The Indian caste system survived 3,000 years despite legal abolition.

Evidence

While not as stable as age and gender hierarchies, the evidence suggests that arbitrary-set stratification systems also display a remarkable degree of stability. One example of this stability is the Indian caste-system, which has remained relatively intact for at least 3,000 years. While caste is no longer part of the legal order of Indian society and “untouchability” was outlawed after Indian independence in 1947, caste remains an extremely important aspect of Indian social and political life. For example, most marriages are still made within castes, politicians rely on the “caste vote,” castes continue to act as economic and political pressure groups, castes are still ranked in terms of “purity” and pollution, and intercaste violence continues to the present day. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3178

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the arbitrary-set hierarchy concept versus age/gender hierarchies being discussed throughout this chapter.