Intriguing Capital– Identity Relationship Dalits and Caste in India

Abstract

The article interrogates the claim that capitalism would replace caste and liberate Dalits. People at the bottom rung of the caste hierarchy are exhorted to support neoliberal capitalism, a crusader against caste. This claim is based on the premise that capitalism abolishes all pre-existing social relations. Dealing with this argument at both empirical and theoretical levels, the article argues that this unilinear understanding of capital’s negotiation with other relationships is ahistorical. Capital does not necessarily abolish non-capitalist social relations but modifies and appropriates them for expansion. Relying on several studies from India, the article points out that interactions between capital and caste have been intriguing, with both entities being altered in the process.