Homo Hierarchicus: An Essay on the Caste System by Louis Dumont

Review by: S. J. Tambiah

American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Aug., 1972), pp. 832-835
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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832 AMERICANANTHROPOLOGIST [74,1972]
landscape. Levi-Strauss has put the issue demned by their ambitious scope and their
well: premature summation. In 1520 an artist
Let the earth speak, therefore, since contemporary of Diirer drew a sketch of
the men are beyond our grasp. Over and "the hierarchicaltree," with peasants grove-
above the delights which it had given ling at the bottom, the craftsmen, profes-
me . . let it at last answer up and yield sions and middle classes, and nobility duly
the secret . . What [lies] beyond these installed above, and still higher, sharing
confused appearances which are every- equal honors, the pope and the emperor.But
thing and nothing at one and the same right at the very top, two pitchfork-wielding
time? [1967:327]. peasants sat in irreverent stupor as an ex-
pression of the artist's "critical feeling"
Reference Cited toward the society of his time. This reviewis
Levi-Strauss,C. written in a similar vein, not to deny the
1967 Tristes Tropiques. New York: existence of the tree, but to say that it could
AtheneumPress. do with some shaking.
Dumont's hierarchicaltree will endureor
fall according to how it withstands one
Homo Hierarchicus:An Essay on the Caste crucial test of internal consistency: whether
it successfully integratesthe purity-impurity
System. LOUIS DUMONT.Mark Sains-
bury, trans. Nature of Human Societies principle with the theory of the varna.
Series. Chicago: University of Chicago Around this issue there hoversa suspicion of
a structuralflaw. A concrete example of this
Press; London: Weindenfeld& Nicolson, flaw shows in the unresolveddifference be-
1970. xxi + 386 pp., figures,notes, bibli-
tween North and South India. On the one
ography, index. $10.50 (cloth). [First
English ed. Original French ed., 1966, hand, Dumont maintains that the South is
Rev. AA 71:6.] more traditionalthan the North-it is said to
feel the purity-impurityprinciple "religious-
Reviewed by S. J. TAMBIAH ly," while the North sometimes feels it as
King'sCollege,CambridgeUniversity etiquette (p. 58). But on the other hand, this
same South does not fit into the varna
The original French version of Homo theory becauseit lacksKshatriyacastes.
Hierarchicus which appeared in 1966 has In Chapter II, Dumont argues that the
already been extensively reviewed. In com- pure-impureopposition underliesall aspects
menting, therefore, on the English transla- of the caste system and that "it is by
tion (whose text differs from the original implicit reference to this opposition that the
only in regard to the appendices, only one society of castes appears consistent and
being now retained), I can consider myself rational to those who live in it" (p. 44). But
relieved from the duty of surveying the Chapter III, inspired among others by
contents of the book. Dumezil, argues that the varnahierarchyis a
Perhapsreaderswill rememberin particu- result of the working of a succession of
lar the laudatory review by Yalman in Man dichotomies, the basic one being the separa-
and the sceptical assessment by Marriottin tion of status and power, and thereby the
this journal. Like Yalman,it is my view that subordinationof the King to the Brahman.
the book is a profound contribution to In India, the supremacyof the spiritualwas
Indian studies, by virtue alone of its encom- never expressed politically, and conversely,
passing attempt to fit a number of classical there never was a temporalpower which was
and contemporary works into a consistent by itself a spiritual power. At the next
scheme. The makers of global theories are a remove,priestand ruler,dharmalegitimating
rare species. And with respect to India, artha, combine, encompass,and subordinate
perhapsthe time was ripe for a man of vision the economy. It is this particularordering
to attempt a telescopic view of the society as and weighting of religion, politics, and eco-
a whole. nomy which Dumont sees as unique to
But all intellectualsystems are provisional India.
as Dumont himself would grant. And most This formulation gives rise to a host of
grand theories are in the long run con- problemsrelatingto the middle rangesof the

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 GENERAL AND THEORETICAL 833

hierarchy. How can the pure-impureprin- cal stance mirroredin the embracingword
ciple, which is declared to be so basic, ever"ideology." For Dumont, ideology reigns
condone the place of honor which the varna supreme in India, but even there ideology,
theory gives the Kingand Kshatriyacastes as he concedes, is not everything, for social
meat eaters and warriors, over and above reality extends beyond it. He proposes a
those of the merchantand agriculturalcastes method by which he claims to transcendall
which are vegetarian?Dumont is fully aware the classical dichotomies that have plagued
that the hierarchy of relative purity is con-us: idealism versus materialism, ideology
tradicted in the "medianzone" of the status versus conduct, rule versus actual fact. The
method consists in first delineating the
ladder, and his answer is as follows: "hierar-
chy cannot give a place to power as such, ideology, and then comprehending the
without contradicting its own principle. whole of reality by placing it in relation to
Therefore it must give a place to power the non-ideological aspects (which he is
without saying so, and it is obliged to closeprone to call the "material,"the "factual,"
its eyes to this point on pain of destroying the "purelyempirical").Significantly,it is in
itself" (p. 77). These words, while they may these non-ideological aspects that he finds
condone the understandableworldiness of "the equivalentof what we call relations of
the Brahmans,do not save his theory. Nor is force, political and economic phenomena,
Dumont's case much strengthenedwhen he power, territory,property,etc." (pp. 37-38).
asserts that the classical authors saw no Thus the argument is that since Indians,
contradiction between hierarchyand power, unlike Westerners,devalue politics and eco-
because they spoke only of the vamas, and nomics, such phenomena cannot therefore
"it is we who distinguish a hierarchy of be of much use in explaining Indian social
reality. (It is also for this reason that it is a
purity as a distinct social principle" (p. 78).
If we take this astonishingstatement serious-mistake to group Indian caste with Western
ly, we might be prompted to ask whether social class under the rubric of "social stra-
the argumentthat the pure-impureprinciple tification.") Ultimately, for Dumont, those
is the underlyingform of the caste system is who search for the dynamics of caste in
after all an outsider's imposition. We are politics and economics are simply barkingup
thus forced to conclude that Dumont'sfinal the wrong tree.
characterizationof the state of affairs that Now there are several difficulties in this
"power in some way counterbalancespurity position. The distilling of Indian ideology is
at secondary levels, while remaining sub- no easy process. Although Dumont relatesit
ordinate to it at the primary or non- to "conscious" aspects, he does not neces-
segmented level" (p. 78) is as much a cul de sarily find ideology in the conscious verbal
sac as Bailey's admission that the peculiar statements of present day Indians, whose
rigidity of the caste system at the ex- views he sometimes dismisses.Dumont finds
tremities is not fully explainable in terms of
ideology essentially embedded in texts,
differential control over productive re- rituals, behavioralreciprocities,and the like.
sources. If religion cows Bailey at the ex- But even the literary heritage can be dis-
tremities,then Dumont is defeated by power credited by Dumont's magisterial assess-
in the middle zone, where his "politico- ment, as for instance exemplified by the
economic" dragon holds sway, and where alleged Brahmans'"arbitraryinversion" of
horrid disjunction prevailsbetween rule and the rules for the duration of mourning,
empirical fact, despite Dumont's valiant which are not an expression of hierarchyas
efforts. Thus when dealing with Adrian "has been accepted for centuries." This is
Mayer'sdata on the meat eating Rajputsand precisely the kind of voluntaristic explana-
the non-Brahmanvegetariancastes Dumont tion Dumont deplores in Dubois and James
concedes that "in an actual situation power Mill (pp. 23-24). But let us pass over this
may victoriously offset purity," and that question of the rules for distilling ideology,
"Here, to all appearances,the principle of even if they are unclear as to when Brah-
the pure and the impure is in abeyance"(p. mans are practicingdharmaand when mere
88). force, and when we ought to believe
Next, we are logically led to Dumont's Brahmansand when not to believe them, for
philosophical,sociological, and methodologi- there is much substance to the notion of

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834 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [74,1972]
ideology embedded in culture, sometimes vincing reasonsfor traditionalAsianpolitical
unknown to the actors themselves. instability in such factors as demography
More serious is the bias which informs and logistics, the kind of superstructureand
Dumont's relegation of politics, economics, extent of taxation peasant agrariansocieties
property, etc., to the non-ideological and can bear, the efficacy of communicationand
purely empirical realm. He curiously main- control in "pedestrianstates" (to borrow a
tains that territory and locality only "inter- telling phrase from Audrey Richards), the
venes at the level of the concrete manifesta- technology of warfare, the degree of devel-
tions of the caste system" (p. 36), thereby opment and monopolisationof trade, etc.
for so demanding a scholar ignoring and A grand theology like Dumont's cannot
unwilling to come to terms with Baden- be falsified, for it can indefinitely stretch in
Powell's (and others') works on land tenure. the middle regions. There is also the ploy
These works clearly showed that Indians that "ideas are more important than behav-
could minutely conceptualize and order iour," that "in theory, power is ultimately
their materialreality, and that at least within subordinate to priesthood, whereas in fact
their own ranks,some dominantcastes could priesthood submits to power" (pp. 71-72).
visualize a splendid and jealously guarded Operatingfrom an ex post facto perspective
philosophy of equality and brotherhood. it can incorporateand digest anythingafter a
Nor should we forget that the Dharma- fashion. It must therefore come into col-
shastras carefully pronounced on matters lision with another style of analysiswhich is
relating to property transmission and in orientation ex ante, variouslyexemplified
marriagetransactions. Indeed, the classical by writers such as Barth, Bailey, and Mar-
legal treatises conceive of the Joint Family riott. As I understandit Barth's generative
as a group of co-parcenersin landed pro- models seek to see social reality as an
perty, and focus on the rights of and rela- "emergent" phenomenon. Applied to India,
tions between its members in terms of their we could say that there are certain religious
interests in property. Dumont's conception values and caste rules which may set the
of Indian ideology is narrowerthan it need stage and act as constraints, but there are
be, but once again, if we were to accept its further levels of behavior generated which
plausibility, how successfully does his emerge as political and economic events that
formula R(o = i + r) (p. 38) explain social cannot be retrospectively reduced to the
reality? initial rulesand constraints.Or in the case of
We have a test to hand. Dumont derives Marriott, caste ranking and hierarchy is a
from his theory of varnaan explanationof a processual"outcomeof transactions"madein
notorious feature of traditional Indian certain "idioms." It is this more dynamic,
politics: he asserts that by virtue of the process oriented, and voluntaristic style of
devaluation of artha in relation to dharma, analysis that appears to appeal more to
of the ruler in relation to the Brahman students I have recently taught. They see in
priest, India was condemned to political it an inner coil of compulsionthat is lacking
instability (p. 196). This explanation is in Dumont's "idealist" comparative view,
patently unhelpful when we apply it to which does not go beyond saying that dif-
Southeast Asian polities like Burma, Thai- ferent societies may arrange, order, and
land, and Cambodia. For in these Buddhist weight their religious, political, and eco-
commonwealthsthe Brahman/Kingrelation- nomic values differently.
ship was reversedand transformed,so that it Dumont's book is, as he tells us from the
was the King who represented dharma, very beginning, a dialectical confrontation
upheld religion, and was not only conceived between the homo hierarchichus of tradi-
as bodhisatva, but also sanctified by the tional society and homo aequalis of modern
Brahmans who were merely subordinate society, between the mind of Westernman
court functionaries in the service of the and that of the Hindu Asian. And as a
King. Yet these very polities suffered from Westerner,he learns this lesson from "trans-
the same chronic instability, expansionsand lating" caste values into the language of
contractions, rebellions and assassinations, Westernman: "how man as a member of a
characteristicof India. Those of us who are caste can teach us about man as an individu-
more pragmatic-mindedmay see more con- al, about ourselves" (p. 236). As proof of

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 GENERALAND THEORETICAL 835
the lesson that hierarchyis a universalneces- on BritishRace Relations.New York &
sity, he reveals that discrimination and London: Oxford UniversityPress.
racism, totalitarianism, and social class Yalman,Nur
1969 De Tocquevillein India: An Essay
emerge when hierarchicaldistinction is made on the Caste System (review article).
illegitimate, and in spite of Westernsociety Man (NS) 4:123-131.
ideologically willing itself to be a collection
of individuals.
As an Asian I am tempted to ask whether Americansand Chinese:Purposeand Fulfill-
I ought not to attempt the opposite intellec- ment in Great Civilizations.FRANCISL.
tual journey. Can modern society built up K. HSU. Introduction by Henry Steele
on equality and individualism-assuming Commager. Garden City, NY: Natural
with Dumont that these are its ideological History Press, 1953, 1970. xxviii + 493
underpinnings-teach me something about pp., appendix, references, index. $12.50
my own society? Such an inquirymight lead (cloth).
me to hypothesize that "individualism"in
India is not only to be located in the frontier Reviewed by SHUICHINAGATA
religions of the world renouncers who are Universityof Penang
located on the margins of society (and
whose realization of the self is its very Comparative studies of literate civiliza-
dissolution). Make individualismillegitimate tions have long engageda wide spectrum of
and you get a transformedand lively self- scholarsand thinkingmen the world over. In
seeking, largely oriented to particularistic contrast to Britain, where anthropology
loyalties and untutored by an abstract ethic tended to be equated with micro-sociology,
of the collective good, expressed in politicalAmericananthropologistshave been actively
bargaining and factionalism, in the unin- involvedin this areaof study since the works
hibited pursuit of power or money, which of Kroeber, Kluckhohn, and Benedict. Pro-
are manifest at all levels of the Indian fessor Hsu'sbook, an entirely new versionof
political scene. Is this the other side of thehis 1953 and 1968 publications under the
Indian hierarchicalcoin, not merely recently same title, follows this tradition and the
but traditionallyas well? And how much of method of analysis which he discussedelse-
this is a feature of universalman as well? where (1969).
Finally, in light of this book we may ask In addition to an introduction by Henry
what happens to homo hierarchicus in Steele Commager,the book is dividedinto a
Britain. The Rose Report informs us that prologue, three major parts for the substan-
Indians (and Pakistanis)appear to live with tive discussion of the two civilizations,and
discrimination at the political and occupa- an epilogue. In the first part, the basic
tional level, while preservingthe autonomy orientations of the American and Chinese
cultures are presented as American self-
of their social life. Hindus have long lived in
political subordination while thinking their reliance and Chinese interdependence.The
religious and social life superior to that of second part takes up the analyses of these
their overlords. In contrast, West Indians, orientations as they are manifested in the
the heirs to an originally unequal racial institutions of kinship,government,religion,
and economic activities. The last part is
situation, devoted to the idea of an egalitari-
an and democratic Britain, are deeply dis- heterogenous, if only in appearance.It con-
appointed that some are more equal than sists of somewhat more explicit evaluations
others. of the strengths and weaknesses of the re-
spective civilizationsand, by way of synthe-
sis, how the Chinese, under the Communist
ReferencesCited regime,are now overcomingtheir weaknesses
and how America should understand the
Marriott,McKim
1969 Review of Homo hierarchichus: attraction of communism in China and else-
Essai sur le systeme des castes. Ameri- where. The epilogue concludes the book
can Anthropologist71:1166-1175. with an appeal of a sort for the restora-
Rose, E. J. B. and associates tion, in America, of primary groups as a
1969 Colour and Citizenship:A Report point of anchorage for individual security

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