Chair: S.V. Subramanian, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
11:45 a.m.
Sukhadeo Thorat, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India and Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science Research
Why does caste discrimination persist despite its illegality in India: Reflections on theories of discrimination
Discussant: Lant Pritchett, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
The paper reviews the evidence that caste discrimination persists in India although the Constitution outlawed it, in light of Darity’s identity theory of norms formation, Akerlof and Kranton’s theory of Identity Economics, and Ambedkar's theory of caste.
12:15 p.m.
Surinder S. Jodhka, Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Exclusionary Rural Transformations - Social Dynamics of Caste and Community in the Non-farm Economy in India
Discussant: Rohini Pande, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
This paper examines the increasingly marginalized
rural nonfarm population of India that has long been internally differentiated
on caste and community (religious) lines. Caste and community are not merely
distinctions of cultural identity and ritual status, but also regulate access
to material resources, such as agricultural land, and produce rigid and
exclusionary social structures grounded in institutionalized practices of
discrimination and denial. Further, the relationship of the rural and urban
reproduces poverty and newer forms of exclusion by caste, community and gender.
Following this session, lunch will be provided for the workshop participants from 1-2 p.m. in the CES Atrium.
