As a person with interest in social stratification in modern society, I have been particularly alert to explanations for the rise and persistence of the the caste system in India and other societies. In blog posts such as this and this, I have shown interest in understanding both the backward justifications and the visible and indirect economic and social consequences of India's enduring caste system. Predictably, my view has been that the value of the caste system in India is that it leads to some inefficiencies and also unjustly denies a large population of Indians of true dignity and opportunity for achievement. In essence, to my libertarian mind, caste systems, like other discriminatory structures exist to support aristocracies and justify the existence of inherently flawed hierarchies.
A legitimate question is to ask under what circumstances the caste system of India developed and why it has endured. Joshua Keating's piece in Slate Magazine summarizes a recent article in the American Journal of Human Genetics which reports results of a genetic study to determine when various groups of people diverged from one another. The theory is that this divergence would be a marker for the commencement of the caste system and is dated at 1900 years. While I am not fully qualified to debate the exactness of this date, i am surprised that the article seems to suggest that the systematic social stratification based on arbitrary considerations has a "short history".
I disagree with this characterization of discrimination and enforced poverty because two millennia of systematic discrimination and prejudice proves that the biases were self-reinforcing and created the stability in that system. bear in mind that leading democracies in the world and related political institutions have existed for less than three centuries. Stratification based on castes has endured for too long and its effects will maintain for longer still. the length of this injustice, similar to slavery and other forms of discrimination should not be downplayed.
A legitimate question is to ask under what circumstances the caste system of India developed and why it has endured. Joshua Keating's piece in Slate Magazine summarizes a recent article in the American Journal of Human Genetics which reports results of a genetic study to determine when various groups of people diverged from one another. The theory is that this divergence would be a marker for the commencement of the caste system and is dated at 1900 years. While I am not fully qualified to debate the exactness of this date, i am surprised that the article seems to suggest that the systematic social stratification based on arbitrary considerations has a "short history".
I disagree with this characterization of discrimination and enforced poverty because two millennia of systematic discrimination and prejudice proves that the biases were self-reinforcing and created the stability in that system. bear in mind that leading democracies in the world and related political institutions have existed for less than three centuries. Stratification based on castes has endured for too long and its effects will maintain for longer still. the length of this injustice, similar to slavery and other forms of discrimination should not be downplayed.
