Caste+And+Class+Systems

What are Caste and Class systems?
=Class and Caste systems are very common in relation to social stratification. Certain countries assign their classes in very specific ways, which makes it nearly impossible or very possible to jump classes. This can later lead to the increase in competition for scarce resources.=

media type="youtube" key="j1dbksj22Ds" height="315" width="560" align="right" **Pro's: **
 * The Caste System: **
 * The caste system is made to ensure the continuity of the traditional social organization of India and South Africa. The knowledge and skills of the occupations have passed down from one generation to the next. In this system, there is no change, or no moving your class. You can make a great deal of money but still be considered poor because of the class you were born into. **


 * **Through the caste system promoted interdependent interaction between various castes and communities with in a village.**
 * **There are rituals and traditions that promote cooperation and unity between members of the different castes.**


 * Con's **
 * **Caste system promoted untouchability and discrimination against certain members of the society.**
 * **The status of women was affected and they were relegated to the background.**
 * **The caste system divided the society into hostile and conflicting groups.**

= **The Class System: ** = ===Representative of industrial societies, **//class systems//**are defined as systems of social stratification based on individual achievement. Social categories are not as crucially defined like they are in the caste system.=== ===Individual ability, promoted by open social mobility, is critical to this system. Other factors characteristic of industrial economies that are central to such a system are high levels of migration to cities, democratic principles, and high immigration rates.===

PRO' S

 * ===**Democratic Principles**===
 * ===**Hard work gets you somewhere in society.**===
 * ===**You have the oppertunity to establish your own place in society.**===

= Con's =
 * ===**Social categories are not as rigidly defined as in the caste system.**===
 * ===**Individual ability, promoted by open social mobility, is critical to this system. So if someone is not as hard working, they have their social standing to worry about.**===

=media type="youtube" key="vPlFGGJkQK0" height="321" width="529" align="left"= = Types Of Caste Systems = = =

** India: **
===**The caste system is still socially alive in India. Caste has become an important factor in the politics of rural India, although elections in the first decade of the 21st century seem to have diminished a hold that was very much evident in the previous few decades.**===

===**The Government of India has documented castes and sub-castes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation through the census. The Indian reservation system relies on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:**===

= **__Caste system article, in modern India__** =

**The leaders of independent India decided that India will be democratic, socialist and secular country. According to this policy there is a separation between religion and state. Practicing untouchability or discriminating a person based on his caste is legally forbidden. Along with this law the government allows positive discrimination of the depressed classes of India.**

**The Indians have also become more flexible in their caste system customs. In general the urban people in India are less strict about the caste system than the rural. In [|cities] one can see different caste people mingling with each other, while in some rural areas there is still discrimination based on castes and sometimes also on untouchability. Sometimes in villages or in the cities there are violent clashes which, are connected to caste tensions. Sometimes the high castes strike the lower castes who dare to uplift their status. Sometimes the lower caste get back on the higher castes.**

**In modern India the term caste is used for Jat and also for Varna. The term, caste was used by the British who ruled India until 1947. The British who wanted to rule India efficiently made lists of Indian communities. They used two terms to describe Indian communities. Castes and Tribes. The term caste was used for Jats and also for Varnas. Tribes were those communities who lived deep in jungles, forests and mountains far away from the main population and also communities who were hard to be defined as castes for example communities who made a living from stealing or robbery. These lists, which the British made, were used later on by the Indian governments to create lists of communities who were entitled for positive discrimination.**

**The castes, which were the elite of the Indian society, were classified as high castes. The other communities were classified as lower castes or lower classes. The lower classes were listed in three categories. The first category is called Scheduled Castes. This category includes in it communities who were untouchables. In modern India, untouchability exists at a very low extent. The untouchables call themselves Dalit, meaning depressed. Until the late 1980s they were called Harijan, meaning children of God. This title was given to them by [|Mahatma Gandhi] who wanted the society to accept untouchables within them.**

**The second category is Scheduled Tribes. This category includes in it those communities who did not accept the caste system and preferred to reside deep in the jungles, forests and mountains of India, away from the main population. The Scheduled Tribes are also called Adivasi, meaning aboriginals.**

**The third category is called sometimes Other Backward Classes or Backward Classes. This category includes in it castes who belong to Sudra Varna and also former untouchables who converted from Hinduism to other religions. This category also includes in it nomads and tribes who made a living from criminal acts.**

**According to the central government policy these three categories are entitled for positive discrimination. Sometimes these three categories are defined together as Backward Classes. 15% of India's population are Scheduled Castes. According to central government policy 15% of the government jobs and 15% of the students admitted to universities must be from Scheduled Castes. For the Scheduled Tribes about 7.5% places are reserved which is their proportion in Indian population. The Other Backwards Classes are about 50% of India's population, but only 27% of government jobs are reserved for them.**

**Along with the central government, the state governments of India also follow a positive discrimination policy. Different states have different figures of communities entitled for positive discrimination based on the population of each state. Different state governments have different lists of communities entitled for positive discrimination. Sometimes a specific community is entitled for rights in a particular state but not in another state of India.**

**In modern India new tensions were created because of these positive discrimination policies. The high caste communities feel discriminated by the government policy to reserve positions for the Backward Classes. In many cases a large number of high caste members compete for a few places reserved for them. While the Backward Classes members do not have to compete at all because of the large number of reserved places for them compared to the candidates. Sometimes in order to fill the quota, candidates from the lower classes are accepted even though they are not suitable. Sometimes some reserved positions remain unmanned because there were few candidates from the lower classes causing more tension between the castes. Between the lower castes there are also tensions over reservation.**

**In the order of priority for a reserved place of the Backward Classes, candidate from the Scheduled castes is preferred over a candidate from the Scheduled Tribes who is preferred over a candidate from the other Backward Classes. As stated earlier Other Backward Classes are about 50% of India's population but only 27% of the Other Backward Classes are entitled for positive discrimination according to central government policy. Some Other Backward Classes communities are organizing politically to be recognized as Backward Classes entitled for positive discrimination.**

**The Scheduled Tribes who are seen as the aborigins of India got ownership and certain rights over Indian land. Many communities in India claim also to be aborigins of India and they are claiming the same rights as the Scheduled Tribes.**

**The caste identity has become a subject of political, social and legal interpretation. Communities who get listed as entitled for positive discrimination do not get out of this list even if their social and political conditions get better. In many cases the legal system is involved to decide if a certain person is entitled for positive discrimination.**

**But with all this positive discrimination policy, most of the communities who were low in the caste hierarchy remain low in the social order even today. And communities who were high in the social hierarchy remain even today high in the social hierarchy. Most of the degrading jobs are even today done by the Dalits, while the Brahmans remain at the top of the hierarchy by being the doctors, engineers and lawyers of India.**

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= **Work Cited** =
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