Brahmins in the modern world

Abstract

This article discusses Brahmin ‘caste’ associations in Karnataka. Extant scholarly litera-ture on the theme has inadequately addressed the conceptual questions of how caste asso-ciations are structured and configured, whether they play out differently across different levels, the contexts of caste mobilisation, etc. This article attempts to address these questions, albeit based on the specific case of the Brahmins of Karnataka. It addresses three issues. One, it suggests that caste associations force the Brahmin self to confront the non-Brahmin challenge most directly. Two, it argues that the differences between Brahmin jati-specific associations and all-Brahmin associations tell us something interesting about the nature of caste association itself. Finally, it proposes that we approach caste association as an enunciatory space, whose primary task is to publicly speak as, and on behalf of, a modern caste self.