Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Caste Rigidity and Socio-economic Condition of Dalits in India

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Globalization, Marginalization and Conflict

Part of the book series: Perspectives on Geographical Marginality ((PGEO,volume 6))

  • 370 Accesses

Abstract

The Indian caste system is a hierarchal social order of four Varnas. Hereditary caste hierarchy is so rigid that it restricts social mobility by the forceful imposition of several irrational socio-cultural and religious laws and practices. The Indian social order is characterized by social exclusion, caste discrimination, and obtrusive inequalities systematized in hierarchical caste relations forming the basic foundation of Indian society. As per the order of social hierarchy, Dalits/Untouchables suffer at the bottom strata where socio-economic deprivation and impurity arse imposed on them. This is well reflected in the existing socio-economic conditions of Dalits in India. They are deprived in almost all spheres of social and personal life compared to the rest of society. Moreover, their lives become more pathetic when they face various kinds of inhuman caste atrocities, discrimination and social exclusion in the different spheres of the society. This runs against several constitutional provisions and measures that have been implemented by the government of India since Independence in 1947 aimed at protecting and uplifting the socio-economic condition of Dalits and empowering them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Shudras were identified as native inhabitants of India. According to Aryan invasion theory, the whole Indian society was divided into superior Aryans and inferior non-Aryans. Non-Aryans were conquered by Aryans and allocated the lowest status among the four Varnas of Indian society (Kumar 2018). Traditionally, Shudras were non-Aryan cultivators, artisans and serviceman etc., controlled under the domination of the Aryans, and enslaved and therefore had to serve the upper three Varnas. Shudras include nearly more than half the Indian population. According to Mandal Commission (1980s) most of Shudras are part of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and represent 52 percent of the total population of the India (Shepherd 2018).

  2. 2.

    Ambedkar 2008, Vol. II, p. 23. Dvija/Twice-Born is the term for the three higher Varnas/Castes; their first birth was from their mother, and second from their involvement in sacred thread/writings. This term has the same meaning as Caste-Hindus.

  3. 3.

    Sivananda, S. (1999). Brahma sutras. Chapter I, Samanvaya Adhyaya Rig Veda (I.3.36) (99). ‘Samskaraparamarsat tadabhavabhilapacca’ (Shudra has no privilege to perform upanayana samsakar (ceremony). The upanayana samsakar ceremony confers the identity of dvija (of dual birth) on these three groupings of citizens, namely Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya. https://www.dlshq.org/books/es22.htm

  4. 4.

    In the present context, the term ‘Caste-Hindus’ has been used frequently in a different sense of meaning from Hindu Caste. The term Caste-Hindus has been borrowed from the ‘Annihilation of Caste’ (Ambedkar 1944, p. 2 f.,) and defined as “the orthodox people of Hindu Varnas who practice the code of Manusmriti and other Hindu scriptures and follow the malpractice of caste-based discriminatory tradition to protect their privileges in the order of the caste system in the society.” In this chapter, the term ‘Caste-Hindus’ has been frequently used in the context of social and cultural discussion for the upper three Varnas. However, Upper Castes (upper three Varnas) and Non-Reserved also have been used for the same social group for analyzing the data.

  5. 5.

    “Manusmriti” (Laws of Manu” or “The Remembered Tradition of Manu”) is a series of ancient Law books among the many Dharmashastras of Hindu religion. More than fifty manuscripts of the Manusmriti have been known till now. These Law books are discourses given by Manu and Bhrigu on dharma (duties) topics such as duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and others. Most of the Hindus, especially Caste-Hindus still follow the Laws of Manusmriti which is based on the discriminatory hierarchical caste system in order to maintain their privileged position in the society despite the prevalence of the Indian Constitution since 1950.

  6. 6.

    Smriti, (“Recollection”) is a class of the Hindu religious text based on human memory, usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, that were transmitted verbally across the generations. Smritis are a body of the Hindu sacred literature derived from Vedas, containing traditional teachings such as social practice, domestic, and religious teaching and forming the class of shastras. Most of the modern Hindus, especially Caste-Hindus are familiar with Smriti scriptures and follow their rule in social life, e.g. the very famous lawbook, the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu).

  7. 7.

    Chanadala refers to outcaste i.e. untouchables/Dalits during the period of Dharmashastras. (Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.7).

  8. 8.

    Scheduled Tribes (ST) are indigenous peoples of India, formerly known as Advasi (who are living from initial time) /Banvasi (Forest dwellers). - Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are castes considered as “socially and educationally backward classes” or socially disadvantaged in the Indian Constitution. All communities belong to non-Dwijas or Shudra castes were described as low socially, educationally and economically (Galanter 1978).

References

  • Ahmad, A. (2012). Social geography of India. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambedkar, B.R. (1936, May 31). What path to salvation? Speech to the Bombay Presidency Mahar Conference. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/txt_ambedkar_salvation.html. Accessed 16 May 2020.

  • Ambedkar, B.R. (1944). Annihilation of caste. Third edition of 1944. Education Department, Governmant of Maharashtra: 14 April, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambedkar, B.R. (2008). Babasaheb Ambedkar: writing and speeches. Vol II. 2008, p. 23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attewell, P., & Thorat, S. (2007). The legacy of social exclusion: A correspondence study of job discrimination in India. Economic Political Weekly, 42(41), 4141–4145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, S. (1999). Children’s experience of the physical environment in poor urban settlements and the implications for policy and practice. Environment & Urbanization, 11, 63–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnell, A.C. (1971). The ordinance of Manu. New Delhi: New Delhi: Oriental Books, p. xxiii. Also see Zacharias, R. (1956). An outline of hinduism. Alwaye: J.M. Press, p. 323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census of India. (2011). Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chancel, L. & Piketty, T. (2017). Indian income inequality, 1922–2014: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj. WID. world working paper series No 2017/11. http://wid.world/document/chancelpiketty2017widworld/

  • Chatterjee, S. K. (1996). The scheduled castes in India (Vol. I). New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order. (1950). as amended, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crime in India. (2010). Reports of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalal, R. (2014). Hinduism: an alphabetical guide. Penguin UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalit Solidarity Network UK (DSNUK) & the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN). (2017). Caste-based discrimination in The United Kingdom. July 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Equality Labs. (2018). Caste in the United States: a survey of caste among South Asian Americans. Equality Labs, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, C. J. (2004). The camphor flame: Popular Hinduism and society in India. Revised and Expanded Edition (31 August 2004). Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3hh4c8.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Galanter, M. (1978). Who Are the Other Backward Classes-An introduction to a constitutional puzzle. Economic and Political Weekly, 13, 43–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghurye, G. S. (1990). Caste and race in India. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzwarth, S., Soumya, K., & Tucci, R. (2006). Untouchable in school experiences of Dalit children in schools in Gujarat. New Delhi: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • InSCED. (2014). Indian standard classification of education, department of higher education, MHRD. Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Dalit Solidarity Network (ISDN) & Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). (2008). Dalit Discrimination Check. Copenhagen. ISDN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayaram, V. (2013). Chandogya Upanishad. S.l.: Pure Life Vision.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaye, J. W. (1959). Christianity in India. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ketkar, S. V. (1979). History of caste in India (p. 104). Jaipur: Rawat Publications. Also see Burnill, Op Cit p. 312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, A. (2018). Aryans versus non-Aryans: a study of Dalit narratives of India’s ancient past. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 10(2), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X18785288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, T., & Newman, S. (2010). Housing and child development. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 1165–1174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louis, P. (2003, June 21–27). Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – The reservation debate. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. 38, 25 pp. 2475–2478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahajan, G. (1998). Identities and rights: aspects of liberal democracy in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manu, Chapter 1, No. 91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manu, Chapter 19, No. 413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathew, G. (2003, April 4–5). Social Constraints to Eliminating Hunger, on Towards Hunger Free India-Count-Down from 2007. Organized by the United Nations World Food Programme, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • MHRD. (2003). Selected education statistics, 2002–03. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • MHRD. (2010). Selected education statistics, (2). Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • MHRD. (2016). All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2005–06 to 2015–16. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • MHRD. (2018). All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2005–06 to 2016–17. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, S. M. (1960). Comparative social mobility. Current Sociology, IX(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Misri, D. (2011). Are you a man? Performing naked protest in India. Journal of Women in Culture and Society. The University of Chicago, 36(3), 603–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molloy, M. (2008). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education. Print.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Crime Records Bureau. Crime in India, 2001 to 2018. New Delhi: NCRB Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • NCDHR. (2012). Joint stakeholders report on caste-based discrimination in India. 13th Session of the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council-India (21st May – 1st June 2012, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR).

    Google Scholar 

  • NCRB. (2016). Crime in India, 2016. Report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • NCRB. (2018). Crime in India, 2018. Report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Solidarity Forum (2010). Preliminary Findings and Recommendations of National People’s Tribunal on Kandhamal. (2010, August 25). organized by National Solidarity Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachau, E. C. (2002). Albaruni’s India. New Delhi: Rupa Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, R. S. (1958). Shudra in ancient India. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, K.I. (2018, October 1). Where Are The Shudras? Why the Shudras are lost in today’s India. The Carvan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrirama. (1981). Untouchability and stratification in Indian civilization. In S. M. Michael (Ed.), Dalits in modern India. New Delhi: Vistaar Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, S., & Srivastava, R. (2008). Inclusiveness and access of social groups to higher education, Higher Education in India: issues related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance, report of the University Grant Commission, New Delhi, pp. 111–138.. https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/pub/report/12.pdf

  • Sivananda, S. (1999). Brahma sutras. Chapter I, Samanvaya Adhyaya Rig Veda (I.3.36) (99). https://www.dlshq.org/books/es22.htm

  • Srinivas, M. N. (2003). An obituary on caste as a system. Economic and Political Weekly., 8(5), 455–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava, S. N. (1980). Harijans in Indian society: A cultural study of the status of Harijans and other backward classes from the earliest times to the present day. Aminabad: Upper India Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Hindu. (2016, July 22).

    Google Scholar 

  • The Oxford dictionary of phrase and fable. (2005). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN-13: 9780198609810.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorat, S. K. (2004). Caste system in India: social and economic exclusion and poverty. New Delhi: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorat, S. (2009). Dalits in India: Search for a common destiny. New Delhi: Sage Publication India.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Times of India. (2012, September 24).

    Google Scholar 

  • Times of India. (2018, September 22).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasavi, A. R. (2006). Caste indignities and subjected personhood. Economic Political Weekly, 41(35), 3769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verwoerd, M., & Lopes, C. (2015). Sexualized violence in the national debate: Cross-border observations on India and South Africa. Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, F. (1981). A concise history of India. Southampton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisskopf, T. E. (2004). Affirmative action in the United States and India- A comparative perspective. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yongsi, H. B. N., & Ntetu, A. L. (2008). Household standard of living and children’s health in Cameroon. The Journal of Developing Areas, 42, 251–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Sahab Deen

Authors
  1. Sahab Deen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sahab Deen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Borna Fuerst-Bjeliš

  2. Department of Geosciences, Geography, University of Fribourg/CH, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Walter Leimgruber

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Deen, S. (2020). Caste Rigidity and Socio-economic Condition of Dalits in India. In: Fuerst-Bjeliš, B., Leimgruber, W. (eds) Globalization, Marginalization and Conflict. Perspectives on Geographical Marginality, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53218-5_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53218-5_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53217-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53218-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation