On the Futures of Caste

Abstract

Caste is often viewed as an ancient and traditional structure of hierarchy with its origin in the Hindu religious system, flourishing in the social ecology of the Indian village. Such framings of caste believed it would decline and disappear with India moving on the path of development and modernisation. However, caste persists, often manifesting with much greater vigour, even in modern urban contexts. What could be the future course of caste? The paper attempts to examine the futures of caste, arguing for a revisiting of the mainstream framings of caste, both popular and academic, that remain “trapped” in a moral language, while uncritically accepting the colonial and Orientalist imaginations that treat caste as an exceptional institution, unique to the Hindus of India. Proposing an alternative framework, the paper argues for a deeper engagement with the obvious materiality of caste and its context-specific relational processes.