Who is a Brahmin? The Politics of Identity in India

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Brahmins, originally in charge of the sacred sphere, followed different paths, creating therefore, within the community, many subcultures and ways of apprehending the world. From textual definitions to socio-economic adjustments, political influences and historical evolution, they went through multiple processes of identity building. Brahmin identity is indeed not an absolute notion. The various manifestations of Brahminical identities have to be pictured in contexts defined in connection with specific expressions of otherness.

This book aims at understanding this dialogue between identity and otherness, creating phenomena of differentiation. The relations to a Brahmin model, the strategies to remain part of the elite, the discourses on secularism and casteism and identity repercussions of reservation policies in favour of backward populations are some of the factors which can elucidate the construction of such separate identities. So who is a Brahmin? This study questions the notion of Brahminical identity in India today, through the contextualization of discourses emerging from contemporary middle class Brahmins settled in Delhi, Agra and Chennai. It falls within the framework of an analysis of the cultural context of politics.

Gilles Chuyen holds a Ph.D degree in Political Science from the Institute of Political Studies, Aix-Marseille III University France.

This book is a translation of a doctoral thesis submitted to the 289 Institute of Political Studies at Aix-en-Provence, Aix-Marseille III University, in June 2001. The intent of this research was to work in a transversal manner, to question values through an analysis of historical and regional disparities, to make Brahmins speak about themselves, and put these discourses into perspective by examining their ideological backgrounds.

The book, therefore, has an open time and space framework. It deals with Brahminical readings of contemporary Indian society, through issues of caste, culture and politics at the national level and with reference to more specific pockets-Delhi, Agra and Chennai-where we conducted our fieldwork.

I would like to acknowledge the following persons and institutions for helping and guiding me in my research: the Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi, with special thanks to its current Publications In-charge, Attreyee Roy Chowdhury; Professors Jayati and Gyaneshwar Chaturvedi from St. John's College, Agra; Professor Radhakrishnan from the Madras Institute of Development Studies; my Ph.D. guide, Dr Christophe Jaffrelot; the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its financial support; and Jean and Elizabeth Nandou for being my first gurus and initiators into the fascinating Indian ethos. Finally, I would like to express my love and respect to my parents for their continuous support.

After more than half a century of Independence, India with its complex society and its glorious and ancient civilization finds itself facing a number of contemporary problems that provide food for reflection. Books trying to reduce India to an 'idea' and newspaper articles grappling with the meaning of 'being Indian' are presenting debates on conflicts of values. These values concern both internal and external issues such as the working of the democratic system in a society characterized by extreme cultural diversity, economic liberalization, modernization and Westernization.

' In view of these circumstances, it is but natural that Hinduism and, consequently, the problem of caste should be in the forefront today. Apart from its religious and philosophical content, Hinduism is also a social organization of which the notion of caste is an integral part, even though the original relationship between the Hindu religion and the caste system is still a subject of debate. Whether we look at it positively or negatively as an institution, the notion of caste continues to be at the heart of any discourse on Indian society and remains active in different kinds of environments, thus offering the various possible images of its content. After assessing the historical and ideological aspects of this notion, we will deal with the one that is of prime importance today, viz., its political dimension, the central point of our analysis of Brahmin identity.

Although the word 'caste' is of Portuguese origin dating from the first wave of colonization of the Indian subcontinent, it covers notions that go back much further in time. The true origin of caste lies in the hierarchical principle underlying the Indo-European civilization, which persists in India to this day in myriad forms reflecting the different phases of its history and especially its colonial legacy.