This PSEB 12th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 4 Caste Inequalities will help you in revision during exams.
PSEB 12th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 4 Caste Inequalities
Caste Consciousness:
- A great understanding of one’s caste identity is known as caste consciousness.
Dominant Caste:
- A caste group in any area which is more in number and. has control over the resources.
Casteism:
- Such activities with which preference is given to members of one caste and others are ignored.
Sanskritisation:
- The process with which lower caste people try to imitate the ideas, habits, ways of living, behavior, etc. of upper castes and to uplift their social status.
Endogamy:
- The type of marriage in which one is required to marry within his own group or caste.
Exogamy:
- The type of marriage in which one is required to marry out of his group such as family, kinship, etc.
Protective Discrimination:
- It is a process or official program in which the suppressed groups of society are given special privileges such as S.C.’s, S.T.’s, O.B.C.’s, women, etc.
→ During ancient times, there existed a varna system in Indian society which included four varnas-Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and fourth varna.
→ Varna system was based on occupation and one was allowed to change his varna. But, with time, the varna system became hereditary and took the form of a caste system.
→ Many sociologists and anthropologists have given definitions of the caste system.
→ But Indian Sociologist G.S. Ghurye was of the view that the caste system is so complex to define. So, he gave six features of the caste system.
→ Caste was an endogamous group that kept certain restrictions on its members such as restrictions on keeping relations with other castes, marriage, feeding, etc.
→ There were many restrictions on the members of one caste on keeping relations with other castes.
→ In India, caste-based stratification existed if Brahmins were at the top and lower castes were at the bottom of the stratified system.
→ According to M.N. Srinivas, the concept of pollution was the most important feature of the caste system.
→ Presently, the Indian government has provided protection to scheduled castes in the form of the reservation policy.
→ That’s why these people are taking advantage and are able to get money and status in society.
→ They are taking education, doing jobs in govt, jobs, and industries and are raising their social status.
→ There are many theories about the origin of the caste system but out of these theories, traditional theory, religious theory, and occupational theory are the important ones.
→ After the Indian independence, the government passed many legislations to remove caste-based inequalities from society.
→ Along with this, many other reasons came forward which reduced the impact of the caste system such as industrialisation, urbanisation, secularisation, democratisation, etc.
→ The processes of Sanskritisation, Westernisation, and Modernisation also played an important role in reducing the impact of the caste system.
→ Now scheduled castes are taking advantage of reservation policy to raise their social status in society.