Replication and consensus : untouchability, caste and ideology in India

In his book, An untouchable community of South India, Michael Moffatt argues that the untouchables live in consensus with the wider Indian culture by replicating among themselves virtually every relation and institution from which they have been excluded by the higher castes. The present article closely examines Moffatt's arguments and, in particular, the relationship between 'replication' and 'consensus', Moffatt's key concepts. It shows that there is no necessary link between them. Furthermore, even though untouchables may refer to caste ideology to explain the inferiority of the castes below them, they do not accept their own position within the system. It is also claimed that the term 'outcastes', which has become practically obsolescent, nevertheless expresses an essential aspect of the untouchables' condition, for Harijans (as they are now called) are both within and without the system.