Status and Sacredness provides a new theory of status and sacral relationships and a provocative reinterpretation of the Indian caste system and Hinduism. Milner shows how in India and many other social contexts status is a key resource, and that sacredness can be usefully under…
Status and Sacredness provides a new theory of status and sacral relationships and a provocative reinterpretation of the Indian caste system and Hinduism. Milner shows how in India and many other social contexts status is a key resource, and that sacredness can be usefully under…
This volume traces the caste system from the medieval kingdoms of southern India through early colonial archives to the 20th century. It surveys the rise of caste politics and how caste-based movements have threatened nationalist consensus.
When thinking of India, it is hard not to think of caste. In academic and common parlance alike, caste has become a central symbol for India, marking it as fundamentally different from other places while expressing its essence. Nicholas Dirks argues that caste is, in fact, neith…
"This book offers a systematic analysis of the violent clashes between the South Indian 'right' and 'left' hand caste divisions that repeatedly rocked the European settlements on the Coromandel Coast in the early colonial period. Whereas the Indian population expected the coloni…
Contributed articles on the issues related to Dalit women in India.
The Indian constitution seeks to prevent the perpetuation of caste and build a casteless social system. But in over half a century since Indian independence, this has not been achieved and does not seem likely in the near future. Therefore, no understanding of Indian politics is…
"This book provides a radical alternative to prevailing theories of caste which either build on indigenous rationalizations of the Brahman's supremacy or reduce hierarchy to material factors." "Drawing on a wide range of historical and ethnographic sources as well as four years'…
"This book provides a radical alternative to prevailing theories of caste which either build on indigenous rationalizations of the Brahman's supremacy or reduce hierarchy to material factors." "Drawing on a wide range of historical and ethnographic sources as well as four years'…
"This book investigates how Rajput kinship structures and caste identities in nineteenth-century north India were reconstituted in response to colonial ideologies, political culture, and material realities. It seeks to argue that as the British circumscribed the authority and in…
