Understanding the persistence of caste: A commentary on Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj and Kumar (2014)
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Jogdand, Yashpal A.
Khan, Sammyh S.
Mishra, Arvind Kumar
Abstract / Description
We contextualise Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj, and Kumar’s (2014) paper within a broader literature on caste and collective mobilisation. Cotterill and colleagues’ paper represents a fresh and timely attempt to make sense of the persistence of caste from the perspective of Social Dominance Theory. Cotterill and colleagues, however, do not examine caste differences in the endorsement of karma, and take behavioural asymmetry among lower castes for granted. Cotterill and colleagues also adhere to a Varna model of the caste system that arguably is simplistic and benefits the upper castes of Indian society. We caution that emphasising behavioural asymmetry and endorsing the Varna model might further stigmatise lower castes, especially Dalits, and feed into a conformity bias already predominant in caste-related psychological research. We argue that the conceptualisation and operationalisation of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation and legitimising myths in the Indian context needs to take into account the particular meaning and functions of these constructs in specific intergroup contexts, and for identity positions salient within these contexts. We contend that any examination aimed at better understanding the nature of social hierarchy and oppression within the caste system and Indian society in general remains inconclusive without including a focus on the construction and contestation of social categories and social identities.
Keyword(s)
legitimising ideologies right-wing authoritarianism social dominance theory conformity bias caste system in India self-categorisation social identityPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2016-08-18
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
4
Issue
2
Page numbers
554–570
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Jogdand, Y. A., Khan, S. S., & Mishra, A. K. (2016). Understanding the persistence of caste: A commentary on Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj and Kumar (2014). Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(2), 554–570. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i2.603
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Jogdand, Yashpal A.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Khan, Sammyh S.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Mishra, Arvind Kumar
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:45:03Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:45:03Z
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Date of first publication2016-08-18
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Abstract / DescriptionWe contextualise Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj, and Kumar’s (2014) paper within a broader literature on caste and collective mobilisation. Cotterill and colleagues’ paper represents a fresh and timely attempt to make sense of the persistence of caste from the perspective of Social Dominance Theory. Cotterill and colleagues, however, do not examine caste differences in the endorsement of karma, and take behavioural asymmetry among lower castes for granted. Cotterill and colleagues also adhere to a Varna model of the caste system that arguably is simplistic and benefits the upper castes of Indian society. We caution that emphasising behavioural asymmetry and endorsing the Varna model might further stigmatise lower castes, especially Dalits, and feed into a conformity bias already predominant in caste-related psychological research. We argue that the conceptualisation and operationalisation of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation and legitimising myths in the Indian context needs to take into account the particular meaning and functions of these constructs in specific intergroup contexts, and for identity positions salient within these contexts. We contend that any examination aimed at better understanding the nature of social hierarchy and oppression within the caste system and Indian society in general remains inconclusive without including a focus on the construction and contestation of social categories and social identities.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationJogdand, Y. A., Khan, S. S., & Mishra, A. K. (2016). Understanding the persistence of caste: A commentary on Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj and Kumar (2014). Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(2), 554–570. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i2.603en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1419
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1745
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i2.603
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Keyword(s)legitimising ideologiesen_US
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Keyword(s)right-wing authoritarianismen_US
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Keyword(s)social dominance theoryen_US
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Keyword(s)conformity biasen_US
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Keyword(s)caste system in Indiaen_US
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Keyword(s)self-categorisationen_US
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Keyword(s)social identityen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleUnderstanding the persistence of caste: A commentary on Cotterill, Sidanius, Bhardwaj and Kumar (2014)en_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue2
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers554–570
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Volume4
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record