Caste and Equality in India: A Historical Anthropology of Diverse Society and Vernacular Democracy - Paperback

by Akio Tanabe (Author)

This book presents an alternative view of caste in Indian society by analysing caste structure and change in local communities in Orissa from historical and anthropological perspectives.

Focusing on the agricultural society in the Khurda district of Orissa between the eighteenth century and 2019, the book links discussions on the current transformation of society and politics in India with analyses of long-term historical transformations. The author suggests that, beyond status and power, there is another value which is important in Indian society, namely ontological equality, which functions as the politico-ethical ground for asserting respect and concern for the life of others. The book argues that the value of ontological equality has played an important role in creating and affirming the diverse society which characterises India. It further contends that the movement towards vernacular democracy, which has become conspicuous since the second half of the 1990s, is a historically groundbreaking event which opens a path beyond the postcolonial predicament, supported by the affirmation of diversity by subalterns based on the value of ontological equality.

This important contribution to the study of Indian society will be of interest to academics working on the social, political and economic history, sociology, anthropology and political science of South Asia, as well as to those interested in social and political theory.

Author Biography

Akio Tanabe is Professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is also one of the series editors of the Routledge New Horizons in South Asian Studies series. His most recent publications include Human and International Security in India, co-edited with Crispin A. Bates and Minoru Mio (2015) and Democratic Transformation and the Vernacular Public Arena in India, co-edited with Taberez Ahmed Neyazi and Shinya Ishizaka (2014), also published with Routledge.