Modernisation and Rural Stratification: An Application at the Micro-Level

Author(s): K. L. Sharma
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 5, No. 37 (Sep. 12, 1970), pp. 1537-1543
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4360460
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 SPECIAL ARTICLES

Modernisation and Rural Stratification

An Application at the Micro-Level

K L Sharma

Modernisation depends upon two basic characteristics of society, viz, institutionalisation of

modern values and adaptability of the society concerned. These two attributes are closely associated
with stratification and cultural legitimation.
The natuire of our stratification system is segmental and hierarchical based on certain historical
forces. The difficulty is not in changing the values of this system. The difficulty is that, there is a
pervasive and acute lack of means among the already non-privileged to adopt and internalise the modern
values.
The privileged groups are in a position to adopt these values, and are consequently able to main-
tain qualitatively the same status-distinctions in retation to the non-privileged sections, though -now on
the basis of new factors such as education, office, economic position, white-collar jobs, outside con-
tacts, and styles of life.
So value-change does not come as a barrier in the process of modernisation. It is the unequal
or differential accessibility to the attributes of modernisation which is the barrier and which is basically
due to the particularistic nature of our stratification system. Because of this, institutionalisation and
legitimation of modern values are partial, limited and un-universalistic.
[The author wishes to express his-deep sense of gratitude to Yogendra Singh for his extremely
valuable guidance in preparing this paper. Responsibility for the views expressed, however, is entirely
his.]

I Similarly, modernisation has been tradition and modemity constitute a

THE dichotomy between tradition and
moderniity and the conceptual distinc-
tions between modernisation, Westerni-
sation, and mobilisation, have been
incorrectly apprehended. Modernisation
is a l)road, logical, value-free concept
compared to Westernisation,l secularisa-
tiOIn2 and mobilisation.3 Besides, there
are divergent views about the scope
and area to be covered by the concept
of modernisation. Sutton limits moder-
nisation to agriculture, industry, techno-
logy and ecology.4 Apter confines it to
the political realm.5 The psychological
meaning is subscribed by Lerner.6 And
'primary of science' and secular life-
wavs are advocated by Horowitz.7
Misgivings about modernisation do
not end here. Srinivas prefers Wes-
ternisation and secularisation to moder-
nisation,8 because the value of 'huma-
nitarianism' is implicit in Westernisa-
tion and this value includes two other
values, viz, 'equalitarianism' and 'secu-
larism'. The latter of these two inclu-
des 'rationalism'. Srinivas's analysis of
Westernisation and secularisation cate-
gorically implies the dichotomy of tradi-
tion and modernity as absolute andI
separate polarities in Indian society.
Expressions such as, WVestem ideology,
technology, and education replace tradi-
tional patterns, and secularisation roots
out 'sacred' or religious elements from
society.9
equated with mobilisation. Deutsch ex-
plains that social mobilisation denotes
most of the socio-demographic aspects
of modernisation. He defines it as a pro-
cess through which old commitments
are eroded and broken and new pat-
terns of socialisation and behaviour are
made available.l1 The dichotomy bet-
ween tradition and modernity is quite
explicit in the view of Deutsch too.
There are some who regard the advent
of modernisation as a consequence of
the adoption of a new ideology." And
there are others who hold the viewv that
factor s responsible for modernisatiuin
may be both the inter-nal inconsisten-
cies of the value-systemii of a societx
and the external or struethiratl forces of
change.'2
Guisfield has exposed some of the 'fal-
lacies' related to the twin concepts of
tra(lition and modernity."3 The concept
of modernisation, however, still re-
mains to be adequately defined. A four-
fold classification of the divergent views
on modernisation has been recently
made by Yogendra Singh.'4 We shall
come to his view in the ensuing sec-
tions of this paper.
This author does not wish to get in-
volved in the definitional wrangle as
there is a paucity of empirically verifi-
ed statements about the relationships in-
volved. We corroborate the views of
some others (Gusfield, Singh, etc) that
single simultaneously on-going process.
A society may have modern values in
certain respects and traditional values
may prevail in other respects. The mo-
dern may become traditional in course
of time and vice-versa. This logic ap-
plies to individual human beings as
well. The same man in one situation
may behave in a traditional, dogmatic
and religious way, and in another he
may behave differently, as a secular,
rational and democratic being. Keeping
in view\' this meaninig of the term- mo-
dernisation. we propose to test how
and in what ways the stratification sys-
tein is l)eing altered by the force, ,)f
nooderniisation. Do foorces of modernisa-
tiori provide its fruits equitablv to all
sections of society? If not, what are
the root causes of this inequitable dis-
tribution of the results of modernisation?
An effort has been made to elaborate
these points in the next section of this
paper.
II
Following the viewv advanced by
Gusfield, that modernisation does not
stand as an opposite polar to tradition,
does -not weaken the concept of tradi-
tion, nor does it follow that tradition
and modernity are found in a form of
a synthesis.'5 These are continually
generating, renewing and renovating
parts of the same process of change.

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 September 12, 1970 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

TABLE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF TRADITIONAL OR CASTE-BASED OCCUPAnONS (PURE
AND IMPURE) AND SECULAR OR NON-CASTE OCCUPATIONS
Caste Traditional or Secular
Caste-Based Non-Caste
Occupations Occupations
(Pure and Impure)
Upper 203(54.0) 173(46.0) 376(100.0)
Intermediate 751(88.4) 98(11.6) 849(100.0)
Lower an(1 519(90.7) 53( 9.3) 572(100.0)
'Untouchables'
Muslims 50(48.5) 53(51.5) 103(100.0)
Total 1523(80.1) 377(19.9)
Chi 2 =301.4 P .001
Modernisation denotes change not only
in the sacred or the non-sacred existing
components of social organisation, but
also the adoption of new forms of so-
cial, economic, cultural, political and
psychological values, means and rela-
tionships. As such, modemisation be-
comes both an instrumental value and
an articulate device for change in the
existing economic, social, political and
cultural structures. The existing values,
however old they might be, could be
even more pragmatic and utilitarian
than newer values. The newer values
are taken up not necessarily by dis-
carding the existing ones; they may be
adopted for reasons of greater effici-
ency, economy of means, and rewards.
The new values may be innovations of
the 'modlerns' or thev may be borrow-
ed from certain sections of the same so-
ciety or that of aliens.
Talcott Parsons's view about 'evolu-
tionairv universals' is that of a complex
of strtuctures and associated processes
which explains the 'general adaptive
capacity' of the society. Parsons men-
tions two universals among many others
responsible for continuous adaptability
an(d institutionalisation of the existing
order. These universals are, the deve-
lopmnent of a well-marked system of so-
cifl stratification and of a system of ex-
plicit cultuiral legitimation of differen-
tiated social functions.16 These two uni- to take up some indices - such as
versals are constantly evolutionary and
make provision for both sustenance of
the social order and new adaptations
through legitimation and institutionalisa- from the six villages.
tion. In this context, modernisation is
a historical process, adapted and legiti-
mised by the stratification system.
Singh explains that growth in the
process of modernisation could be eva-
luated at two levels: (1) as a system of
values or world view; and (2) in terms
of the role-structures.17 Modernisation
requires 'infrastructures' and a 'scien-
tific world-view. This has support of
the two universals examined by Parsons
viz, that of stratification system and
cultural legitimation."8
this process, how far their nature is
particularistic or generalised, and whe-
ther they are viable and flexible adapta-
or Total
tions, are some of the major questions
to be examined on the basis of data
gathered for the above referred study.
An examination of the following as-
pects enables evaluation of the kind re-
quired by these questions.
Occupation
1900(100.0)
The data reveal that the traditional
occupational structure continues to
exist to a great extent alongside the
We propose to analyse the process of emergent economic role structures. The
modernisation in terms of the view ex- present occupational structure in the
pressed by Singh - in terms of adop- six villages is a conglomeration of the
tion of new values and the emergent two structures, e g, traditional (caste-
role struictures, in six villages in based) and secular (non-caste based).
Rajas-
than.19 We shall have to see the rela- Today, the majority of the castes do
tionship between the stratification sys- not exclusively carry out either the tra-
temn and cultural legitimation on the ditional occupations or the secular oc-
one hand, and the adaptive values on cupations.22 The choice of the new
the other. The nature of the process of occupations and the rejection of the
modemisation is also to be examined old ones is pragmatic and selective in
which Singh explains in terms of 'dis- character. There are castes which have
tributive justice'.20 discarded traditional occupations be-
The following set of questions seems cause they were considered 'impure'
relevant in this regard: or 'unclean' or 'lower' or 'Kamin', i e,
(1) Which are the sections of popu- because of the stigma about the pol-
lation that are most modernising? luting nature of their traditional occu-
(2) How far is the structure of these pations. These castes even had to face
villages being differentiated by some initial economic hardships, as the
this process? rejection resulted in unemployment and
(3) bVhat instituitions and norms imbalances in their economic standards.
have been taken up in these On the other hand, there are certain
villages as a result of the recent caste groups, particularly the ex-Zamin-
struictural changes in Indian so-dars, who have been forced to take up
ciety at large? certain lower and degrading occupa-
(4) WVhat patterns of stratification tioIns, such as, manual labour, peon-
are likely to emerge as a result ship, and domestic work. This drastic
of the process of modemisation? change is a result of the structural
(5) What specific hindrances come changes that took place with the aboli-
in the way of modernisation be- tion of the Jagirdari and Zamindari
coming a general societal pro- systems.
cess in the villages under inves- The continuity of tradition with mo-
tigation? demity in the occupational field is evi-
To test these questions, we propose dent from Table 1.
Out of 1900 male workers, 20 per
caste, class, power, occupation, educa- cent are engaged in secular occupa-
tion, styles of life, etc - and to analyse tions. The upper castes have adopted
them on the basis of the data available new or secular occupations more than
the lower castes have done. Of them,
46 per cent have taken up secular oc-
III cupations, whereas among the interme-
As we understand it, modemisation diate and the lower castes the corres-
results in a high level of structural dif- ponding percentage is 11.6 and 9.3, res-
ferentiation and social mobilisation - pectively. One reason for this simultan-
in terms of large-scale unified and cen- eity of traditional and secular (mo-
tralised institutions and establishment dern) occupations is that the village
of viable, flexible and yet effective sym- does not provide employment to all the
bolic and organisational centres that are members who were in the traditional
responsive to the continuous problems occupations before, and consequently a
of modemisation and to the regulation few of them have to seek alternatives
of them.2' To what extent the new role either in the village or outside it. The
structures have come up as a result of other reason is that some persons are

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 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY September 12, 1970

T'AB1LE 2: SECULAR OR NON-CASTE OCCUPATIONS WHICH DID NOT EXIST
THREE DECADES AGO
Occupations Upper Inter- Lower and Muislim Total
meldiate Untouchable
1 Inidustrial
lal)ourer 14
2 Teacher anid clerk 38 11 1 - 50
3 Peon 4 7
4 Wineseller
5 Teashopmani
6 Police and armivnan 34 33 6 43 116
7 Railway gangman,
jamadar and
inspector - 2 16 18
8 Milkseller 1 3 1 5
9 Panchayat samiti
extension officer 2 4 6
10 Excise inspector - 1 - -
11 Motor driver 1 4 1 2
12 Shop assistant
and accotuntant 52 2 2 1 57
13 Patwairi 4 - 4 cation, is agJain virtually a monopoly ol
14 Laboratorv assistant 1 - - 1
15 Khalasi
(motor cleaner) - 1
16 Bus concltuctor 2
17 Forest officer 1 - -
18 Vaidya (ayurved
doctor) 6 - 6 qutired for superior occupations and in-
19 Telephone operator 2 1 - 3
20 Postmaster 1 - - 1
21 Vaccinator - 2 - - 2
22 Postman 1 - - 1
23 Tonga driver - - 3 3
24 Engineer 1 - 1
Total 173 98 53
(46.0) (26.0) (14.0) (14.0) (100.0)
willing to discard the traditional occU-
pations but do not find suitably remu-
nerative jobs;, they therefore stick to
th'e traditional ones in the absence of
suitable alternatives. Some persons
still continue to derive gainful remune-
rations from the traditional occupations.
Others have discarded these callings
even at economic loss or hardship on
account of leaving them.23 Thus the
nature of the existing continuity of
tradition and modernity in the occupa-
tional realm is diverse, selective, prag-
matically-oriented and circumstantial.
The factors responsible for occupa-
tional diversification (cutting it off
from the association of caste) are both
structural and cultural. These factors
have, however, not resulted in 'equali-
tarianisation' or 'distributive justice' in
the six villages. The prestigeous secular
occupations are being virtually monopo-
lised by the ex-privileged castes. This
is because the earlier privileged posi-
tions of the upper castes enable them to
acquire the new bases of higher social,
economic anil political positions. The
non-privileged castes are unable to af-
ford the cost of acquiring these new
bases of prestige and power which are
higher education, white collar jobs and
formal offices of power, such as the
this context we observe a lack of dis-
tributive justice. Theoretically, moder-
nisation is open to all - in terms of
exercise of fundamental rights of receiv-
ing higher and professionial edIucationi,
migration an(d taking up of jobs of
26 20 1 61 one's liking, etc - but practically the
doors are open only to a small miniority.
2 3 16 The capacity for adaptability is diffe-
2 - - -2
rential. Taking secular occupations as
8 3 - 11
one index, it can be said that the highei
castes are inore 'moderniised' than the
loxver castes.
Education
Education is one of the mnost signi-
1
ficant determinants of status in the pre-
8
sent-day village community. Modern
education, and particularly higher edu-
the higher castes. It is college and uni-
1 versity education which extends the
2 horizon of occupational possibilities by
1 providing the formal qualifications re-
tellectuial superiority to those who achi-
eve it.
An analysis of the clata about gra-
duates (including intermediates) shows
that, about three decades ago, there was
53 377 not even a single graduate in these six
villages. Today, there are 29 graduates
and 74 matriculates, who, invariably, in
all the six villages, are from among the
Panch and the Sarpanch. These lower Brahmins, Rajputs, Banias and Jats.
sections of the village population imi- There is besides a tendency among the
tate what the higher castes discard de- upper castes to senid boys for techniical
liberately and what they are even reluc- and meciical education. Two engineer-
tant to take note of as imitation by the ing graduates, one medical vniral d .-
lower castes. In fact, the upper castes and all the graduates iscience, arts
are in a position to preserve the pres- and commerce are irom among these
tigeous elements of status determina- higlher castes.
tion from the traditional stock and to Besides the coincidence of caste rank
add to it from the new avenues, such and educational achieveirients, class posi-
as, modern education, village panchayat tion is also associated with attainments
system, white collar occupations, and in the educational field. This is because
outside contacts. of the considerable congruence between
An analysis of the distribution of se- caste and class ranks. Table 3 shows the
cular (non-caste) occupations reveals relationship between class and educa-
(see Table 2) that the upper castes have tion.
a near monopoly over the more income-, It is evident that the ex-better-off
prestige- and power-providing occupa- class groups can afford the expensive
tions and avenues. higher education, whereas these oppor-
Though the upper caste male work- tunities are virtually closed to the lower
ers constitute about 20 per cent of all classes because of their economic inca-
workers, yet they are 46 per cent of pability to bear the expenses of modern
the total secular job-doers. Most of professional and university education.
the white collar job-doers in these vil- We find that there is not one gra-
lages are from the upper castes. This duate f'rom among the lower classes.
is dlue to the fact that these jobs are aMore than two-thirds of the total num-
reguilar source of cash inicome. These b)er of graduates come from the higher
occu-pations involve less, or no, manuial classes and castes. There is one gra-
labour. As such, the upper castes not duate and one matriculate among the
onlv have higher income, but are in a higher classes to every 5 and 2.5 fami-
position to maintain certain styles of lies, respectivelv. The proportion of the
life in the changed circumstances. In graduates and matriculates is very low

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September 12, 1970 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY.

TABLE 3: CLASS POSITION AND EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS Brahmins and Banias form the rival
groups.
Class Graduates Matriculates Total It is evident from the above analy-
sis of the power-structure that there is.
High 20 40 60
a positive relationship between caste,
(33.3) (66.7) (100.0)
Middle 9 27 36 class and power ranks. As such, decen-
(25.0) (75.0) (100.0) tralisation of power through panchayati
Low 7 7 raj has not in fact succeeded; rather it
(100.0) (100.0)
Total 29 74 103
has provided a ground where the pri-
(28.1) (71.9) (100.0) vilegecl sections can centralise and con-
solidate thei'r positions with new means
among the middle and lower classes. An analysis of 76 influentials reveals and in a disguised form. The process
Among the middle class people there that 41 per cent are from among the of bringing down the status of the ex-
is one graduate to every 19 households upper castes, whereas they constitute landlords through land reforms and, by
and one matriculate to every 6.3 house- only 18 per cent of the total households the same means, upgrading the posi-
holds. This proportion is still lower in these villages. Among the interme- tions of the ex-tenants, particularly in
among the lower classes, where there is diate castes, the Jats (who are also e-- the Jagirdari villages, cannot be de-

one matriculate to 127 households. Zamindars in Bharatpur district) have nied. The process of upgrading the
These discrepancies in achievement occupied these offices of power more status, from lower to higher rank, has
of educational standards falsify the uni- than the Jats of the villages of Sikar been designated as 'bourgeoisiefication'
versal approachability to educational and Jaipur districts, who are ex-tenant while the opposite process, of degrading
opportunities for the various castes and peasants today. The lower castes com- status, is called 'proletarianisation'.24
prise 32 per cent of the total house- These processes are of immense signi-
class groups. Aspects of modernisation,
holds, but have taken up only four per ficance in understanding the outcome
which provide high scores on the pres-
cent of the total positions of power of some of the structural changes such
tige-scale, are accessible almost in a
since the introduction of panchayati raj as land reforms, Panchayati Raj and
monopolistic way to the upper sections
on October 2, 1959. Adult Suffrage, etc; however, they have
of the population. Thus in education,
affected the traditional structure in a
too, we do not find 'distributive jus-
An analysis of class positions reveals very limited way. Their effects are
tice' which aims to minimise the in-
a similar trend of association between minimised by the privileged sections by
equalities between different sections of
class and power. Numerically, 77 per 'seeking out' some new bases of power
the popuilation. On the contrary, sta-
cent of families belong to the lower and prestige and by extracting max-
tus inequalities have been increasinig
class, but only 9 per cent of the key imum benefits out of these new avenuies
on the non-sacred hierarchical lines uin-
iinfluentials are from among them. Of introduced for achievement of an ega-
der these emerging, modernising for-
the influentials, 46 per cent are from litariain and equalitarian society.
ces of status and prestige. The higher
among the middle class groups, which
castes and class people centralise their
comprise onlv 15 per cent of the total Styles of Life
efforts for achievement of these deter-
houiseholds. The high influentials share
niiinants; an(l in course of time they The families from among the upper
45 per cent of the total strength of
ceniserve and sanctify these attributes castes and class again have superior
them, but they are only 8 per cent of
or. [X1 other wvords, they traditionalise styles of life compared to the families of
the total households.
them. the lower and intermediate castes and
Out of 11 Sarpanches, 9 have come class. Their styles of life are better in
Power from the upper class and 2 from the terms of expenditure on clothing, food,
A hierarchy of power relations coin- miiddkle class. Even the latter two were house, marriage, education, etc. There
cides with the caste and class stratifi- social wvorkers from the upper castes. are families from these privileged sec-
cation in the six villages. The ex-land- All the Sarpanches are from among the tions, which have spent upto Rs 20,000
lords have a decisive command both Brahmins, Rajputs, Charans and Jats. on the marriages of the girls in re-
over the formal positioIns as well as theNo Sarpanch has been elected so fai cent years. It is these families which use
informal decision-making process. Theyfrom amcong the other 30 castes in the stainless steel utensils, crockery, car-
are the kev influentials in these vil- six villages. The other significant fact pets, chairs, tables, costly garments and
lages. In both the villages of Bharatpur is that the rivalries, mutual hatreds a-id gold ornaments. Other goods, such as,
sub-region. the Jat ex-landlor(ds hold bickerings for status and- power are watches and transistor radio sets are
the key offices of Sarpanch (head of the either between the influential and well- also coming into use by them. Some
village panchayat), Chairman of the to-do families of the same caste or of these elite families in the villages
'judicial panchayat, President and the among the marginally higher\and lower
maintain drawing rooms, decorated
Secretary of the co-operative society, castes which generally have the same with photos, carpets, chairs, etc.
etc. The.e offices in other villages have economic position. The rivalries for It is also these families who are in-
b)een helcl by the upper castes, such as power in the two villages of Bharatpur novators in the villages. In Bharatpur
Brahmins, Charans and Rajputs. In so far have been between the ex-Zamin- villages six families of the ex-Zamin-
two of the villages, viz, Sabalpura and dar families of the Jats. This is an dar Jats own tractors as well as the
Bhutera, where the jats constitute a intra-class friction, resulting from the other items referred to above. Simhilar-
single overwhelming numerical strength, structural changes in the village com- ly, in four other Villages tractors, foi
they have superceded their upper caste munity. In Roopgarh, it is among the example, are owned by the ex-land-
rivals. The latter, however, put up a Brahmin families. In Sabalpura an(d lords and the bourgeoisiefied ex-
formidable opposition to the Jats in Bhutera it is between the Rajputs and tenants
these two villages. the Jats; and in Harmara the Charans, Not only are these cultural dlistinc-

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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY September 12, 1970

tions clear between the privileged and criteria, viz, land-holding, income, house- These two interrelated attributes are
the non-privileged sections, but they type, and caste rank, reveals that 'com- closely associated with the two basic
also accentuate and widen the gulf be- posite status' and caste rank do not dif- universals of Parsons, that is, of social
tween these polar sections of the vil- fer significantly. The ranking of fami- stratification and cultural legitimation.-5
lage commtunity. This is indeed some- lies on the basis of these fou-r factors The nature of social stratification (rela-
times why the upper castes conspicu- (see Table 4) at three kinds of signifi- tively open or relatively closed in prac-
ously spend on marriages and othei cance (high, medium, low) was worked tice) may make the growth of the pro-
occasions, seeking higher prestige and out. The families were thus classified in-cess of modernisation particularistic,
status. They can afford exr enses on to four status groups on the basis of narrow and limited to a minority of
these cultural items, as they are in a their respective total scores on these the members of society. This process
position to do so because of their four factors. mav be universalistic in character if
changing adaptability to the challenges, An overwhelming majority (61 per there are no hurdles from the side of
and situiations throwvn out by the struc- cent) of the upper castes belong to existing stratification system. The nature
tural changes. Thuts, we find a great the 'upper composite status' rank. Onlv of our stratification system is segmental
gap between the ctultural styles of the 36 per cent of them have 'upper mid- and hierarchical based on certain histo-
privileged iminority and the non-privi- dle status'. No family from the upper rical forces. The difficulty is not in
leged majority. castes belongs to the 'lower status' changing the values of this svstem; there
is a pervasive and acuite lack of means
Because of these divergences, the rank. Only three per cent have 'middle
status' rank. On the other hand, for the non-privileged castes and groups
lower castes and class people are less
and families to adopt and intemalise
informed, have no contacts with lead- 70 per cent of the lower castes
the modern valtues. The privileged
ers other than the leaders of their res- belong to the 'lower status' rank, where-
groups are in a position to adopt these
pective villages, and are almost un- as onlv one and six per cent of them
values, and as such they are able to
aware of the political set-up of the belong to the tipper and the upper mid-
maintain Qualitatively the same status
country. They have no clear-cult know- dle status ranks, respectively. The inter-
distinctions in relation to the non-privi-
ledge abouit the ideologies and pro- mediate castes are mainly in the upper
leged sections though on the basis of
grammes of the political parties. They and upper middle status ranks. Only
new factors such as education, office,
have only a faint idea about persona- eight per cent of them have lower sta-
economic position, white-collar jobs,
lities like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal ttis rank. This shift is an indication of
outside contacts and styles of life.
Nehrui andl Mohan Lal Sukhadia. Indira their upward status molbility. The lower
Dube emphasises the need for em-
Gandhi, being the daughter of the late castes have not improved significantly,
ergence, which implies 'value-change
Nehrtu andI a lady Prime Minister, is as 86 per cent of them possess lower
for institutional rearrangement consider-
known by the people in terms of recog- status rank and only 28 per cent of
ed essential for modernisation. Some of
nising how times have changed so that them have middle status rank whereas
the difficulties pointed out by him in-
a lady rules over them. 69 per cent of the intermediate castes
clude the vast- gap betwen the elite and
The upper sections of the village have middle status rank.
the masses, sacred and secular, ascrip-
population are more aware of the pre- This overwhelming association tion bet-and achievement, self-orientation
sent day structure of the country and of ween caste rank and composite status
and collective-orientation and particula-
their suirroundings. The obvious reasons rank also supports our analysis of ristic the and universalistic values associat-
for this are their educational attain- relation between stratification and ed mo-with our social system. These dicho-
ments, their white-collar jobs, migra- dernisation on the basis of the indices tomies of values are a product of the
tion and contacts with the block and of occutpation, education, powerbasic andvalues of Hindu- social organisa-
district level leaders. cuiltural styles of living. The minor tion, such as, Karma, Diarma, Purru-
The changing character of styles of flucttuations in the rural stratification sharthas, Aparigraha, etc.26
life among the elites supports their prag- system are not strong enough to chal-
matic orientation for maintaining the lenge its basic foundation at least But in
we have analysed earlier that
status quo or for raising the present sta-
valuie-change does not come as a bar-
the existing circumstances. As suich, we
rier in the process of modemisation. It
ttis and prestige to a higher level. The cannot expect major overhauling of our
wearing of Khadli and the acceptance
is the inequal or differential accessibi-
stratification svstem with the existing
of Kucha food, water and tea from the' forces of modernisation. These forces
lity to the attributes of modemisation
which is the barrier and which is basi-
jats by the Brahmin leaders, are some rather help mainly those who are at-
of the examples of this. Toucbing ani cally due to the particularistic nature of
ready better-off. In -other words, only
our stratification system. Because of this,
'untouchable' on the farm when the the well-off sections can exploit and
institutionalisation and legitimation of
upper caste men and the former workbenefit from these emerging avenues of
modern values are partial, limited and
together is not considered polluting. But modernisation. On the basis of these
in-universalistic. Myrdal's suggestion
on certain occasions acceptance of observations at various levels we wish
that caste is an obstacle in the develop-
Kucha food from the jats and touching to arrive at certain analytical clues in
ment of India and egalitarian ideology,
'tuntouchables' in public is still consi- the following concluding section of this
cannot be accepted by us.27 The prob-
dered impure. Similarly, carrying out of paper.,
lems before us are not, as suggested by
certain rituals and practices is consider-
IV Myrdal, of changing attitudes and in-
ed useful as these still provide prestige
stitutions, abolition of the caste, or kill-
btut certain other rituals have been drop-
ped as they either no longer contribute
Overall Analysis ing of the cows, etc. As Singh suggests,
Modernisation depends upon two change is necessary in the instrumental
to status upgrading or negatively affect
the status of the practitioners. basic characteristics of society, vtz, in- or non-categoical values of the society
An analysis of the status structure of stitutionalisation of modem values and
facing modemisation.28 The caste and
the six villages on the basis of selected adaptability of the society concerned. other religious values constitute a cate-

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September 12, 1970 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WVEEKLY
TABLE 4: COMPOSITE STATUS RANKING OF DIFFERENT CASTES does not result in 'distributive justice',
as the role differentiation is confined
Caste Lower Middle Upper Upper Total within the upper segments of the rural
Middle
society.
(3-4) (5) (6-7) (8-12)
NOTES

Upper - 7(3.1) 81(36.2) 136(60.7) 224(100.0) 1 Daniel Lerner, "The Passing of

(3.0) (28.4) (52.3) (20.5) Traditional Society", Illinois, The
Free Press, 1958, pp 43-75.
Intermediate 39(7.8) 160(31.9) 183(36.4) 120(23.9) 502(100.0) 2 M N Srinivas, "Social Change in
(12.3) (68.7) (64.2) (46.2) (45.8) Modem India", Bombay: Allied
Lower and 278(75.3) 66(17.9) 21(5.7) 4(1.1) 369(100.0) Publishers, 1966; p 119 for the de.
'untouchable' (87.7) (28.3) (7.4) (1.5) (33.7) finition of 'secularisation' and pp
47-48 for the meaning of 'Wester-
Total 317(28.9) 233(21.3) -285(26.0) 260(23.8) 1095(100.0) nisation'.
(100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) 3 K W Deutsch, 'Social Mobilisation
and Political Development', Ame-
Note: rican. Political Science Review,
Volume 55, September 1961, pp
Status score 1 to 12 Lower status scores 3 and 4
First quartile at 4 Middle status score 5 494-495. See also A Etzionie 'Mo-
Second quartile at 5 Upper middle status scores 6 and 7 bilisation as a Macro-Sociological
Third quartile at 7 Upper status scores 8 to 12 Conception', The British Journal of
Sociology, Volume XIX, Number 3,
September 1968, pp 243-253.
gorical part of the value-system conclusion of our
is that modernisation of the 4 F X Sutton, 'Analysing Social Sys-
culture. These categorical values economy, orare not of the traditional
discarding tems', "Political Development and
hurdles ,in the way of modernisation. rituals and practices, will not necessa- Social Change", editors L Frinkle
Jason and Richard W Gable, New
This we witness in the case of the mo- rily result in secularisation of the norms
York: John Wiley and Sons, 1966,
demising sections of the village commu- of society. Epstein's comparative study p 24.
nity. The privileged castes and class of two South Indian villages proves that 5 David F Apter, 'The Role of Tra-
people have adopted instrumental values irrigation of fields brings economic dition in the Political Modernisa-
tion of Ghana and Uganda', "Poli-
either to enhance or to maintain their prosperity and this results in strength-
tical Development and Social
status quo in the wake of the emerging ening the traditional system in terms of Change"', editors L Frinkle Jason,
structural forces of change. This does' caste hierarchy, rituals and Jaimani Richard W Gable, op cit; pp 65-81.
not mean that they have discarded system. The dry village induces multi- 6 Daniel Lerner, "The Passing of
what they inherited from the past. The nuclear changes such as education, mi- Traditional Society", op cit, pp
43-75. Lerner considers 'empathy'
two sets of values go together, without gration, occupational differentiation and as the basic element of modernisa-
conflicting or weakening each other. weakening of norms of caste and tion. Empathy is the capacity to
The two serve in different contexts, in jajmani svstems.0 Similarly Sanskritisa- see oneself in others' situations. It
different ways, and also jointly, but fortion does not touch upon instrumental includes both 'projection' and 'in-
trojection'.
the same end which is status enhance- valuies and it results generally in hori- 7 Irving Louis Horowitz, "Three
ment or maintaining of it. Those who zontal mobilitv without disturbing the Worlds of Development - The
fail to achieve a balanced on-going vertical arrangement or structure of Theory and Practice of Intema-
coincidence of the two value-sets suffer caste system. Sanskritisation is basical- tional Stratification", New York,
Oxford University Press, 1966; pp
on the status-hierarchy in the village ly related to changes in the notions of 305-309.
community, As such, modemisation is pollution-purity, untouchability and 8 M N Srinivas, "Social Change in
an integrative, cohesive, and adjustive ritual hierarchy, etc. Modern India", op cit.
process. 9 M N Srinivas, Ibid, p 119.
Thus, modernisation is an adaptive, 10 K W Deutsch, op cit.
The classification of the 'modern, integrative and continuious process 11 A R Desai, 'Social Change and
transitional and traditional' does not ap- which does not necessarily oppose or Educational Policy', "Papers in the
ply to our context. The 'psychic' ele- weaken 'tradition'. Every societv is an Sociology of Education in India",
editors M S Gore, I P Desai and
mtent for mobility in the direction of on-going system of tradition aind mo-
Suma Chitnis, New Delhi: National
modernisation may be very much dernity. But modernity is found in cer- Council of Educational Research
there.29 But availability of resources tain to societies not on a universalistic pat- and Training, 1967; pp 91-126.
satisfy that 'psychic' element is a fore- tern, in terms of resources and 'distri- Desai considers two patterns of
most prerequisite for modernisation. modernisation (1) on the capitalist
butive justice'. In societies where the
pattern, and (2) on the non-capita-
The people express their desire to have nature of modernisation is particularis- listic pattern.
office, a high standard of living, educa- tic, inequitable and discriminatory, it 12 F X Sutton, op cit.
tion for their children, but fail to trans- results in strengthening and consolidat- 13 Joseph R Gusfield, 'Tradition and
late these aspirations into reality. This Modernity: Misplaced Polarities in
ing the position of the traditionally pri-
the Study of Social Change', The
proves our proposition that differential vileged and elite groups and in weaken- American Journal of Sociology,
nature of social groups (in terms of re- ing the position of the expropriated; Volume 72, Number 4, January
sources) does not allow mnodernisation to it thus increases the gulf between the 1967, pp 351-362. Gusfield refers
resuilt with 'distributive justice', irres- higher and lower strata. The indices of to seven 'fallacies' about tradition
and modernity. They are: (1) de-
pective of structural differentiation. In modernisation - occupation, education,
veloping societies have been static,
other words, the fruits of modernisation power and cultural styles of life - sup- (2) traditional culture is a consis-
are not' available for consurnption to port the view that modernisation in the tent body of norms and values, (3)
the rank and file in the present day so- village community so far has been con- traditional society is a homogeneous
cial set-up. social structure, (4) modernisation
fined to the privileged castes and class
replaces traditional culture, (5) the
Another point we wish to refer to in families. Consequently, modernisation two cultures (traditional and mo-

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 dem) are always in conflict, (6)
modernisation weakens tradition,
and (7) the two are exclusive in
inature and .Caracter.
14 Yogendra Singh, 'Historicity of
Modernisation', paper presented at
the seminar on Tradition and Mo-
dernity in India at IIT, Nexv Delhi,
February .3-6, 1969. See Singh's
'Caste and Class: Some Aspects of
Continuity and Change', Sociologi-
cal Bulletin, Volume XVII, Num-
ber 2, September 1968, pp 165-
186.
15 Joseph R Gtisfield, op cit.
16 Talcott Parsons, 'Evolutionary Uni-
versals in Society', Amertican Socio-
logical Revietw, Volume 29, Num-
ber 3, June 1964.
17 Yogendra Singh, 'Historicity of
Modernisation', op cit.
18 Yogendra Singh, 'Caste and Class:
Some Aspects of Continuity and
Change', op cit.
19 The data incorporated in this paper
were collected during 1965-66 for
a doctoral research programme from
three districts of Rajasthan, name-
ly, Sikar, Jaipuir and Bharatpur.
Two villages from each district
'were selected, one snb-urban and
the other renmote. These villages
were Murwa ra and Bawari from
Bharatpur, ilarmara and Bhutera
from Jaipur and Sabalpura and
Ioopgarh fram Sikar district. In
this paper we do not propose to
analy se the variables, such as sub-
region, sub-urban-rural and other
such distinictions. Our con 'ern is
mainly the analysis of the process
of modernisation with relevant ci-
tations and examples from all the
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villages on the basis of indices of
modernisation7 such as, occupa-
tion, education, power and cultu-
ral styles of life, etc. Inter-village
and inter-district comparisons are
not the central theme of this pa-
per. It is the rural stratification
system, its adaptabilitv to the mo-
dernising forces, and the resulting
trends, that form the core of this
paper.
20 Yogendra Singh, 'Caste and Class:
Some Aspects of Continuity and
Change', op cit.
21 S N Eiseistadt, 'The Maclver Lec-
ture: Social Transfornuation in
Modernisation', American Sociolo-
gical Review, Volume 30, Number
5, October 1965; pp 659-673. See
also his "Modernisation: Protest
and Change", NJ, Prentice-Hall,
Englewvoods Cliffs, 1966.
22 K L Sharma, 'Occupational Mobi-
lity and Class Structure', Man in
India, Volume 48, Number 2,
April-June 1968; pp 106-144.
23 K L Sharma, 'Stresses in Caste
Stratification: A Study of Six Vil-
lages in Rajasthan', Economic and
Political Weekly, Volume IV, Num-
ber 3, January 1969; pp 217-222.
24 K L Sharma, Ibid.
25 Talcott Parsons, op cit.
26 S C Dube, 'Modemisation and Its
Adaptive Demands on Indian So-
ciety', "Papers in the Sociology of
Education in India", M S Gore,
I P Desai and Suma Chitnis, edi-
tors; op cit, pp 33-51.
27 GCunnar Myrdal, "Asian Drama:
An Inquiry into the Poverty of
Nations", three volumes, New
York: Pantheon 1968. See for a
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Review of Myrdal's "Asian Drama"
T N Madan's 'Caste and Economic
Development', Economic and Poli-
tical Weekly, Volume IV, Number
5, February 1, 1969, pp 285-289.
28 Yogendra Singh, 'Historicity of
Modernisation', op cit.
29 Daniel Lerner, op cit, p 71.
30 T Scarlett Epstein, "Economic De-
velopment and Social Change in
South India', Bonbay, Oxford
University Press, 1962. See Indra
Deva, 'The Course of Social Chan-
ge: A Hypothesis', Diogenes,
Number 56, Winter 1966, for the
view that social change takes place
not always in relation to economic
and technological development.
The author takes the case of India
where socio-cntltural changes are
ahead of industrial and technologi-
cal progress. This has not happen-
ed in many of the Western coun-
tries where the industrial revolu-
tion was rather rapid compared to
the changes in cultural traditions.
Gusfield, op cit, states that moder-
nisation has rather strengthened
traditional norms in Indian society.
He cites the case of Hindu joint
family. The examples referred to
are of the big industrialists of
India who maintain big joint fami-
lies. The field study of the author
in the six villages of Rajasthan
also supports the view that the
joint family orgaiiisation is n-ot
weakened by modernisation, in
termns of education, migration,
white-collar jobs anid economic
prosperity. The big joint families
in the six villages are of the econo-
mically well off, upper castes and
classes, and educated people.
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