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- Title
Different Shades of Caste among the Indian Diaspora in the US.
- Authors
Kumar, Vivek
- Abstract
Social scientists, baring a few, deny the existence of caste in the Indian diaspora. It is a fact that caste does not exist among Indians in diaspora as part of a stratification system per se. However, the empirical reality suggests that caste is not totally absent among the Indians in diaspora. On the basis of field-work done by the researcher during January 2012 until May 2012 in different states of the US at least three different shades of caste can be observed among Indians in the US. These three shades are, one, caste can be observed in the form of relationships which gives birth to networks and endogamous grouping. In terms of endogamy the membership of a caste has to be ascriptive (i.e. membership by birth). Hence the caste system assumes potential to inuence patterns of interaction of its members in diaspora. Different matrimonial websites and matrimonial columns in varying newspapers in the US are testimony to the existence of endogamy and thereby caste in Indian diaspora. The second shade of caste among Indians in diaspora is that it exists as an institution of discrimination and exclusion. That means discrimination and exclusion exists in the name of castes in the diaspora. In this paper, I will highlight how caste discrimination and exclusion on the basis of higher and lower status of castes exists among Indians even in the US. The third shade of caste among the Indian diaspora in the US can be observed when different castes transcend their regional, religious and linguistic boundaries to form new communities. In this context, the paper will analyze how different castes among the Dalits of India have formed a formidable group that cuts across their religion, region and linguistic delineation to unite under one Dalit identity. Their new identity is now used as a symbol of assertion and emancipation. To conclude, we can safely argue that these three shades of caste will grow stronger as time passes with the potentiality of creating caste conict as it occurs in the UK.
- Subjects
INDIA; UNITED Kingdom; CASTE discrimination; CASTE; DIASPORA; NEWSPAPER sections, columns, etc.; SOCIAL scientists; DALITS; ENDOGAMY &; exogamy
- Publication
Transcience: A Journal of Global Studies, 2021, Vol 12, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2191-1150
- Publication type
Article