New Books Network Upper Caste Liberalism with Ravikant Kisana
Mar 16, 2026
Ravikant Kisana, dean and author focused on cultural and critical caste studies, discusses the rise and performative modernity of upper-caste millennials. He explores how endogamy, institutional networks, and shifting claims from castelessness to caste pride shape social reproduction. Short, sharp conversations trace power, intra‑caste fractures, and the political consequences of these trends.
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Performance And Filters Replace Legal Exclusion
- Performance sustains caste under a constitutional equality framework by filtering access through capital and cultural cues.
- Elite universities and gated housing become non-legal barriers that reproduce Savarna dominance.
Aesthetics Polices Who Counts As Modern
- Performances of cosmopolitan taste signal who belongs; language, leisure, memes police social boundaries.
- Kisana shows shifts in cultural markers (e.g., Bollywood stigma reversing) as performance evolves.
Judge Scholars By Praxis Not Just Publications
- Savarna scholarship often remains performative: strong writing but weak institutional praxis.
- Kisana proposes auditing scholars' actual mentorship, admissions decisions, and hiring to judge commitment to equity.
