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Caste in India (Diane Mines)

ISBN: 978-0-924304-55-2. 108 pages.

“Diane Mines has produced a clear and compelling introduction to one of the world’s most complex and misunderstood social systems. This booklet offers an exhaustive overview of the anthropology and history of caste based on extensive reading and over two decades of ethnographic research in rural South India. It also speaks to the wider political and economic dimensions of caste as it is lived and debated in India today. Caste in India will be a most welcome addition to introductory courses in anthropology, history, sociology, geography, and political science.” — Bernard Bate, Associate Professor in Anthropology, Yale University

“Diane Mines deserves our deepest gratitude and admiration for writing this genial, scholarly and highly accessible book on so complex, controversial and challenging a topic of immense depth and breadth, arcane and ubiquitous, ancient and current, sublime and cruel: Caste in India. This work is ethnographically rich without being labyrinthine, historically grounded without being ensnarled in detail, informed by Indology and theory, yet conveyed with a very light touch. The prose is lucid and the arguments compelling. It is a book deserving the attention of the novice and the seasoned scholar of caste. It is a timely little-big-book.” — E. Valentine Daniel, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University