The impact of caste on production relations in Arni. A Gramscian analysis

This chapter deals with the role of caste in Arni’s civil society. On the background of the change in the caste system in independent India, it explores the Gramscian proposition that caste creates the institutional and ideological framework in which the hegemony of capital is negotiated and workers’ ‘spontaneous’ consensus is gained. It is based on a survey on Arni’s civil society: all associations operating in Arni at the end of the 1990s. After a description of Arni’s civil society, the urban associational order is shown to reflect social production relations, in which the interests of capital are supported while those of labour are under-represented. The empirical analysis confirms the Gramscian hypothesis in the case of Arni, caste has not been eroded by capitalism and continues to be a major organizing principle of civil society. It represents the vehicle through which subaltern workers are led to accept the leadership of capitalists with the support of caste-based institutions and ideologies.