Caste System in India From An International Perspective
Many scholars have compared and contrasted the caste system in India from an international perspective. For example, Neisser notes that although the word caste is usually associated with India, India is not the only such society. Numerous other countries have minorities which have been ostracized, discriminated again, denied civil rights, considered impure or shunned due to low social standing in recent human history. Examples include Burakumin in Japan, Jews in certain parts of Europe, Afro-Americans in the United States, Oriental Jews in Israel, Al-Akhdam of Yemen, Baekjeong of Korea, Midgan of Somalia and Osu in Nigeria. The extent of discrimination, exclusion, segregation and the details differed; for example, Maoris in New Zealand suffered less than Stolen Generations of Aborigines in Australia under the Half-Caste Act where children were systematically and forcibly removed from their parents, so that the British colonial regime could protect the children from their so-called inferior parents.
Ogbu suggests that, within an international context, the emotional feeling and the result is the same, that anyone born into a lower caste or caste-like minority is likely to grow up with a feeling that one's life will eventually be restricted to a small and poorly rewarded set of social roles.
Berreman is amongst those who use the term social stratification to discuss the caste system in India from an international perspective. He claims that regardless of its characteristics in a particular society, stratification is based upon three primary dimensions: class, status, and power, which are expressed respectively as wealth, prestige, and the ability to control the lives of people. Berreman suggests that, from an international perspective, social stratification systems present everywhere in the world share these crucial facts:
- the identity is regarded as being a consequence of birth or ancestry and therefore is immutable;
- the identity confers upon its possessor a degree of societally defined and affirmed worth which is regarded as intrinsic to the individual; and
- this inherent worth is evaluated relative to that of all others in the society; that is, those of different birth circumstances are inherently unequal and are avoided, while those of similar birth circumstances are innately equal and are sought.
The issues and challenges with caste system in India have been, and are currently no different than religion, gender, ethnic or race-based social stratification and discrimination systems anywhere else in the world.
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