1/9 On Bourdieu, caste, and social class 𧔠In India, caste IS class...
Soumitra Shukla@soumitrashukla9
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May 09, 2026
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1/9 On Bourdieu, caste, and social class đ§”
In India, caste IS class in practice. It bundles economic, cultural, social & symbolic capital that society instantly reads as âstatus.â
The state even uses caste lists (SC/ST/OBC) to target class disadvantage.
In India, caste IS class in practice. It bundles economic, cultural, social & symbolic capital that society instantly reads as âstatus.â
The state even uses caste lists (SC/ST/OBC) to target class disadvantage.
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2/9 Bourdieuâs insight: class = composition & volume of capital: economic (money), cultural (credentials/accent), social (networks), symbolic (prestige).
Indian caste crystallizes ALL of these into a durable hierarchy.
Indian caste crystallizes ALL of these into a durable hierarchy.
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3/9 India operationalizes âSocially & Educationally Backward Classesâ via caste lists.
These arenât just labels, theyâre live policy instruments for admissions & public jobs, treating caste as a workable proxy for historical social disadvantage.
These arenât just labels, theyâre live policy instruments for admissions & public jobs, treating caste as a workable proxy for historical social disadvantage.
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4/9 Landmark precedent: Indra Sawhney (1992) explicitly allows caste as proxy for social class, targeting âsocial & educational backwardness,â while rejecting purely income-based criteria.
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5/9 Why this maps to Bourdieu: caste co-moves with wealth, schooling, networks, accents, pedigreeâexactly the bundle of capitals that creates recognizable social class positions.
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6/9 The Mandal Commission constituted in the early 1980s embedded this Bourdieusian logic: identify backward classes via âsocial and educational criteria,â using caste as the organizing signal.
Income helps target policy (âcreamy layerâ), but DOESNâT define the category.
Income helps target policy (âcreamy layerâ), but DOESNâT define the category.
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7/9 Historical note: Before âScheduled Castes,â British colonial policy called them âDepressed Classes.â
The 1935 Government of India Act formalized caste-based classifications that persist in modern Indiaâs affirmative action.
The 1935 Government of India Act formalized caste-based classifications that persist in modern Indiaâs affirmative action.
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8/9 Early pioneer: Princely Mysore under Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV introduced reservations in 1921 for âbackward classesâ including Depressed Classes, decades before independence.
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9/9 Administrators have long treated caste as social class for policy.
Articles 15(4), 16(4), and 340 built on this caste-as-class framework to direct benefits to the structurally excluded. Itâs not accidental but institutional design.
Articles 15(4), 16(4), and 340 built on this caste-as-class framework to direct benefits to the structurally excluded. Itâs not accidental but institutional design.