This paper explores the institution of caste and its operation in a micro-level
village setting of West Bengal, an Indian state, where state politics at grass roots
level is vibrant with functioning local self-government and entrenched political
parties. This ethnographic study reveals that caste relations and caste identities
have overarching dimensions in the day-to-day politics of the study villages.
Though caste almost ceases to operate in relation to strict religious strictures,
under economic compulsion the division of labour largely coincides with caste
division. In the cultural–ideological field, the concept of caste-hierarchy seems to
continue as an influencing factor, even in the operation of leftist politics.