Abstract:
Caste has been widely studied as a determinant of socio-economic inequality in India, but its role in shaping economic processes remains less explored. Drawing on existing literature and fieldwork, this paper explores how caste has constrained India’s transition from a predominantly agrarian economy to a more productive, job-generating, and inclusive modern economy. Unlike many countries in the Global south including East Asian countries, where economic transformation helped absorb surplus labour into manufacturing and related sectors, India’s development trajectory remains marked by agrarian stagnation, limited employment generation, and persistent social inequality. This talk will demonstrate how caste shapes economic transformation in India.
About the speaker:
Kalaiyarasan is an Associate Professor of Development Studies at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He was previously with the Planning Commission (NITI Aayog) of India, Institute of Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), Delhi. He was also a Visiting Assistant Professor and Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs (WIIPA), Brown University, a research affiliate at the South Asia Institute, Harvard University, Visiting Fellow at IIT-Bombay and Visiting Faculty at National Law School, Bangalore. His works among others include The Dravidian Model: Interpreting Political Economy of Tamil Nadu, which he co-authored, was published by the Cambridge University Press. His research focuses on the political economy of development, Fiscal Federalism and structural inequalities in the Global South.