Caste dominance and territory in South India: understanding Kammas’ socio-spatial mobility

Journal article

AbstractThis article argues that taking territory into account is essential to understand the change in the scale and nature of caste dominance in contemporary India. The demonstration is based on an analysis of the socio-spatial trajectories of the Kammas—a dominant caste from Coastal Andhra, where they continue to own most of the land, even though they have migrated in large numbers towards the interior and southern regions of the Indian peninsula, both to newly irrigated areas and to the cities. The key positions they occupy in the politics and economy of Andhra Pradesh confer upon them a hegemonic character. However, this hegemony is threatened by the growing resistance of Dalits to caste and class oppression, while Kamma cultural domination, long contested in Telangana, is now challenged by the formation of the new state.

Authors: Benbabaali, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Modern Asian Studies
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1938-1976
• Publication date: 2018-07-06
• DOI: 10.1017/s0026749x16000755
• EISSN: 1469-8099
• ISSN: 0026-749X
• Language: English