'A fist is stronger than five fingers': caste and dominance in rural northIndia

This paper explores the spatiality of caste and power in contemporary rural north India. I aim to introduce the social institution of caste to a non-s pecialist audience and illustrate how caste is changing. The paper draws up on Pierre Bourdieu's notions of social capital and habitus and the India-ba sed research of Srinivas (1955) and Mendelsohn (1993). I argue that while c aste as a religiously sanctioned system of resource transfer is in decline, caste organization and identity are important forms of social or symbolic capital for rural elites. Drawing on detailed empirical research in western Uttar Pradesh, I demonstrate the continuing importance of caste dominance in the reproduction of social inequality and relate caste to other axes of power.