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Beskrivelse
Despite large number of efforts and measures to undermine its influence and root out its existence, the institution of caste in India continues to hold sway over social, economic and political processes that characterize development the country. A large number of scholarly studies exist on this subject of caste and its changing dimensions in both rural and urban settings. More than a decade ago, Professor M.N. Srinivas, the doyen of Indian sociologist, spoke of the changing face (Avatar) of caste and its continued hold over Society in India. An important, much treaded or old and critical dimension, however, is the attempts by caste and religious groups to mobilize social and political (and numerical) support from with in and outside to assert their so-called backward status. This book is an attempt to present that facet of caste-based mobilization for economic and socio-potitical gains, through the formation of caste associations that have been projecting themselves as para-communities or as parallel organisations. The study on which the book is based brought out the varied dimensions of this exercise and its impact on the entire development dialogue. The Central thrust here is on urraveling the process by which development is influenced by, and in turn influences, other processes and activities in society including political formations. The study attempts to point out that primordial loyalties like caste continue to exercise influence over social, economic and political developments in an environment of modernization and globalization. It highlights the political aspects of caste mobilization and opening of private educational institutions and the emerging or rather, deepening, intra and inter-caste conflicts. It, thus, argues that both the backward classes and dalit movements are not matters of the historical past. They are present both in manifest and latent forms, exploring into whose complexities is very critical to any sociological understanding of Caste in Indian Society today.