In Caste, Class and Power, André Béteille recounts the gradual transformation of a social system that, till the end of the nineteenth century, was structured primarily on distinctions of caste—between the Brahmins, the middle-level non-Brahmins and the Adi-Dravidas. Based on extensive field study carried out in a South Indian village, the book presents the different ways of studying the themes of caste and class.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1965.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions—now with a new Afterword by the author. #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews Winner of the Carl Sandberg Literary Award • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • National Book Award Longlist • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist • PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Longlist • Kirkus Prize Finalist “As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.” In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their outcasting of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. Original and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.

After years of subjugation by the British colonial rulers, India attained a status of Independent State on 15 August 1947, a day to be reckoned with pride by all Indians. Struggling for her Independence, facing the trauma of partition, and finally establishing a sovereign democratic status for itself, the journey has undoubtedly been a roller coaster ride for India. This book comprehensively outlines the evolution of the Indian Politics, discussing all the constraints, challenges and shortcomings faced by Indian Polity till date. The book shows how State-Society interface, with special emphasis on civil society activities, can play an integral role in shaping the political fate of the country. In addition, this book not only presents the institutional aspects of Indian politics by underlying in details, the provisions of the Constitution, but also brings out the real working of the institutional framework in an ever-changing social and political environment. Organized into 23 chapters, the book discusses, in detail, the Constitutional development, The Preamble, The Fundamental Rights, The Directive Principles of State Policy, The Executive, The Legislature and The Judiciary at national and state levels followed by their critical appraisals as well as the Centre-State relation with its continuing tensions. To give a clear and panoramic view of Indian Political Scenario the book also focuses on local-self governments, national and regional parties in India, challenges to Indian political system and new social movements. THIRD EDITION HALLMARK • Thorough updation with contemporary events in Indian political scenario. • Coverage of General elections to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. • Political Developments of recent times. Intended as a textbook for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science and Law, this book is also useful for the aspirants for Civil Service and competitive examinations like NET and SLET. KEY FEATURES • Gives a wide coverage of conventional topics pertaining to the Constitution of India, relating them to the working of the Indian polity in the real world. • Tackles issues related to new social movements in India encompassing environmental movements, women's movements, human rights movements and anti-corruption movement. • Highlights the continuing challenges to the Indian Political System from different social and cultural factors, like religion, language, caste, tribe, regionalism and also corruption and criminalization of politics. • Deals with current developments in administrative policies.

Women and the word marginalization have never remained oxymoronic – the cross-cultural texts and Engels interest on subjugation make a perfect recipe for this incongruity. Multicultural and Marginalized Voices of Postcolonial Literature traces multifarious facets of marginalized literature across the world, giving a brilliant overview of the historical roots of multiculturalist and marginalized sections. The fourteen chapters relate key literary and cultural texts and cover a broad spectrum of historical, linguistic and theoretical issues. There are three sections in the book – section I has four chapters, dealing specifically theoretical constructions and representations. Section II consists of four chapters that offer varied spectrum of discourses on world literature, intersecting with the frameworks of literary theories. Section III comprises six chapters that explore the mind of dalits, subalterns, colonial women and gender issues of a variety of Indian English Writers and draw varied perspectives of it.

Natural disasters make dramatic reading. Every year, some area of the world is devastated by a disaster, with enormous consequent loss of life and disruption to livelihoods. What can be done to alleviate this? Why are such disasters so lethal? Why do people expose themselves to such hazards? Do mitigation programmes help? What effect does aid really have on the areas that receive it? By examining one particular cyclone-prone area of Southern India in great detail over a 10-year period Peter Winchester has come up with some perceptive answers to the questions. In particular, he formulates a set of five 'golden rules' for disaster management. The book will provide valuable and thought-provoking reading for anyone involved with disaster management, and will be essential for all those whose work involves aid or development in disaster-prone areas.