ABSTRACT
The absence of notions of contagious pollution or commensal barriers and food prohibitions makes marriage the most highly significant symbolic ranking mechanism for Muslims. The marriages contracted by Pakistanis in Manchester all seem to illustrate that caste mobility is not simply a matter of the 'manipulation of meaning', or the use of symbols and emblems for personal advancement. The persistence of caste categorisation and caste labelling among Pakistani migrants in Manchester stems from the semantic elasticity of notions of zat and biraderi, as these are applied to critical levels of social action: familial, economic, political and religious. Pakistanis' concern with hierarchy continues to be all-pervasive, and is underpinned by the rapid social mobility and wealth of the more fortunate members of the community. Among Pakistanis, as among Hindus, relations of inequality or hierarchy pervade the system at all levels, and shifts in status necessarily involve a transformation either in caste status or in caste identity.
