Debate | Why Caste Persists Beyond Both Reform and Revolution |
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A recent article in The Wire by Anand Teltumbde, A Society Built as Caste Cannot Be Reformed into Equality, makes a powerful and necessary claim: that caste is not merely a distortion within Indian society, but a foundational structure that shapes it. This argument resonates strongly with a long intellectual lineage, most notably Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s insistence that caste cannot be reformed but must be annihilated.
Yet this raises a difficult and often underexplored question: if the annihilation of caste requires a radical transformation – even a form of revolution – and if such a transformation itself presupposes the erosion of caste-based hierarchies, are we not confronted with a circular dilemma? In other words, caste cannot be annihilated without revolution, but revolution itself may not be possible without the prior weakening of caste.
There is much to agree with in Teltumbde’s argument. As I suggested in a recent piece in Deccan Herald on caste and universities, institutions that were expected to enable mobility and equality often reveal how deeply caste continues to structure belonging, recognition and access. Modern institutions in India have not dissolved caste; instead, they have allowed it to persist in quieter and more institutionalised forms. The limits of reform, therefore, are not merely political – they are deeply embedded in the way social relations continue to be organised.
At the same time, the call for radical transformation must contend with the conditions under which such transformation becomes possible. Collective change requires not only structural shifts, but also the presence of shared purpose, mutual recognition and fraternity. These are not abstract ideals; they are the social conditions that enable individuals to act together. Yet caste actively undermines these conditions by fragmenting society into hierarchical and unequal units.
This is not only a structural or institutional problem; it is also a socio-psychological one. Caste operates not merely through access to resources or positions, but through deeply internalised hierarchies – a sense of superiority and inferiority that shapes how individuals perceive themselves and others. It determines who feels entitled to........