, whereas jati refers to thousands of concrete communities.

Colonial administration, census practices and legal interventions altered caste identities. Modern education, urbanisation, migration, electoral politics and affirmative action have also transformed caste relations. Caste has not disappeared; instead, its forms and functions have changed.

M. N. Srinivas highlighted concepts such as Sanskritisation, Westernisation and dominant caste. Sanskritisation describes the adoption of practices associated with higher-status groups. Westernisation refers to changes influenced by modern education, law, technology and institutions. A dominant caste may possess numerical strength, land, political influence and local authority.

Caste operates in marriage, politics, rural power, employment and social networks. At the same time, constitutional safeguards, reservations, education and social movements have challenged caste-based exclusion. Dalit movements have asserted dignity, rights and representation.

Urbanisation may weaken traditional caste controls, but caste networks can continue through marriage websites, residential associations, professional groups and political mobilisation. Economic liberalisation has expanded opportunities for some groups while leaving structural inequalities intact.

Caste should therefore be understood through both continuity and change. It is simultaneously a system of inequality, an identity, a political resource and a basis for collective mobilisation.