While page 15 is a gateway, the entire Caste in Indian Politics offers a nuanced framework that moves beyond both Marxist class-reductionism and bourgeois modernization theory. Rajni Kothari teaches us that democracy is not a Western import planted on Indian soil but a native plant that grows through indigenous social structures — however unequal they may be.
Before diving into the PDF reference, it is essential to understand Kothari’s intellectual legacy. Founder of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi, Kothari rejected Western models of political development that predicted caste would disappear with modernization. Instead, he argued that caste adapted, becoming more rather than less relevant in electoral politics. His work on the “Congress System” and the “federalization” of caste gave political scientists a new vocabulary.
The volume is a collection of essays by leading scholars, edited by Kothari. It includes contributions from M.N. Srinivas, Andre Beteille, and others. The central thesis is that caste moved from being a ritual hierarchy to a political pressure group. Kothari’s own introductory chapter — and his subsequent formulations — argued that caste associations, caste-based voting, and caste federations became the building blocks of India’s democratic infrastructure. Rajni Kothari Caste In Indian Politics 15.pdf
However, I don’t have direct access to specific PDF files, including page 15 or the full document by Rajni Kothari titled Caste in Indian Politics .
More than 50 years after Caste in Indian Politics was published, India sees the rise of caste-based parties (like the BSP, SP, RJD, and others), demands for census of OBCs, and continuing debates over reservations. Kothari’s insight — that caste adapts to democracy rather than dissolving — explains why every election is still read through a caste lens. While page 15 is a gateway, the entire
Kothari posited a two-way process of adaptation. First, : It shed its rigid, ascriptive, and localized characteristics to become a flexible, associational, and competitive interest group. Second, politics entered caste : Democratic institutions—universal adult franchise, representative assemblies, competitive elections, and political parties—introduced new principles of mobilization, negotiation, and power-seeking that reshaped caste’s internal dynamics. This mutual penetration, according to Kothari, was not a pathology but the central dynamic of Indian democracy.
However, the endurance of Kothari’s work lies in its predictive power. He wrote during the dominance of the Congress "system," yet his insights anticipated the rise of caste-based parties like the BSP, RJD, and SP in the 1990s and beyond. The phenomenon of " Founder of the Centre for the Study of
In the 1970 Orient Longman edition, the introduction by Kothari runs from page 1 to around 25. typically falls within a section where Kothari discusses the transition from “caste as a closed system” to “caste as an open political resource.” Specifically, page 15 of the original text often presents the argument that:
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