Introduction

Caste and politics has been a recurrent theme in the anthropology of India. This introduction locates this book in the rich literature on caste and politics and highlights its contribution to the anthropological study of politics. Indian people show deep interest in politics. They have unique passion for ‘the political’. Politics shape everyday people’s lives and people do not let go any opportunity to express their opinions on political leaders and political scenario even when they are traveling in a bus or having tea at corner shops. By connecting the theories and processes of democratization with the political rise of the marginalized groups in north India, this introduction provides an outlines of the ways in which democracy—popular sovereignty—takes sociocultural roots in the caste body in a particular local context while using socio-cultural and economic resources available regionally.