Family and Caste in Transition: Intergenerational Conceptions of Marriage and Choice

The exploration of the ‘private domain’ in academic research often focuses on family, conjugality, kinship, and caste relations. In the Indian context, the understanding of 'private' is shaped by relationality and interdependence. The normative family institution emerges as “both site and subject of "re-traditionalisation" (Sangari 2015), reconciling contradictions between traditional familial practices and state legislation. This "re-traditionalisation" reflects tensions between patriarchal ideologies rooted in unpaid labour and the neoliberal forces influencing state-family-market relations. Caste conjugality acts as a foundational element of the normative family structure, serving as a “bedrock of reproduction” that facilitates the production of global desires. The concept of interrelatedness, derived from kinship, further shapes family institutions and normative conjugality within hierarchies of dominance and power.

This paper adopts a relational approach to examine the evolving dynamics of family concerning caste privilege and power, particularly in marital conjugality. Employing Modernization Theory and Development Idealism (DI) to analyze familial and marital transformations reveals that caste, class, and religion continue to significantly influence marital alliances and attitudes. Despite educational advancements, intergenerational beliefs uphold caste endogamy, evident in everyday negotiations that reinforce caste practices while marginalising non-normative relationships. Framing marriage as the primary institution for connection, intimacy, gratification, and dependency, the family unit perpetuates heteronormative and ‘natural’ relations that sustain caste hegemony. Ultimately, this paper aims to trace the shifting trajectories of family and marriage through a relational examination of intergenerational beliefs that mediate the social reproduction of caste, privilege, and power. Through this analysis, we can better understand how contemporary familial structures continue to reflect and reinforce entrenched social hierarchies.