Classes and Castes*

Tamoghna Mitra

With respect to Indian societal structure, the concepts of class and caste have been disputed for decades. Marx’s theorisation of class had been questioned by Dr B R Ambedkar, as to whether it was applicable in the Indian context, and whether it was sufficient to solve the problem of caste. Literature on this specific topic is immense, and multiple authors have attempted to answer the question of caste through a Marxian framework. This book “Classes and Castes” by Ranganayakamma (translation from original Telugu by R Udaykumar, B R Bapuji) also undertakes the same challenge. The book is a collection of essays by Ranganayakamma, compiled in one book, which talks specifically about caste, class, mixing both, annihilating castes, and her defence of the framework.

The Brahminic exploitation strategy of castes has plagued the Indian society for time immemorial and continues to do so in modern times. Multiple cases of hate crimes based on castes surface regularly from every part of India, whether it be Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or Manipur. This book focuses on the caste structure present in the southern states. To understand the context, one has to return back to the concept of injustice. ‘In the little world in which children have their existence’, says Pip in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, ‘there is nothing so finely perceived and finely felt, as injustice.’ Pip is right: he vividly recollects after his humiliating encounter with Estella the ‘capricious and violent coercion’ he suffered as a child at the hands of his own sister. However, the strong perception of manifest injustice applies to adult human beings as well. What moves people, reasonably enough, is not the realisation that the world falls short of being completely just–which few people expect–but that there are clearly remediable injustices around the society which is to be eliminated. The previous lines have been taken from the opening paragraph of Amartya Sen’s book “The Idea of Justice”, which gives one the motive to rethink the question of castes and exploitation.

Coming back to the book, it can be deconstructed in three parts: first, where Ranganayakamma proposes her framework to tie the question of caste with classes, and second, where she defends her framework which has been heavily criticised, third, where she provides a system through which castes can be eliminated. The author has done a good job in defining the building blocks of Marxian theory, such as abstract and concrete labour, production, and expropriation of surplus, in simpler terms avoiding the usual jargons which are used in regular Marxian analysis, making the work understandable to laymen. However, concepts of use and exchange value are somewhat unclear. The Marxian framework in this book follows the mode of production social formation theory, of the orthodox Marxists.

Then comes the most sparkling part of the book; castes. The concept of caste would look ridiculous to anyone who is unfamiliar with Indian society. Therefore, to introduce the topic of caste becomes a challenge. The author besides providing a formal definition of caste has also vividly shown how the system works and how people from a lower caste are subjected to exploitation. In this segment, the genealogy of caste has been shown very well which reflects the huge volume of research which has gone behind writing the articles. Works of D D Kosambi, Debiprasad Chattyopadhyay have been referred to trace the origin of caste. A detailed description of the caste system has been provided mostly of the southern states. After defining classes and castes the author moves forward to tie the two together. Specifically, the two have been expressed through the relations of production framework existing in orthodox Marxism and has been done beautifully through figures and charts. The author addresses the issues present in Ambedkar’s suggestions to annihilate castes and further moves onto providing a solution to that.

This is where her framework takes the help of Marx. Ambedkar’s solution of inter-caste marriage to eliminate caste has been brought upon by Ranganayakamma after creating the conditions of existence for the event to occur, through class struggle.

The framework presented can be criticised on a few grounds. First, whether class as a social actor can exist (read Hindess, B. (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990)). Secondly, there are other theories that exist about tying classes to castes that contradict the framework presented by Ranganayakamma, namely the class-focused theories of Marxism pioneered by Resnick and Wolff (read Knowledge and Class, R&W, 1987).

But before critiquing this book based on facts that are theoretical, one must consider the objective behind writing this article, which is to enlighten the masses, the oppressed about their own condition. “a bird in a cage doesn’t know what the skies are”, a famous metaphor is pretty applicable in this context. Therefore, one must judge this framework in eyes of a layman.

In general, this book is a must-read in this times, for one to know about the reality of their society and to change what is necessary to survive in a world that is amicable for all and all future generations.

*Classes and Castes
By Ranganayakamma
[Translated from original Telugu by R Udaykumar and B R Bapuji]
Sweet Home Publications
76, Amar Society, Jubilee Hills Post
Hyderabad 500003 | Price: Rs 140

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Vol 57, No. 37, March 9 - 15, 2025