ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the nature of the changes that have occurred in modern times, especially after independence and shows that they have contributed to the growth of a new type of system of social stratification. It examines the perspective, with a view to showing how its continued predominance in the field of sociology has prevented the awareness of changes that have directly undermined ritual hierarchy as a principle of social stratification. The chapter provides an overview of changes that occurred in the caste system during colonial rule. It shows how fifty years of the constitutionally created nation-state of India and political democracy have introduced profound and far-reaching changes. The chapter also shows how these changes were embodied by the institutions of competitive representational politics, which in turn gave rise to new categories of stratification in Indian society. It describes salient features of the newly emergent stratification system in India.
