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194 CHAPTER 7 Global Stratification

thousand subcastes, or jati. Each jati specializes in a particular
TABLE 7.1 India’s Caste System
occupation. For example, one subcaste washes clothes, another
sharpens knives, and yet another repairs shoes.
Caste Occupation
The lowest group listed in Table 7.1, the Dalit, make up India’s
Brahman Priests and teachers “untouchables.” If a Dalit touches someone of a higher caste,
Kshatriya Rulers and soldiers that person becomes unclean. Even the shadow of an untouchable
Vaishya Merchants and traders can contaminate. Early morning and late afternoons are especially
risky, for the long shadows of these periods pose a danger to
Shudra Peasants and laborers
everyone higher up the caste system. Consequently, Dalits are not
Dalit (untouchables) The outcastes; degrading
or polluting labor allowed in some villages during these times. Anyone who becomes
contaminated must follow ablution, or washing rituals, to restore
purity.
An untouchable summed up his situation this way:

At the tea stalls, we have separate cups to drink from, chipped and caked with dirt. We
have to walk for 15 minutes to carry water to our homes, because we’re not allowed to use
the taps in the village that the upper castes use. We’re not allowed into temples. When I
attended school, my friends and I were forced to sit outside the classroom. The upper caste
children would not allow us even to touch the football they played with. We played with
stones instead. (Guru and Sidhva 2001)

From personal observations in India, I can add that in some villages, Dalit children
are not allowed in the government schools. If they try to enroll, they are beaten.
The Indian government formally abolished the caste system in 1949. However, these
centuries-old practices continue, and the caste system remains part of everyday life in
In a caste system, status is India. The ceremonies people follow at births, marriages, and deaths are dictated by
determined by birth and is lifelong. caste (Chandra 1993). Caste is so ingrained in the Indian mind that when couples visit a
At birth, these women received not sperm bank, they insist on knowing the caste of the donor (Tewary 2012).
only membership in a lower caste
but also, because of their gender, a India’s caste system is changing, but only gradually. The federal government began an
predetermined position in that caste. affirmative action plan that has increased education and jobs for the lower castes. Slowly,
When I photographed these women, the caste system is giving way, being replaced by a social class system based on material
they were carrying sand to the second wealth (Polgreen 2011).
floor of a house being constructed in
Andhra Pradesh, India.