Question

What are the differences between Caste and Class?

Hint:

Caste = ascribed, closed, endogamous, ritual ranking. Class = achieved, open, economic ranking.

Answer 1

Step 1: Basis of membership:
Caste membership is ascribed - fixed permanently by birth - whereas class membership is largely achieved, based on factors like income, occupation and education that can change over a person's lifetime.

Step 2: Mobility and marriage:
Caste is a closed system with almost no individual mobility between castes and mandatory endogamy (marriage within the caste); class is a relatively open system that allows upward or downward mobility, and inter-class marriage is not formally restricted.

Step 3: Basis of ranking:
Caste hierarchy has traditionally been legitimised by religious notions of ritual purity and pollution, while class hierarchy is based on secular, economic criteria such as wealth, property and occupation.

Final Answer:
Caste is an ascribed, closed, endogamous system ranked by ritual purity, while class is an achieved, relatively open system ranked by economic position - making class far more permeable to individual mobility than caste.