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Caste, Social Inequality and Mobility in Rural India: Reconceptualising the Indian Village investigates and presents a holistic view of today’s rural India by analysing different social aspects such as caste, migration, mobility, education and inequalities. It further studies the village social structure comprising peasants, artisans, weavers and the middle class, and the role of education in reshaping the social life of rural people. It challenges current conceptualisation and understanding of caste as a system, caste mobility, caste–class polarity and country–town divide. This book also argues that caste as a system has ceased to exist, but caste persists discretely as a non-systemic means of appropriation for political and social ends. This interdisciplinary dynamic study reconceptualises the ‘village’ by explaining the emerging social trends and patterns of social stratification in contemporary rural India.

Contents: Foreword by Dipankar Gupta. Preface. Introduction. I. Social Contours of Indian Village: 1. Introducing the Indian Village. 2. Reinterpreting Caste. 3. Caste, Inequality and Social Mobility. 4. Individual and Family. II. Glimpses of Village Economy: 5. Peasants : A Declining Backbone of Rural Economy. 6. Artisans: Proto-industrial Workers. 7. Weavers: Under the Dominance of Master-Weavers. III. Rural Power Structure: 8. Reflections on Indian Polity vis-à-vis Village India. 9. Dynamics of Elections and Its Reflections on Rural India. 10. Panchayati Raj Institutions and Empowerment. IV. Emerging Patterns of Stratification and Change: 11. Formation of Middle Class in Rural India. 12. Education and Social Stratification in Village India. 13. Understanding Rural Development in India. V. Theoretical and Empirical Concerns in Village Studies: 14. Subaltern Studies in the Wake of Globalization. 15. Revisiting the Six Villages in Rajasthan After Half a Century. 16. Conclusion: Emerging Matrix of Social Status and Change. Bibliography. Index.