ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly reviews the discussions about the notion of caste. It then gives an equally brief overview of recent developments in India. The chapter deals with the intersection of caste and class. It outlines caste today and another one class in the contemporary scenario. The chapter mainly focuses on their intersection in the Indian middle class. This discussion links up with the debates about the middle classes in Brazil as well as with the emergence of a new middle class and a laboring class in Laos. The Indian middle class did not just emerge as a modernizing agent out of its traditional moorings. On the contrary, there were many instances where it championed "tradition". The urban upper castes that are otherwise located in capitalist spaces work hard to preserve the privileges that come with caste, constructing boundaries around the middle class locations. Caste and other ascriptive identities continue to matter. Gender is an obvious marker of discrimination and bias.
