Does caste still matter in contemporary urban India, even when the ritual and religious foundations apparently eroding? This book deals with this question through a mixed-method study of caste dynamics in metropolitan Kolkata, a city that is long assumed to be relatively insulated from rigid caste practices due to its distinct social and political history. Drawing on interviews and household observations across upper, middle, and lower caste groups from various wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the book examines how caste operates in marriage, family life, ritual, occupation, political behaviour, and everyday social interaction.
Engaging critically with Weber, Beteille, Bourdieu, Ambedkar and Gopal Guru, the study argues that while caste's formal legal and religious sanctions have weakened, it persists as embodied social and cultural capital that continue to shape identity, status, and political consciousness. The findings reveal striking asymmetries like how caste consciousness that has apparently looks as if it has waned among upper and middle castes, particularly the young and educated, yet remains stubbornly pervasive among lower castes, for whom it structures daily experiences through discrimination and exclusion.