Changing frontiers of caste
- 2nd
- New Delhi National Publishing House 1979
- 269p.
The present book is a contribution to the growing volume of sophisticated discussion on caste in valuable India. The succinct account of the structure and working of the caste system in Kheri and Khiria-twwo villages of comparable size, one locat ed in Rajasthan and the other in Madhya Pradesh-presented in this volume adds significantly to our under- standing of the regional variations in the caste system. Dr. Atal's work is free from an unfortunate tendency visible in some analytical works on the forms and processes of Indian society: they tend to be skimpy in their documentation. It is the story of slow change in a society where nostalgia for tradition is still strong. It will perhaps dis- appoint those who rashly predicted the disintegration of the caste system in a decade or two. Many will perhaps find the rate of change too slow. To cautious and perceptive observers, however, the trends of change deli- neated in this book will be heartening. The classification of the attributes of caste and the consequent analyses are useful. The changing aspects of caste have been carefully analysed in framework. Comparative trea ment of two villages, located in settings that have different historical traditions, this has added greatly to the significance professional social anthropologists and sociologists will find much to interest them in this thoughtful book and other readers who are interested of the conclusions of the b0ok. The in social change in India will read it with interest and profit.