CASTE SYSTEM
It is a lifelong group that is given its status at birth. Its membership does not alter. It runs in the family. The caste system is present in Pakistan and India. Every person identifies with a caste or subcaste in some way. In rural Punjab, people are identified solely by their caste. There are currently thousands of castes and their subcastes in Pakistan.
Ø Definition
According to Maciver and Page, "class takes the extreme form of caste when the status is entirely set so that men are born to their lot without any prospect of changing it."
"Caste is a system of stratification in which mobility up and down the status ladder, at least theoretically, may not occur," claims A.W. Green.
According to Majundar and T.N. Madddan, "caste is a closed group."
The caste system has status in rural areas. Caste status is deteriorating in urban areas as a result of economic and educational opportunities. Here, the role performance is becoming more significant.
Ø Caste-specific traits:
• Caste: used to create a hierarchical division in society. In a caste system, groups are separated according to caste.
• Close group: Members of a caste cannot leave their caste because it is a close group.
• Subculture: Each caste has a specific subculture in which members must follow certain rules.
• Social control: Each caste has its own informal system in place.
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Caste merits:
• A Biradri is a member of a caste who has intermarried. Being a member of one caste fosters social cohesion among the populace.
• Members of a caste are forced to adhere to its rules, and if they are broken, they are expelled from Biradri and shunned.
• Most castes are endogamous. Marriage between members of the same caste is simpler and requires less adjusting than marriage between members of two different castes.
Demerits:
• Members of caste develop ethnocentrism and perceive themselves as superior to others. People from various castes develop enmity as a result of this.
• Social change inside a caste is viewed as a significant infraction because of how rigidly its norms are enforced. It implies that social mobility within a caste is still minimal.
• Within a caste, the novel aspects of change are discouraged.
• Breaking the rules of a caste is deemed marriage. It implies that the social network is still small.
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Ø Caste and class are different:
• Class is malleable, whereas caste is fixed and unalterable.
• Class is shifting, but caste remains stable.
• Caste creates a biradri, although class does not.
• Caste is endogamous, although class is not.
• Class supports societal change and progress, but caste opposes it and only supports advancement that is consistent with its standards.
• The Biradri system is founded on castes, which have their own norms, not classes, who lack any such norms.
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