Of Caste and Indian Politics: A Detour Through D. L. Sheth and Beyond
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| Date | 01 December 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/23210230211042993 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Of Caste and Indian Politics:
A Detour Through D. L. Sheth
and Beyond
Sasheej Hegde1
Abstract
Stemming essentially from D. L. Sheth and the work embodied in his 1999 essay ‘Secularisation of
Caste and Making of New Middle Class’, the article attempts to outline the pathways for an alter-
native engagement with caste and politics. In perspective is what is termed the ‘triumphalist’ mode
of encountering caste identities; and, along this course, the extant possibilities of the constructivist
understanding of caste are addressed. The stakes of the exercise are largely theoretical and con-
ceptual, although a further thought is thrown in about the contemporary ground of caste politics in
India as well.
Keywords
Caste identities, Indian politics, D. L. Sheth, constructivism/constructivist, horizontalization, substan-
tialization, objectivist realism, space and spatiality
What, then, caused men to consider these mythological propositions or beliefs as true? Was it because they had
tested them against a given reality…? Not at all…. Mythological ideas were not considered as true because they
were based on an objective reality. The very opposite is the case: it is our ideas and beliefs which give the objects
of thought their vitality. Thus, an idea is true, not because it conforms to reality, but by virtue of its creative
power.
—Durkheim (1983, p. 84)
The Detour
Like a good many others, I was greatly impressed when I first read Dhirubhai L. Sheth’s (henceforth
DLS) essay ‘Secularisation of Caste and Making of New Middle Class’ (Sheth, 1999), and even more so
1 Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Article
Corresponding author:
Sasheej Hegde, Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana 500046, India.
E-mail: sasheej@gmail.com
Studies in Indian Politics
9(2) 155–164, 2021
© 2021 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/23210230211042993
journals.sagepub.com/home/inp
To continue reading
Request your trial