CIS214 | Caste, Culture, and Capital: Implications for Sociology of Inequality

This course addresses the ways in which caste have been reproducing inequalities and privileges, and how to understand these developments, especially after the neo-liberalization in South Asia. The course will discuss the impact of caste on the market and the political economy by evoking theoretical lens of Peirre Bourdieu. Bourdieu is arguably one of the most influential social thinkers of the 20th century. His empirical studies and theoretical propositions represent important junctures in the formation of thinking regarding how inequality is manifested and maintained at all levels. In this course the idea of capital, in its many formulations, informs our analysis of caste in India. Therefore, the course lay an emphasis on the intersectionality of caste, culture, and capital which determine forms of privileges, modes of inequalities, and systems of exclusion. To advance our understanding we shall first delineate our theoretical notions about capital and then incorporate narratives social and cultural capitals to get a clear picture of how caste as a status quo is negotiated in the everyday life.

This course will adopt a mix of pedagogical methods by using lectures, seminar style discussion, and use of multimedia. Each student is expected to do an in-class presentation of assigned reading for maximum 20 minutes followed by a discussant who is required to bring a critical reflection to the presentation and the text.

The course is designed into four modules. The fist module focuses on the major theoretical underpinnings for understanding the intersection of capital, culture and the social with respect to caste as a primordial identity. In the second module the aim is to unravel the role of caste in the political economy in Indian context. Third module is focused on demonstrating the impact of caste on the market that explains the phenomenon of resource access, control, and consolidation. In this module the discussion will also lay emphasis on the emerging contestations from diverse caste groups in the domain of market. The fourth module is primarily inclined to assess the role of caste and capital in maintaining privilege through cultural assertion and language of meritocracy in education. The last two session of the course are used to go back to the central question of capital, culture and political economy with regards to caste in India.