Caste in India is a deeply embedded socio-cultural institution. It is described as both static and fluid due to its evolving manifestations through mobility, legal safeguards, and socio-economic transformations. This paradox reflects how caste adapts to changing circumstances without completely losing its foundational structure.

Why Caste Identity is Static

1. Hereditary and Endogamous Nature

   • Caste status is determined by birth, and most communities still practice strict endogamy.
   • Example: NFHS-5 (2019–21) shows over 91% of marriages occur within the same caste.
   • Honor killings in states like Haryana, UP, and Rajasthan are driven by attempts to break this caste endogamy.

2. Ritual Hierarchies and Notions of Purity-Pollution

   • Practices like untouchability, though legally banned, persist socially.
   • Restrictions on entry to temples, participation in community functions, and shared dining still occur in parts of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Gujarat.
   • Manual scavenging and caste-based taboos remain linked to purity-pollution ideology.

3. Caste-Linked Occupations

   • Certain castes continue to be associated with traditional hereditary jobs (e.g., barbers, washermen, scavengers, goldsmiths).
   • Example: A study by Azim Premji University (2020) found that inter-generational occupational mobility remains limited for SCs and STs.

4. Residential and Spatial Segregation

   • Dalits often live in separate hamlets (Dalit bastis) in villages and urban ghettos in cities.
   • Example: Segregated settlements in rural Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu still reflect spatial exclusion.

5. Politicization of Caste

   • Caste-based parties (e.g., BSP, RJD, DMK, PMK) and identity blocs use caste loyalties to consolidate votes.
   • Caste census demands reflect the continued political salience of caste identities.

6. Social Stigma and Stereotyping

   • Despite economic progress, Dalits and OBCs often face workplace discrimination, derogatory caste-based slurs, and social avoidance.
   • Studies (e.g., Indian Institute of Dalit Studies) have shown hiring biases against Dalit names in job applications.

Why Caste Identity is Fluid

1. Urbanization and Migration

   • In cities, caste-based networks often weaken as people migrate for work and live in anonymous, mixed environments.
   • Informal economies, like construction or gig work, promote caste-neutral employment interactions.
   • Example: Migrant workers in cities like Delhi or Hyderabad form new solidarities based on region or occupation, not always caste.

2. Education and Economic Mobility

   • Reservation policies in education have allowed Dalits, OBCs, and Adivasis to enter prestigious institutions like IITs, AIIMS, and central universities.
   • Rise of Dalit entrepreneurs (e.g., Milind Kamble and Kalpana Saroj) and professionals has challenged caste stereotypes.
   • Aspirational middle class among OBCs and Dalits redefines caste identities in economic terms.

3. Legal and Constitutional Empowerment

   • Article 15, 17, and 46 provide legal safeguards against discrimination.
   • Laws like SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Protection of Civil Rights Act, and reservation in government jobs and legislature give institutional strength.
   • Supreme Court judgments (e.g., NALSA vs Union of India, 2014) have also challenged rigid identity norms.

4. Social Mobility and Sanskritization

   • Sanskritization (M.N. Srinivas): Lower castes imitate upper-caste customs (vegetarianism, wearing sacred thread, adopting upper-caste names).
   • Example: Yadavs, once cattle herders, now politically powerful in Bihar and UP.
   • Simultaneously, Dalit assertion movements reject Sanskritization and embrace Ambedkarite values.

5. Assertion and Identity Politics

   • Dalit Panthers, BAMCEF, Bhim Army represent assertion rather than assimilation.
   • Rising cultural capital among SC/ST/OBC youth using education, social media, and mass mobilization.
   • Rise of Bahujan literature and cinema, and music as counters to caste hegemony.

6. Inter-caste Marriages and Constitutional Tools

   • Special Marriage Act (1954) allows inter-caste unions without religious conversion.
   • NCRB data shows low but rising inter-caste marriage rates; supported by schemes like Dr. Ambedkar Foundation’s Rs. 2.5 lakh incentive for such marriages.
   • Such marriages are more common in urban areas and among educated classes.

7. Digital Platforms and Social Movements

   • Online activism empowers marginalized voices (e.g., Dalit Twitter, anti-caste YouTube channels).
   • Crowdsourced documentation of atrocities and casteism increases visibility and resistance.
   • Emergence of online anti-caste discourse reshapes traditional caste narratives.

Caste identity in India straddles both persistence and transformation. It remains static in ritual, social, and political terms, particularly in rural areas. Yet it is also fluid, as individuals and communities adapt, resist, or negotiate caste through education, mobility, law, and collective action.

To dismantle the enduring structural inequalities, the challenge lies in deepening social reforms, promoting inclusivity, and ensuring substantive equality that goes beyond token mobility.