Hierarchy, difference and the caste system: A study of rural Bihar

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the conceptual understanding of caste in the light of field data collected from four villages of Bihar. Against the background of two major theoretical positions, the 'hierarchy' thesis and the 'difference'thesis, the article confirms the empirical validity of the 'difference' thesis by demonstrating that castes in these villages have their own ideologies, revealed mainly in diverse and discrete origin tales that contest their hierarchisation on a continuous vertical scale. This does not mean that castes do not hierarchise themselves in respect to one another, but that each caste has a discrete notion of caste hierarchy. Caste members are proud of their caste ideology, and it is this which gives salience to their identity. The phenomenon of caste conflict and struggle for power makes quite clear that castes operate in the villages as separate groups, independent of an all-encompassing caste hierarchy. This apart , there is no specific relationship between caste and occupation , calling into question attempts to hierarchise castes on the basis of occupation. This has implications for the prevailing understanding of the jajmani system.