Castes of mind colonialism and the making of modern India - Dirks, Nicholas B. 1950- (Princeton University Press, 2001)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Cover; Contents; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; PART ONE: THE "INVENTION" OF CASTE; PART TWO: COLONIZATION OF THE ARCHIVE; PART THREE: THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STATE; PART FOUR: RECASTING INDIA: CASTE, COMMUNITY, AND POLITICS; Notes; Index
When thinking of India, it is hard not to think of caste. In academic and common parlance alike, caste has become a central symbol for India, marking it as fundamentally different from other places while expressing its essence. Nicholas Dirks argues that caste is, in fact, neither an unchanged survival of ancient India nor a single system that reflects a core cultural value. Rather than a basic expression of Indian tradition, caste is a modern phenomenon--the product of a concrete historical encounter between India and British colonial rule. Dirks does not contend that caste was invented by th