Some Missing Interpretations of Caste

<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences</strong> Seminar Notice <strong>Prof. Avatthi Ramaiah</strong> (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai) a talk on&nbsp;<strong>Some Missing Interpretations of Caste</strong> <strong>Date : January 27, 2015</strong> <strong>Abstract:&nbsp;</strong>Caste continues to remain one of the highly contested and researched social issues world over, despite the fact that the exercise of comprehending caste has been there in the academia probably since the day caste surfaced. There have been number of explanations and interpretations regarding its origin and context, and accordingly there have been justifications and oppositions to its relevance in the modern era to human society in general and to the Hindu society in particular. In the course of intense debate over the caste question, some arguments seem to have been over emphasized, while others have not at all come to the center stage of academic debate, particularly in the discipline of sociology. The lecture would bring to light some of hitherto missing interpretations of caste. Bio-Data: Dr. Avatthi Ramaiah is currently a Professor at the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He obtained his M.A. (Social Work) in 1984 from the Loyola College, University of Madras, M.Phil. (Population Studies) in 1987 and Ph.D. (Sociology) in 1999 from the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. His of academic interest pertains to the broad area of caste and development. He has published extensively on issues relating to caste, including a book in 2007 on "Laws for Dalit Rights and Dignity". He had been a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, Columbia University in 2009 under the Fulbright Senior Scholar Programme. He was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Hull, UK in 2010. Subsequently, he was also a Visiting Fellow at the Asia Research Centre of the London School of Economics. Presently, Prof. Ramaiah is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Advanced Studies which is a part of the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, JNU.