Revision summary
Social capital is usable trust and network. Indian networks are still largely jati-based bonding capital. Dominant castes convert kinship into land and office. Graded inequality is the cost for those excluded. Reservation and civic institutions try to build bridging ties.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Social capital is trust, network, and reciprocal help that people can use. In India those networks are still largely caste-shaped, so caste is both a resource and a wall.
Body
Caste as a network
- M. N. Srinivas showed that jati organises marriage, faction, and village office. That is bonding capital inside the group.
- André Béteille and later political sociologists showed caste associations as urban clubs for jobs, hostels, and votes.
- Robert Putnam’s language of bonding versus bridging fits: jati bonds strongly, and it bridges poorly across Dalit-Savarna lines.
Gain and cost
- A dominant caste converts kinship into land, panchayat chairs, and contractor work. That is social capital as power.
- B. R. Ambedkar already treated caste as graded inequality, which is negative social capital for those below the line.
- Reservation, Article 15 and Article 16, and new professional networks try to build bridging capital the jati does not give.
Limit
- Not every success is caste. Class, party, and city also make ties. Caste remains the default rural and marriage grid.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD J[Jati network] --> B[Bonding capital] J --> W[Wall across ranks] P[Reservation parties] --> R[Bridging capital]
Conclusion
Caste is India’s thickest social capital inside the jati and a barrier across jatis. Public policy has to manufacture bridges that kinship will not.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Discuss the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in transforming traditional power hierarchy in rural India
Next question on this syllabus topic (2021 · Q4(b)). View answer →
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Is caste the only Indian social capital?
No. Unions, churches, and parties also bind. Caste is still the most general rural grid.
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Does urbanisation kill caste capital?
It relocates it into associations and marriage markets more than it deletes it.
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