Acknowledgements; List of Contributors; 1. Introduction: Caste and Democratic Politics; PART 1 THE MEANING OF CASTE: Introduction; 2. Features of the Caste System; 3. Heriarchy: The Theory of the 'Varna'; 4. Caste Must Go On; 5. Caste in India; 6. Ran-Manohar Lohhia on Caste in Indian Politics; 7. Caste; Class and Property Relations; PART II THE DIFFUSION OF POWER: Introduction, 8. The Transformation of Authority in Rural India; 9. Caste and Class: Social Reality and Political Representations; 10. Federating for Political Interests: The Kshatriyas of Gukarat; PART III CASTE AND POLITICAL PROCESSES: Introduction; 11. Pragmatic Progressives in Regional Politics: The Case of Devraj Urs; 12. The BJP and Backward Castes in Gujarat; 13. New Phase in Backward Caste Politics in Bihar, 1990-2000; Dalit Assertion Through Electoral Politics; PART IV CASTE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION: Introduction; 15. Social Backwardness and the Politics of Reservations; 16. The Anti-Caste Movement and the Discourse of Power; Appendix to Chapter 16, Notes; Select Bibliography
Argues that no understanding of Indian politics is possible without a thorough understanding of the complexities of the caste system.
Ghanshyam Shah is Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has edited and written numerous books and essays on the subject of class, caste and politics in India.
"Shah (Jawaharlal Nehru Univ.) has compiled a collection of 16 essays designed to explore the role of caste in Indian democratic politics. In his brief introduction Shah reviews conflicting definitions of caste and the role of caste in Indian elections, decision making, institutional functioning, resource distribution, and change. While three essays were written in 1999, most were published prior to the 1990s. The book is divided into four parts. The first part contains of six largely classical essays written by Ghurye, Dumont, Gandhi, Ambedkar, Lohia, and Ranadive; they attempt to define caste. The next three essays focus on the diffusion of power in India and its impact on caste. The third part examines the role of caste in the political process in Karnataka, Gujarat, and Bihar and the electoral behavior of Dalits in the 1996 and 1998 parliamentary elections. The final two essays examine the politics of caste reservation and the role of anticaste movements. Although the collections offers little that is new to specialists, it could serve as a useful undergraduate reader. It is unfortunate that the editor has not included more recent studies. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates."--S. A. Kochanek, emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus in CHOICE
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