Premium
Caste at Birth? Redefining Disparity in India
Author(s) -
Deshpande Ashwini
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
review of development economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1467-9361
pISSN - 1363-6669
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9361.00112
Subject(s) - caste , tribe , index (typography) , geography , socioeconomics , population , plea , demography , demographic economics , sociology , economics , political science , anthropology , law , world wide web , computer science
Using household information in the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) 1992/93 data, this paper examines regional variations in intercaste disparity in India. Based on five variables that are indicators of the standard of living of the three major caste/tribe groups identifiable in the data, a “caste deprivation index” is constructed that can be reversed to read as a “caste development index.” Mapping the regional variation in this index, the paper makes a plea for focusing on caste as an essential ingredient in the study of stratification patterns in India’s population.