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The essays in this volume, each authored by an expert on the subject, include a stimulating assessment of the role of women in perpetuating caste; incisive analyses of the relationship between caste and the economy, and between caste and Hinduism; a study of the decline of the age-old Jajmani System and its effect on caste in rural India; a review of the backward class movements in Tamil Nadu since the time of the British; a commentary on the power struggle in U.P. and Bihar amongst the backward castes; a study of the change in self-perception of rural Mahars who converted to Buddhism; comments on the relevance of sociological research in judicial decision-making and the relationship between efficiency and job reservation; observations on caste amongst Muslims and Christians in India and critiques of the Mandal Commission Report and the Mandal judgement.

Contents: Introduction/M.N. Srinivas. 1. Caste and women/Leela Dube. 2. The political economy of caste/M.N. Panini. 3. Caste and Hinduism: changing protean relationship/N. Jayaram. 4. Caste in contemporary rural India/G.K. Karanth. 5. Backward class movements in Tamil Nadu/P. Radhakrishnan. 6. Backward castes and social change in UP and Bihar/Meenakshi Jain. 7. Buddhism, conversion and identity: a case study of village Mahars/Neera Burra. 8. The judicial and sociological view of other backward classes/A.M. Shah. 9. Job reservation and efficiency/A.M. Shah. 10. Mandal Commission Report: a sociological critique/P. Radhakrishnan. 11. The Mandal judgement: a brief description and critique/B. Sivaramayya. 12. Social stratification among Muslims in India/Zarina Bhatty. 13. Caste among Christians in India/J. Tharamangalam. Notes on the contributors. Index.