Caste: Its Twentieth Century Avatar: Its 21st Century Avatar - Softcover

M. N. Srinivas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140257608 ISBN 13: 9780140257601

Publisher: Penguin, 1997

Synopsis

As India attempted to modernize in the decades after Independence, the issue of caste became overwhelmingly significant in the political, economic and social spheres. This anthology, edited and introduced by M. N. Srinivas, one of India's most eminent sociologists, explores the influence of caste and its evolution into the major indicator of identity it has become today. The essays in this volume, each authored by an expert on the subject, include an appraisal of the role women play in perpetuating caste; the relationship between caste and the economy, and between caste and Hinduism. Other contributions review the backward caste movement in Tamil Nadu; the power struggles between backward castes in UP and Bihar; observations on caste among Muslims and Christians in India; the issue of job reservations; and an assessment of the Mandal Commission Report."

About this title

About the Author

Professor M.N. Srinivas, FBA, the Doyen of sociology and social anthropology in India, started his academic career at Oxford where he taught in a department headed by the late professor E.E. Evans Pritchard. He started the first department of sociology in India at MS University, Baroda and later headed the department of sociology in Delhi University. In 1972, he founded the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) in Bangalore, along with Professor V.K.R.V. Rao. Professor Srinivas was JRD Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He died in 1999.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140257608
• ISBN 13: 9780140257601
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312