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Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India

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  • Ira Gang
  • Kunal Sen
  • Myeong Su Yun

Abstract

he caste system – a system of elaborately stratified social hierarchy – distinguishes India from most other societies. Among the most distinctive factors of the caste system is the close link between castes and occupations, especially in rural India, with Dalits or Scheduled Castes (SC) clustered in occupations that were the least well paid and most degrading in terms of manual labour. Along with the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the SCs have the highest incidence of poverty in India, with poverty rates that are much higher than the rest of the population. Since independence, the Indian government has enacted affirmative action policies in educational institutions and public sector employment for SCs and STs. In addition, in the more populous states of India, political parties have emerged that are strongly pro-SC in their orientation in the more populous states of India. Using five rounds of all- India employment data from the National Sample Survey quinquennial surveys from 1983 to 2004 an assessment of whether these political and social changes has led to a weakening of the relationship between low caste status and occupational segregation that has existed historically in India. [IZA Discussion Paper No. 6295]. URL:[http://ftp.iza.org/dp6295.pdf].

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  • Ira Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong Su Yun, 2012. "Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India," Working Papers id:4769, eSocialSciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:4769
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    Cited by:

    1. Kailash Chandra Pradhan and Shrabani Mukherjee, 2018. "The Income Transition in Rural India: Evidence from Aris/Reds Surveys," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 45-66, June.
    2. Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada & Mili Shrivastava & Tapas Kumar Mishra, 2022. "Education, social identity and self-employment over time: evidence from a developing country," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1449-1468, December.
    3. Himanshu & Kunal Sen, 2014. "Revisiting the Great Indian Poverty Debate: Measurement, Patterns, and Determinants," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 20314, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Sandhya Garg & Samarth Gupta & Sushanta Mallick, 2023. "Does Social Identity Constrain Rural Entrepreneurship? The Role of Financial Inclusion," IEG Working Papers 460, Institute of Economic Growth.
    5. Sandhya R. Mahapatro & Renu Choudhary, 2022. "Intergenerational educational and occupational mobility among scheduled castes in rural Bihar," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(1), pages 65-84, June.
    6. Anustup Kundu & Kunal Sen, 2023. "Multigenerational Mobility Among Males in India," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 395-418, June.
    7. Gupta, Prashant & Mallick, Sushanta & Mishra, Tapas, 2018. "Does social identity matter in individual alienation? Household-level evidence in post-reform India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 154-172.
    8. Anupam Sarkar, 2020. "Role of Livestock Farming in Meeting Livelihood Challenges of SC Cultivators in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 14(1), pages 23-41, April.
    9. Kashif Mansoor & Vinoj Abraham, 2021. "Occupational Segregation in the Indian Labor Market: A Socio-religious Perspective," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(1), pages 73-99, March.
    10. Anjan Ray Chaudhury & Madhabendra Sinha, 2020. "Does Education Produce Identical Labour Market Outcomes for All? A Study on India," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 14(3), pages 309-331, August.
    11. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Pradeep S. Salve, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1227-1255, August.
    12. Nandita Saikia & Moradhvaj Moradhvaj, 2020. "Socioeconomic patterns and determinants of adult mortality due to external-causes in India: Analysis of nationally-representative, population-based survey data," VID Working Papers 2004, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    13. Jadhav Chakradhar & Arun Kumar Bairwa, 2020. "Employment Probabilities And Workforce Distribution In The Indian Manufacturing Sector: A State-Level Analysis," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 23(1), pages 55-82, April.
    14. Lin, Boqiang & Kaewkhunok, Suppawit, 2021. "The role of socio-Culture in the solar power adoption: The inability to reach government policies of marginalized groups," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Kundu, Anustup & Sen, Kunal, 2021. "Multigenerational Mobility in India," IZA Discussion Papers 14566, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Caste Destiny; Occupational Diversification; dalits; rural India; manual labour; castes; occupations; Scheduled Tribes (STs); Scheduled Castes; SCs; educational institutions; social changes; political; National Sample Survey; public sector; poverty; farmers; artisans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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