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What I don't understand is, how do people know the caste of some individual if they want to decide if they hire them or not, how does it work? It doesn't seem l
by sva_ 4y ago
What I don't understand is, how do people know the caste of some individual if they want to decide if they hire them or not, how does it work? It doesn't seem like people are very public about their caste, so how do they get an advantage? Do the people of a caste somehow communicate with each other?!
- genocidicbunny 4y agoThings like where you're from, what your parents or grandparents did for work, even your last name, can give away your caste.
- thret 4y agoName, skin colour, and yes they can speak to each other.
- magneticnorth 4y agoMy understanding is that it can often be identified by last name, or last name + home city/region. And there are other indicators; I've been told upper casts are usually lighter-skinned, and Brahmins are often vegetarian.
- dekhn 4y agoalthough I've been aware of caste for a long time I assumed it mainly existed in india and disappeared in the US. however, in retrospect, the pauses and looks I received when I asked people where they were from in india and whether they were vegetarian make more sense now. Woosh.
- ushakov 4y agoconsider Amazon for example they have whole departments consisting exclusively of Indians and i believe their biggest non-US office is actually in India a manager may know somebody on their team who can tell your caste or maybe suggest your caste based on the region you were from this is as far i understood it
- ldjkfkdsjnv 4y ago100% this goes on at amazon all the time. One time, I googled the last name origin of a whole orgs management structure. All of them were from the same part of india.
- reaperducer 4y agoI can tell you from personal experience that it's like this at Microsoft (Bellevue and Redmond), too.
- bobobob420 4y agoyup and that is exactly the problem. Letting groups become only 1 ethnicity that is dominated by ego and bias. it is the literal opposite of diversity but no one can say anything.
- mkolodny 4y agoFrom what I’ve been told by Indian friends, someone’s last name is usually a strong indicator of what caste they’re in.
- mandevil 4y agoI can't speak for all the ways, but one way that I do know would be name: a Sikh guru in the 17th Century mandated that all of his followers change their surnames (males to Singh, females to Kaur) to try and get rid of caste discrimination among his followers.
- robinsoh 4y ago> What I don't understand is, how do people know the caste of some individual if they want to decide if they hire them or not, how does it work? It doesn't seem like people are very public about their caste, so how do they get an advantage? Do the people of a caste somehow communicate with each other?! The "I don't understand" part is interesting. I learnt one way to contextualize something 'foreign' in a quick way is to apply it to something we're familiar with. For example, in the US, one could easily describe the black-white divide as a more violently enforced caste system. Thus, I presume 'how does it work' is the same way we (American) know the 'caste' of someone applying for a job. Just based on the way someone is named, eg: Hunter, Tanner, Abigail would perhaps be identifiable as 'upper caste' individiuals while names like DeShawn or Laquisha would be identified as 'lower caste'. Then comes linguistic traits and such.
- SpicyLemonZest 4y agoBut my understanding is that skin color and first names do not reliably signal caste differences. That's exactly what I think those of us who aren't familiar with caste find confusing - it seems like caste ought to be similar to social class, but none of the markers of social class I'm familiar with seem to be relevant in caste, whereas things that are totally irrelevant to social class in my circles (last name, vegetarianism, details of religious observance) seem to have great importance.
- robinsoh 4y ago> But my understanding is that skin color and first names do not reliably signal caste differences. My understanding from a brief examination of published papers is the opposite. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285414433_Mapping_Color_and_Caste_Discrimination_in_Indian_Society https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285414433_Mapping_C... " Color and Caste Discrimination The belief in Aryan racial supremacy dominates social hierarchy practices in India. Upper caste members claim a superior lineage by tracing their “genes” to Aryans, connoting a “natural superiority” over “Shudra” and “ex-untouchables.” (The term “ex-untouchables” refers to Scheduled Castes, also known as Avarna (outside four Varna), Outcastes, Panchama, Antyaja, etc.) This chapter uses terms such as Dalits, ex-untouchables interchangeably, to refer to this population, though the socio-legal term defined to this population is Scheduled Castes—deemed as non-Aryans. Aryans textually are described as a pure, noble, and superior race: physically tall, with sharp noses and lighter skin color. Dasyus or Dasas, on the contrary, are considered of lowly origin and racially inferior due to their dark skin. Such stratification based on skin color is perhaps one of the oldest forms of discrimination and domination in human society. "
- farmerstan 4y agoIndians can tell based on looks, skin color, how they talk, etc. One of my close friends is Indian and you can definitely make a pretty good guess based on a factor of all of these.
- kromem 4y agoName, where your family is from, your diet can all indicate it. Even things like putting a hand on someone's shoulder to feel if they are wearing the thread the upper caste sometimes wear under their clothes. Apparently for those raised around the system it can be fairly easy to figure out over extended co-working.