Caste and two types of status. Comparing Dumont and Weber for studies of caste today

Abstract

In this article I argue that the concept of status requires more attention in today’s scholarly approach to caste. Caste has become a contested concept which authors define in multiple ways, but the different definitions of status in India’s caste system remain unclear. This article focusses on the two seminal contributions of Louis Dumont and Max Weber. Both have frequently been criticised and dismissed, but this article aims to delineate and compare their different understandings of status. Their contributions have often been judged according to their cultural significance or general concepts of modernity; however, by unpacking their approaches to status, a proper distinction can be made between achieved and attributed status in the study of caste. Thus, revisiting and comparing Dumont’s and Weber’s different concepts of status may create greater clarity when explaining ‘exclusion’ and the evolving caste practices in India and in the diaspora.