Caste: identity and continuity

Caste will continue to influence the
SOcioeconomic and political life of
India fora long time to come. The conti-
nuity of caste and the maintainance of
caste identities in the context of the
technology based world that India is
entering into, is important in its own
right. The book further
material on caste in the city of old
providess Delhi in the 1930's.
The broad framework of the theory of
transmission of status, a via media
between the 'alliance' theory and
'descent theory' is used to organise
identity the data. The of
the Aggarwals is viewed as interwoven in a
particular pattern of which the custom
An
of marriage is an important part.
attempt has also been made to under-
stand cultural traits and symbols in
terms of ideas. In this genre is the
analysis of the customary age at
marriage and of the application of
vermillion in the parting of a woman'ss
hair. Other highlights include a simula-
tion model of the difficulty arising from
the regulations and exercise of choice
in selecting marriage partners basec o
simple probability thinking. Also insl
ded is a discussion on marriag
expenditures and the life histor of
a woman.