Class Society In India

Class divisions in the Indian society

Class • Determinants of class – Income – Occupation – Education

• Some unconventional determinants – Costumes – Tastes and sensitivities

• Karl Marx – Ownership and non-ownership of means of production – Rooted in the concept of ‘exploitation’

• Max Weber – Class situation as a market situation – Rooted in the concept of ‘life chances’

Emergence of class society in India • R. S. Sharma, D. D. Kosambi • The feudal system – The landlords and the peasants – Layered hierarchies of the feudatories – Ownership of land acquired by the brahmanas through land grants

Class divisions in the urban set up • The working class in India (Morris D. Morris and Holmstrom) – Constitution of the working class • The case of Bombay – why did not a working class emerge in India? – Lack of surplus labour? » 30 percent agricultural labourers – Lack of mobility? » Increase in Bombay’s population – from 2.3 lakhs to 8.2 lakhs between 1830 and 1864 » Increase in migration Konkan, Deccan Later – from United Provinces

– Organized sector and the unorganized sector – Are the workers in these two sectors two different classes? » Wages, » Jobs, careers and security, » social worlds

Bridegroom price and the class divisions • Urban middle class Christian households in Madras (Caplan’s study) • Dowry – bride groom price and the property share for the daughter – Casteless households – Caste households

Class divisions in rural setup • The agrarian structure (Lenin and Mao Tse Tung) – Landlords – Rich Peasants • Rich landowners • Rich tenants

– Middle peasants • Landowners of medium size • Tenants with substantial holdings

– Poor peasants • Land not sufficient for the subsistence of the family, rent other’s land • Tenants with some tenurial security • Share croppers

– Landless labourers

Class-caste interface • The case of Thanjavur – Kathleen Gough – The Indian big bourgeoisie – – absentee landlords, big business operations – industry, trade banking, transport etc.

– Medium bourgeoisie – Business families, bureaucrats, doctors lawyers, state and national level politicians, landowners with more than 20 acres of land

– Independent entrepreneurs – Petty commodity producers and traders – Middle peasants, Carpenters, Builders, Blacksmiths etc

– Semi-proletariat – Poor peasants or the tenants at will – Village servants – weavers, washermen, barbers – Agricultural labourers

Change in caste-class scenario • Village Kirippur – 1951 to 1976 – Medium bourgeoisie – Business families, bureaucrats, doctors lawyers, state and national level politicians, landowners with more than 20 acres of land – Decrease – in landowners and increase in salaried employed

– Independent entrepreneurs – Petty commodity producers and traders – Middle peasants, Carpenters, Builders, Blacksmiths etc – Decrease in the middle peasants and increase in non – agricultural independent entrepreneurs

– Semi-proletariat – Poor peasants or the tenants at will – Village servants – weavers, washermen, barbers – Agricultural labourers

Class Tribe interface • The case of Chaudhri tribe (Ghanshyam Shah) • Class divisions – – – –

Labourers and poor cultivators Middle cultivators Rich cultivators White collar employees

• Divisions in social and cultural life – Five endogamous groups versus the Varjela and Sarjela division – Change in the rituals - Calling of Brahman

• Different political consciousness and aspirations