THE INDIAN STRATIFICATION DEBATE: A DISCURSIVE EXPOSITION OF PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN THE ANALYSIS OF CLASS, CASTE AND GENDER

Explores the interrelationship of caste, class, & gender. Four broad focal themes are examined: (1) culturalism & the neo-Weberian heritage; (2) structural Marxism & the new economic anthropology; (3) the role of ideas in a materialist sociology; & (4) contemporary issues & problems in the analysis of class, caste, & gender. An examination of Indian village studies from independence to the late 1970s finds that most failed to confront class formations & class contradictions. Castes are constituted as cultural entities. A discussion of Marxist anthropology highlights the tension between formalism & humanism. The problems posed by Barrington Moore's failure to theorize the status of caste within his materialist sociology are examined. The construction of patriarchy is also discussed, in relation to recent literature. Modified AA