The Interpretation of Caste Book

	List of Figures and Table
1	The Problem Before Dumont	1
	The Entrenched View of Caste	1
	The Word 'Caste'	4
	Is Caste an Orientalist Construct?	12
2	Dumont's Theory of Caste	21
	Epistemology and Sociology	21
	The Distinctiveness of Caste	25
	Status, Power, and Encompassment	30
	The Structuralist Interpretation of Caste	31
	Dumont's View of Empiricism	35
	Dumont's Critique of His Critics	37
3	The Problem With Dumont's Solution	39
	Why the Problem is not Simply about Caste	39
	The Sociological Bridge between Traditional and Modern Societies	41
	Power and Legitimacy	45
	Structuralism	52
4	The Pure Brahman and the Impure Priest	54
	The Ideal Brahman in the Real World	54
	Priests and 'Others' as Vessels of Inauspiciousness	68
	The Limits of Transcendence	82
5	Caste and Kinship	87
	Hypergamy	87
	Isogamy	101
	Hierarchy and Endogamy	111
6	Caste and Kingship: Hocart's Theory	114
	Kings and Priests	114
	Problems with Hocart's Theory	122
	The Ideologies of Caste	131
7	The Courts of Kings and Washermen	142
	A Model of Caste Systems	142
	The Explanation of Caste	158
	Bibliography	171
	Index	181