VARIETIES OF CASTE CONSCIOUSNESS. Edited with an
Introduction by Kalinga Tudor Silva
and Mark E Balmforth. In CASTE: A
Global Journal on Social Exclusion, Vol 6:
No. 1, April 2025.

Caste is a social reality that structures human relationships. It serves as a framework for managing interactions among individuals and a platform for organising political, social and economic reforms. The caste system, with its complex histories and multifaceted institutions, encompasses social, economic, cultural, and religious aspects of human life. It guides and sometimes forces people to live in a complex social, cultural, political, and religious milieu.

Bundles of rules and values that have emerged from various locations within religious, social, and political traditions and actions sustain them. A caste system, over time, becomes an engulfing culture that helps organise people and their communities into a rigid system of relationships, hierarchically organised, and sometimes, sanctioned by dominant religions, such as Hinduism.

As a rigid hierarchical system, caste thrives on systemic a priori inclusion and exclusion modalities. Ambedkar aptly summarised the roots and the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion as follows:

The outcaste, a term used to describe those who are considered untouchable and outside the caste system, is a byproduct of the caste system. There will be outcasts as long as there are castes. Nothing can emancipate the outcaste except by the destruction of the caste system. Nothing can ensure their survival except the purging of the Hindu faith of this odious and vicious dogma.

Ambedkar’s tireless advocacy for outcaste (Dalit) communities to adopt his visionary ideals of liberty, social justice, and equality helped to take caste out of parochial village spaces and premise it in a broader public sphere. According to him, national and regional Hindu dominance in India blocks the opportunities that the Dalits also can occupy to achieve a more just society. Ambedkar rejected Gandhi’s Harijan Seva Sangh because it was a paternalistic mechanism that reinforced Hindu dominance rather than empowered the Dalits.

Moreover, the Harijan Seva Sangh denied the lower castes an independent expression of their authentic social identity, thereby tacitly claiming their acquiescence to an inegalitarian social and ethical value set. Ambedkar recognised the embeddedness of the caste system in Hindu society and the economy. He wanted to ‘annihilate’ the caste system because nothing can emancipate the outcaste without first destroying the caste system.

Illustration of Ambedkar’s conversion of Dailts to Buddhism

Caste takes different forms in different countries. In India, Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and Sudras (labourers) form a caste system. It excludes the Dalits (outcastes or untouchables), who are not part of the varna system. The sacred dimension of the caste system enables the Brahmins to become the custodians of Hindu values, beliefs, practices and resources. The binary of ‘sacred’ and ‘polluted’ not only keeps the Dalits out of the hierarchy but also justifies exploitation and violence against them.

In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, the caste system does not have a manifested sacred dimension as found in India. There is no Brahmin caste in Sri Lanka, except for a few Hindu priests who handle Hindu rituals. The allocation of people and communities to various castes based on sacred and polluted criteria is absent in Sri Lanka. Instead, employment and differential ethics of interaction indicate the relative status of a caste in the caste hierarchy.

Although a caste system is a vertically organised system with formidable barriers against upward mobility, several mechanisms facilitate caste mobility. One is Sanskritization. By imitating the value system and general behaviour of the upper caste, a lower caste can, over a long period of time, move upward in the hierarchy, but still create a ‘shadow effect’ on the Dalits. Another way to climb higher, bypassing various rigidities, is to physically move away from the original location and embrace westernisation, primarily through education, mastering new skills, and investments in land and businesses.

The State and non-state sectors provide the most promising way for upward mobility through development programmes aimed at social transformation and land reform. Such programmes empower the lower castes and outcastes by treating them as normal citizens with equal rights to life, who can share in egalitarian state welfare.

The co-editors introduced the four articles (read at a symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora), succinctly outlining the main arguments and findings under three main themes. One theme is the legacy of the colonial administration, which attempted to separate caste from class to create the impression that caste is dead and the elite is triumphant. The second is historical mediation, which has shaped the expectations and imaginings of different castes and their coexistence with class identities, without erasing the binary of inclusion and exclusion. The third theme is that the caste system remains alive as a complex social reality influencing political, economic, cultural, and social spaces, refuting the belief that it has succumbed to modernisation and globalisation. The findings underscore the urgent need for further research and policy action to address this persistent issue.

Article 1 – Dynamics between Cinnamon and Salagama People – examines how the domestication of cinnamon production helped consolidate the caste system in southern Sri Lanka. It is premised on a ‘multispecies’ perspective to highlight the roles of human and non-human actors in shaping the Sinhala caste system. Apart from human interlocutors, a particular plant species, cinnamon, is associated with the natural resource base of the Sinhala caste system. Thus, the specificity of and challenges for caste need to be understood not only from the angle of social justice and human rights but also in terms of environmental justice and sustainability of caste occupations. Global marketing challenges, the absence of quality control mechanisms, land scarcity, urbanization, and smallholder farming practices have challenged the coexistence between the plant and the caste. Such factors have encouraged the formation of a subaltern group of low-paid cinnamon workers.

Article 2 – Cultural Ambivalences Towards and Among Drummer Caste Members explores three types of cultural ambivalences. One is the Sinhala society’s attitudes towards the caste; the second is the State’s ambivalence towards the drummer caste; and the third is mixed attitudes towards drumming and rituals within the caste itself. The article highlights how the drummer caste has reacted and coped with such ambivalences. The neoliberal economic framework has enhanced such ambivalences in the context of radical political movements such as the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP). Some gave up drumming and dancing altogether and transitioned to non-caste employment and businesses. In contrast, others took advantage of the new opportunities opened up by the local tourist economy to earn a living through performing their ritualistic performances.

Article 3 – Recasting the Brahmin: the Epistemic Critique of Caste – discusses how the Sinhala literature has emphasized ethnicity over caste in selecting themes for creative writing, reflecting the public silence on the caste system. Based on Martin Wickramasighe’s Bava Tharanaya (Crossing the Cycle of Existence) and Bamunu Kulaye Bindavatima (Fall of the Brahmin Caste), the article examines the justification and limitations of knowledge and belief, questioning how and why particular claims are accepted or rejected, thereby fostering more rigorous understanding and critical thinking. As allegorical narratives, the two books present stories where characters, events, and settings represent deeper, symbolic meanings that are moral and political in nature. They are useful literary devices, the article argues, to sensitize the Sinhala reading public about the caste at a time when caste has become politically salient.

Article 4 – Caste, Space, and Retail Religiosity in Tamil Toronto demonstrates how the caste system still plays an important role in the Tamil diaspora in Canada, particularly in marriage partner selection at the family level, and temple construction and welfare activities at the community level. The article shows that emigrants from Sri Lanka to Canada think that their community cultural centres, such as Hindu temples, should deploy caste as a part of their cultural heritage that includes temples, the Tamil language, and Tamil music. The emigrant generation believes that preserving such heritage would help them and their children survive in a foreign environment.

The first generation, born in Canada, on the other hand, are reticent about caste, and sees it as an inappropriate transplant that makes it more difficult for them, to assimilate into local communities. The article describes significant differences between diaspora temples in Toronto and Tamil temples in Sri Lanka. Such differences are structural and could impact on the survival of the caste in its current form. Hindu temples in Toronto are often movable entities, frequently located in urban areas within rented warehouses. Local Zoning laws and the ‘light industrial’ retail market limit the sacred rights of Hindu caste groups in owning temple land. Toronto temple custodians move back and forth between describing temples as businesses and as kôvil. Temple managers use mass media to attract devotees in a competitive temple market. Moreover, Toronto temples attract diaspora devotees by offering a shelter from the morally corrosive, identity-eroding influences of urban Canada.

Five general research articles on Indian caste issues follow the four symposium articles. The first research Article – Reimagining Resources: The Politics of Dalit Land Struggles – analyses the history and dynamics of land alienation in Kerala, the representation of land in social reform movements that transcend Brahmin-imposed sub-caste fragmentation, and how social reforms provide a platform to assert the rights of the deprived sections. Although some reform movements have unified the untouchable castes around common concerns such as land ownership and education, the ruling classes, dominated by higher castes, with the support of the Communist Party, have thwarted such movements by employing the strategy of sub-caste fragmentation. The article recognizes the value and usefulness of charismatic leaders who can guide social mobilization, particularly in a caste-ridden society, to build trust and unity among the depressed castes.

The second research article – Struggle for Emancipation and Dalit Consciousness – analyses inter-generational struggles among Dalits to emancipate themselves from high-caste aggression. The article is based on an autobiography ‘My Father Baliah.’ By following one family over three generations, the autobiography examines the rise, fall, and resurgence of the caste system. During the second ascending generation, “untouchability presented itself glaringly just like the sound of a howling steam engine.”

During the British period, the caste system became antithetical to the modernity introduced through colonialism. However, it did not vanish altogether. Instead, it has transformed into subtler forms of aggression by silently infiltrating modern institutions, thereby posing a threat to the struggles for Dalit emancipation. The “upper” caste people and also the Sudras were reluctant to discard their superiority and purity claims, not only within colonial institutions but also in post-independent India. The book reaffirms Ambedkar’s observation that no constitutional safeguards so far had really helped the hapless Dalits; they remained excluded, segregated and untouchable in free India. The mindset of upper-caste Hindus had not changed much despite the relentless efforts of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

The third research article – From Margins to Mainstream: Caste, Women, and Panchayati Institutions – evaluates the effects of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Amendment Act, 2015, on the empowerment of Scheduled Caste women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. It argues that empowerment of women, particularly in political contexts, is vital for advancing gender equality and enabling them to combat social and economic marginalization and exploitation by higher castes. The article emphasizes the need for targeted educational initiatives to encourage female participation in development discourse.

The fourth research article – Caste Prejudices in Denial: University Students’ Perceptions – points out that caste prejudices are more pronounced among dominant castes than among others, and are more likely to resist caste-oriented reforms, such as reservations and inter-caste marriages, by delegitimizing caste as a category of contemporary discrimination. At the same time, the disadvantaged communities demonstrate their awareness of the structural inequalities that suppress them. The above patterns mirror broader societal trends in India, where dominant caste groups often endorse economic or meritocratic framings to avoid the acknowledgment of caste inequalities. Caste group identification has emerged as a key predictor in shaping the views on reservation policies.

The ‘General’ category people perceive the policies as unfair and discriminatory because they think such policies would shrink their opportunities to gain. Conversely, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backwards caste categories support reservation policies, as they directly benefit from the affirmative actions. The article also reaffirms the importance of higher education as a potential space for social transformation, as it engages students in meaningful reflection and cross-group interaction.

The fifth Research Article – Consciousness Not Without Dangers – focuses on Dalits’ willingness to abandon Hinduism as a protest against untouchability, assert their rights as citizens, and also to escape from its suppression. The key question is whether the Dalits have the capacity to break free from the caste system and become a new, independent Self. The article cogently points out the risks and dangers that surround such a willingness and actions. The majority of Hindus would consider such converted Dalits as transgressors who have challenged the social stratification of the sacred Hindu caste system. Such actions inevitably invite physical violence and violation of their constitutional rights. In the case of Dalit conversions to non-Indic religions, violence tends to be overt, raw, and physical, often driven by a fear of losing cultural and social control within the Hindu fold. In contrast, conversions to Indic religions, which theoretically reject the caste system, face more covert forms of violence, such as legal and political obstacles.

The absence of a concluding chapter, especially one summarising the five general research articles and providing a general conclusion for the entire collection, leaves the reader with the intellectual task of connecting the dots between the articles. From a stylistic point of view, symposium articles are well structured and edited than the five general research articles. Although the difference between an ‘article’ and a ‘research article’ is known to academic journal readers, the general reader might get confused by the distinction. They might think the distinction reflects the quality or the depth of an article.

The articles cogently deliver a cohesive narrative of how caste is embedded in the South Asian social fabric, reinforcing social hierarchies, maintaining power structures, and ensuring their continuity. The authors have elaborated on covert forms of everyday caste aggression, resistance, and compliance in rural spaces and urban environments. Some articles have shown how school education and the generation of non-caste employment help the privileged and the non-privileged to move upwards in social and economic ladders. The collection highlights the need for further anthropological research on caste systems, caste politics, social and economic transformations, Dalit resistance movements, and the role of the State in actively promoting Dalit emancipation. The articles will also interest those curious about caste and mobility, as they offer a compelling and multifaceted examination of the caste system.

A Review Article

by Jayantha Perera ✍️