The Vaishyavisation of India

With a practical eye, Ramachandran Vaidyanathan's book discusses the applications (and implications) of caste rather than its theory

Caste as Social Capital: The Complex Place of Caste in Indian Society

Author: Ramachandran Vaidyanathan

Publisher: Publisher Penguin

Pages: 162

Price: Rs 299

The question of caste may appear “antediluvian”, as Ramachandran Vaidyanathan describes it in his book Caste as Social Capital. But the fact is that caste has a complex and silent place in Indian society. It exists as an unsaid norm, often confused with community-imposed restrictions and crippling obligations. Although this silence is occasionally breached by scholars, academics and socio-cultural experts, in Caste as Social Capital, Dr Vaidyanathan extends the definition of caste beyond socio-cultural parameters and observes it in economic and