Explanations in Resource Inequality

Abstract

Caste represents a unique form of inequality. Scholars successfully explained ritual inequality involved in caste, however, views on resource inequality were few and limited in their approach. While resource inequality was of partial interest to sociologists, economists' views were inadequate to explain its persistence and rigidity in the Indian social context. One reason may be the prolonged emphasis on landownership and control structures. Inadequate efforts have been made by different streams to identify and explain inequalities in access to other critical resources. The article aims to find inadequacies in traditional explanations and argue for alternative explanations of resource inequities. In this effort, the author proposes to systematically explore water resource access structure, to particularly highlight the cumulative inequality that scheduled caste groups face in rural India. The article is based on secondary data on select indicators regarding water access for agriculture and domestic use of water. The arguments can be carried forward by identifying other direct and indirect indicators as well as gathering evidence from primary studies over interfaces of caste groups as social categories and water as a natural resource, with an aim to study inequalities in access and their implications.