Capital, Caste, and Patriarchy: Theory of Marriage Formation in India

This article presents a theory of marriage formation in India and grounds it with primary qualitative data. India presents a unique case for interrogating the institution of marriage because here, violent kinship-based patriarchy and the neoliberal promises of individual freedom and choice coexist. This article draws on literatures from Marxist, Feminist political economy, economic anthropology, and the political economy of caste to contend that a synthesis of Social Reproduction Theory and Ambedkarite theory of caste and Brahminical Patriarchy presents a better theoretical framework to critically examine the relationship between market and nonmarket social relations in India. We argue that in India, marriage is an institution that provides the essential legitimizing framework for the reproduction of social order, as well as the social relations of class, caste, and gender. Empirical analysis shows that Brahminical Patriarchy amalgamates with social relations of neoliberal capital within the institution of marriage to create new forms of regressive social norms and oppressions. This study also complicates the neat distinction between market and nonmarket relations and, in extension, between economic and social realms of life. JEL Classification: B54, B14, Z13, J12