Public action, castes, and the state

Using the concept of public action, this chapter discusses self-mobilization of castes on the demands, i.e., reservation (redistributive justice), cultural recognition, human rights and the state responses. It argues that the state responds favourably to the demands of PICs and responds symbolically to the demands of the PMCs. The PICs can self-mobilize themselves in effective and sustained manner; contrarily, the PMCs are not able to do so. The differences lie in the substantial representation of the PICs in the ministries/regimes and symbolic representation of the PMCs. Generally, boundaries of the local state overlap with those of the locally dominant communities. Unlike western UP, in Rajasthan caste mobilization exists along with the non-caste civil society mobilization.