ABSTRACT

The idea of “dominant caste” has been important in the discourse of caste that saw the movement from social intercourse (hierarchy, purity-pollution) to political mediation (representation, demand for positive discrimination) in various literature. This paper offers a longitudinal study of caste relations in and around Varanasi in North India, focusing on the Brahmin caste vis-à-vis another dominant caste (non-Brahmin). It combines historical material with individual-level data set, the findings of which are presented as a case study. The essay’s objectives are as follows (a) description and analysis of two different “dominant” castes to understand the functioning of the caste identity in contemporary India. This is done to reevaluate how the castes have sought to convert their historically accrued caste capital into social or political capital; (b) the relationship between the two “dominant” castes. It was found that dominance was regionally located in both cases, but in the colonial period, it depended on caste hierarchy, unlike in post-colonial/modern days. This recreated a sort of discrimination manipulated by the dominant castes at their respective levels.

摘要

“主导种姓”的概念在种姓话语中一直很重要，种姓话语在各种文学中看到了从社会交往（等级制度，纯洁污染）到政治调解（代表，对积极歧视的要求）的运动。本文对印度北部瓦拉纳西及其周边地区的种姓关系进行了纵向研究，重点关注婆罗门种姓与另一个占主导地位的种姓（非婆罗门）。它将历史资料与个人层面的数据集相结合，其研究结果以案例研究的形式呈现。本文的目标如下： (a) 描述和分析两种不同的“主导”种姓，以了解当代印度种姓身份的功能。这样做是为了重新评估种姓如何寻求将其历史积累的种姓资本转化为社会或政治资本；(b) 两个“主要”种姓之间的关系。结果发现，在这两种情况下，支配地位都是区域性的，但在殖民时期，它取决于种姓等级，这与后殖民/现代不同。这再现了一种由主要种姓在各自层面上操纵的歧视。