Caste and Democracy: Assertion and Identity among the Dalits of Rural Punjab

Abstract

The literature on the political sociology of caste identity/mobili sations in contemporary India and her democratic political process generally focuses primarily on macro analysis of electoral politics or caste associations. The existing formulations on 'caste and politics ' have also been drawn largely from such analyses where the political experience of the so-called middle-level, landowning 'dominant' castes has been the primary source of empirical data. Based on three case studies of caste-related conflicts and dalit assertions in contem porary rural Punjab, this paper tries to show that, historically, politicisation of caste identities varies significantly across different caste groups. The experience of being a member of a dalit caste, for example, is very different from that of being a member of an 'upper ' or dominant caste. This paper, therefore, argues for a more differen tiated understanding of the subject, which can be best derived from micro analyses of changing caste relations in contemporary India.