It has been argued, particularly by private sector leaders, that discrimination is a problem of the past [Jodhka and Newman 2007]. Occupational discrimination occurs when members of subordinate groups face restrictions that prevent their entry into the occupations of majority group members, or face differential treatment in the acquisition of factors and services necessary to enter the market (e g, credit restrictions related to caste, exclusions from property markets, etc). Buvinic, Mayra (2005): ‘Social Inclusion in Latin America’ in Mayra Buvinici and Jacqueline Mazza (eds), Social Exclusion and Economic Development, pp 3-32. Some of them are as follows: i. Casteism increases, when a particular group tends to improve the status of its own caste. v. Casteism results in political disunity and affects the smooth and successful functioning of multi-party democracy like India. Some of the solutions for the problems arising out of casteism are as follows: i. India today is caught in the grip of a querulous debate over developing reservation policies for groups and communities suffering from economic exclusion associated with caste, gender and religious identity. Copyright 10. In this introduction, we provide a context for the empirical papers, dwelling on the framework of social exclusion. modernises, discrimination remains a problem which, for reasons outlined here, is not Amartya Sen (2000) has drawn worldwide attention to the dimensions of social exclusion. He draws distinctions between situations in which individuals are kept out (or left out) and circumstances of inclusion (including forced inclusion) on deeply unfavourable terms. They make use of research techniques pioneered in the US to measure discrimination in quantitative terms and to identify attitudes and beliefs through qualitative means that contribute to discriminatory patterns of hiring on the part of participants in the matching process (employers and job seekers). For example, A caste system makes you poor if you are born in a poor family. Taken as a whole, they document widespread patterns of discrimination and underlying attitudinal orientations – based on caste and religion – that contribute to inequality in employment and wages in the modern, formal sector of India’s economy. The policy of economic empowerment is essentially directed towards improving the ownership of assets like agricultural land, capital for business, entrepreneurial skills and education. This legislation has proven to be contentious and has recently generated street protests as reservations have been extended to professional education (e g, medical school). These conflicts have their origin in casteism, which refers to the hatred of one caste by the other, or the attempts made by the members of one caste to gain personal advantages to the detriment of interests of the other caste members. In brief, casteism refers to one-sided loyalty in favour of a particular caste. In this introduction, we provide a context for the empirical papers, dwelling on the framework of social exclusion. This legislation has proven to be contentious and has recently generated street protests as reservations have been extended to professional education (e g, medical school). Given the virtues of increasing economic efficiency and growth, as well as reducing poverty and inequality, there is a compelling interest in diminishing the market discrimination. Content Filtrations 6. Economic and Political Weekly October 13, 2007 even for highly qualified dalits and Muslims. i. The first paper, by Thorat and Attewell, provides the results of a field experiment which found that low caste and Muslim applicants who are equally or better qualified than high caste applicants are significantly less likely to pass through hiring screens among employers in the modern, formal sector in India. One major cause of income inequalities is the ability to access well paid employment. vii. Another cause for such conversions is that certain unbearable exploited conditions arise out of dominance of certain caste groups over other caste groups. Caste has long been used to regulate economic life in India [for a thorough historical treatment see Dirks 2001]. Further not all markets are competitive. higher caste individuals and involuntary unemployment for those at the bottom. Lal, Deepak (1989): The Hindu Equilibrium: Volume I: Cultural Stability and Economic Stagnation – India c 1500BC-AD1980, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Thorat, Sukhadeo, Aryama, and Prashant Negi (2005): Reservation and Private Sector, India, Rawat, Delhi. EPW Segregation depending on job capability:Caste system determined your social status by your ability of doing a job. iii. The first paper, by Thorat and Attewell, provides the results of a field experiment which found that low caste and Muslim applicants who are equally or better qualified than high caste applicants are significantly less likely to pass through hiring screens among employers in the modern, formal sector in India. Yet reaching the pinnacle of what Indian education has to offer is not sufficient to create full and open opportunity. Thus, casteism proves to be a hindrance to democracy. By encouraging inter-caste marriages, the feelings arising out of casteism can be minimized as these marriages bring two families of different castes closer to each other. The view that inefficiency, and therefore pressure on firms, will self-correct discriminatory behaviour argues in favour of strengthening competitive markets as the solution to this vexing problem. Market failure associated with economic discrimination leads to lower economic growth, inequality in income, poverty and inter-group conflict. Nepal is facing a large number of social issues such as caste system, child labour, illiteracy, gender inequality, superstitions, religious conflict and many more. Lal, Deepak (1989): The Hindu Equilibrium: Volume I: Cultural Stability and Economic Stagnation – India c 1500BC-AD1980, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Therefore pressure on firms, will self-correct discriminatory behaviour. In 1820, the ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20 percent of the world's population was three to one. Legal safeguards and “set asides” or quotas governing access to land, labour, capital markets, pro duct and consumer markets, and social services including education, housing, and healthcare, for these advocates, the only way we are likely to see discrimination abate. Rich inheritance gives them a start in life and if they are reasonably prudent, they keep up the lead. Instead, as Ambedkar (1936) pointed out long ago, the jobs to which untouchables are restricted engender aversion, ill will and the desire to evade. ii. – Laurie Cohen, According to Mrs. Irawati Karve, in order to put an end to the conflicts arising out of casteism, it is necessary to create economic and cultural equality between the castes. –Ed. This will lead to improvement of behaviour between different sexes simultaneously, with which casteism will be actively refuted. he Economist magazine recently observed, “There is no evidence that [Indian] companies discriminate against [the lower castes]”, and argued that the relegation of low caste Indians to the bottom of the social structure is a function not of discrimination in the private sector but of the actions of a different culprit altogether: “government, and the rotten educational system it has created” (‘Business and Caste in India: With Reservations’, October 6, 2007). This issue of economic discrimination has not been central to mainstream social science research in India. It includes every relationship which established among the people. Some of them are as follows: i. Casteism increases, when a particular group tends to improve the status of its own caste. iii. The impact of casteism on society is severe. The following are the causes of Caste System. Indian and UK Customer Service Workers’ Social inequality refers to the different or discriminatory treatment that one person has towards another, because of their social class, religion, gender, race, nationality, among other things. This definition captures three distinguishing features of social exclusion: it affects culturally defined groups, is embedded in social relations between them, and results in deprivation or low income for those excluded [Hann 1997; Sen 2000]. iv. Caste system is filled with inequality and injustice. It sets the stage for the four empirical papers that follow, by Market based discrimination has received considerable attention by scholars of race in the US [Pager 2003] and by scholars of caste in India [Weisskopf 2004; Thorat et al 2005]. – (1987): (first published 1936), ‘The Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Features’ in Vasant Moon (ed), Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol 3, pp 95-115. iii. Far from disappearing as the economy modernises, discrimination remains a problem which, for reasons outlined here, is not amenable to self correction, but rather requires interventionist policies to remedy. For example, a locksmith was considered of lower caste than a business person. The members of the caste have to face various problems and as a result, a need to provide security on communal basis was felt. We are grateful to Katherine Newman and Sukhadeo Thorat In order to focus as clearly as possible on discrimination, and screen out the most vexing inequalities in human capital, they focus on the formal labour market and the most highly qualified job seekers – graduates of the most prestigious universities in India. The feelings of caste were easily carried through the members from rural areas to urban areas through migration. EPW looks forward to your comments. Amal El-Sawad – (1987): (first published 1936), ‘The Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Features’ in Vasant Moon (ed), Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol 3, pp 95-115. It also becomes an obstacle in achieving social mobility. Birdsall, Nancy and Richard Sabot (1991): ‘Unfair Advantage – Labour Market Discrimination in Developing Countries’, World Bank Studies. reference to the caste system. The inequality created by the caste system is very big in different sorts of ways. Admittedly, this does not cover the entire universe of questions that should be raised about discrimination in modern India. Casteism has become an instrument in the hands of political leaders. Email: skthorat@hotmail.com knewman@princeton.edu Lack of social mobility: People do not have the right or option of changing their caste. In the Indian context, exclusion revolves around institutions that discriminate, isolate, shame, and deprive subordinate groups on the basis of identities like caste, religion and gender. Entitlements to economic rights become narrower and narrower the farther down the hierarchical ladders of the caste system. The role of caste in labour market matching is particularly critical, since it is in this domain that the most vigorous attempts to redress past inequities have been undertaken, principally through the reservation policy. Previous research has provided a reasonably clear picture of the magnitude of inter-caste inequality in income, but has not demonstrated to what extent inequality today is attributable to the denial of economic rights in the past, and to what extent it is attributable to forms of social exclusion and discrimination that persist in modern India. In short, social exclusion – in its more specific manifestation as discrimination – refers to the processes through which groups are wholly or partially restricted from full participation in the economic, educational, and social institutions that define social membership. Accounting for ‘Us’ and ‘Them’: Caste and Economic Discrimination Caste and Economie Discrimination: Causes, Consequences and Remedies This paper provides a theoretical introduction to the study of discrimination with particular reference to the caste system. Thus factor immobility spurs gross inefficiency in resource allocation [Akerlof 1976; Scoville 1991; Lal 1989; Ambedkar 1936 and 1987]. Economic and Political Weekly October 13, 2007 even for highly qualified dalits and Muslims. Caste or âVarnaâ1 system is the basic foundation of Hindu society where different groups and individual interact with each other in different ways (Bhattachan et.al, 2009). The former are not amenable to alteration as a consequence of individual agency and cannot, therefore, be regarded in any fashion as a matter of personal responsibility. In the absence of opportunities to display their talents, groups that have been excluded will find it difficult to develop the necessary signals that will make clear what employers are missing by avoiding them. By preventing the free mobility of human labour, land, capital and entrepreneurship, the caste system creates imperfect, segmented, and monopolistic divisions in factor markets. Entitlements to economic rights become narrower and narrower the farther down the hierarchical ladders of the caste system. The economic organisation of the caste system is based on the division of the population into a hierarchical order of social groups that determine the economics rights of members, which are determined by birth and are hereditary in the strictest sense of the term [Akerlof 1976; Scoville 1991; Lal 1989; Ambedkar 1936 and 1987]. Casteism is manifested in the form of clashes between various castes for higher share in the socio-economic privileges and power. Birdsall, Nancy and Richard Sabot (1991): ‘Unfair Advantage – Labour Market Discrimination in Developing Countries’, World Bank Studies. Thus factor immobility spurs gross inefficiency in resource allocation [Akerlof 1976; Scoville 1991; Lal 1989; Ambedkar 1936 and 1987]. The occupational and wage differentials that research documents reflect the accumulated benefits of family connections that enhance the matching process for high status students, while making it harder for the low status but well qualified students to compete. In order to achieve such status, the members even adopt the most improper methods to enhance the prestige of their caste. Sen also differentiates between active exclusion – blocking opportunity through deliberate policy interventions on the part of govern ment or private agents – and passive exclusion, which does not rely on these interventions, but may lead to similarly negative outcomes. A comment, if suitable, may be selected for publication in the Letters pages of EPW. Dalit students who reach the best of India’s universities, but are at a financial disadvantage because they bear the continuing burden of supporting their families, would benefit from additional financial aid so that they can concentrate on their studies just as more advantaged students do. Most contentious is the notion that the policy which has governed the allocation of places in higher education, public employment, and government itself should be extended to the private sector. Thus while the policies for general economic empowerment of discriminated groups through human capital investment find favour, policies that guarantee access, particularly to employment, are fraught with disagreement. Hitkari House, 284, Shahid Bhagatsingh Road, Mumbai 400 001 email: circulation@epw.org.in. Gender inequality is a social and cultural phenomenon in which there is discrimination against people due to their gender. Causes of Inequalities: There are several causes which give rise to inequality of incomes in an economy: (i) Inheritance: Some persons are born with a silver spoon. Previous research has provided a reasonably clear picture of the magnitude of inter-caste inequality in income, but has not demonstrated to what extent inequality today is attributable to the denial of economic rights in the past, and to what extent it is attributable to forms of social exclusion and discrimination that persist in modern India. Prevalence of casteism shows that the people are tradition-bound, conservative and orthodox in thinking. The former are not amenable to alteration as a consequence of individual agency and cannot, therefore, be regarded in any fashion as a matter of personal responsibility. But what happened it totally different. Exclusion involves both the act of restricting access and the consequences that follow, principally forms of deprivation. Remedies against Discrimination Disinterring the Report of National Commission Market discrimination will persist, if all firms practice discrimination. A community-based system of enforcement regulates caste privileges by means of social ostracism, violence, and economic penalties that find their justification in elements of Hindu religion [Lal 1989; Ambedkar 1936 and 1987].Although strictly speaking a Hindu tradition, castes have emerged in religions that provide no theological justification for practices of exclusion or pollution, such as Islam, Sikkism, and other religions of India, chiefly because low caste Hindus have attempted to escape the confines of their ascriptive identities through religious conversion. These observations – coupled with the shrinking size of the public sector – have prompted some advocates to argue in favour of extending reservations or some form of affirmative action to the private sector. SUKHADEO THORAT, KATHERINE S NEWMAN According to the famous sociologists Sylvia Walby, patriarchy is âa system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit womenâ. In market economies, occupational immobility is the result as restrictions on access to land, labour, capital, credit, education, and other inputs and services necessary for commercial activity provide for differential capacities to participate. Jodhka, Surinder and Katherine Newman (2007): ‘In the Name of Globalisation’ in this issue of Economic and Political Weekly. Without intervention, classically untouchables, or dalits, who lie at the very bottom of the social order, find themselves restricted to the most despised occupations and the lowest wages. In these papers, we are principally concerned with caste-based discrimination and secondarily with exclusion based on religion. Caste and Economic Discrimination: Caste System: Meaning, Features, Causes, Effects, and Solutions Meaning Caste system can be defined as a social structure according to the class of people, which gets decided by their birth. Report a Violation, Poverty as a Rural Social Problem: Definitions and Poverty Line. Plagiarism Prevention 4. Market based discrimination has received considerable attention by scholars of race in the US [Pager 2003] and by scholars of caste in India [Weisskopf 2004; Thorat et al 2005]. They make use of research techniques pioneered in the US to measure discrimination in quantitative terms and to identify attitudes and beliefs through qualitative means that contribute to discriminatory patterns of hiring on the part of participants in the matching process (employers and job seekers). Higher caste Hindus would generally prefer to opt out of the market for some time than to take up an occupation defined as polluting. The occupational and wage differentials that research documents reflect the accumulated benefits of family connections that enhance the matching process for high status students, while making it harder for the low status but well qualified students to compete. Also available at iTunes. Yet reaching the pinnacle of what Indian education has to offer is not sufficient to create full and open opportunity. Hence the caste system as a form of economic organisation lacks the elements that lead to the optimum use of resources. In the absence of opportunities to display their talents, groups that have been excluded will find it difficult to develop the necessary signals that will make clear what employers are missing by avoiding them. Some time than to take up an occupation defined as polluting India within the group is another factor, contributes! And democracy: Industrial Decline and urban politics in Kolkata – Nandini Gooptu, or! 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