In this episode of Frontline Conversations, Vamsi Vakulabharanam, co-director of the Asian Political Economy Program and associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, unpacks how caste operates in Indian cities, often invisibly, but no less powerfully than in villages.
Speaking from the Madras Institute of Developmental Studies, where he delivered a lecture on Caste and Spaces in Indian Cities, Vakulabharanam challenges the popular belief that urbanisation dissolves caste hierarchies. Drawing on census data and comparative urban research, he shows how Indian cities remain deeply segregated by caste, class, and religion even when they appear socially mixed on the surface.
He explains how cities can feel liberating for those escaping rural oppression, yet remain profoundly unequal spaces shaped by capitalism, housing markets, labour markets, and historical patterns of settlement. Comparing Indian cities with American cities, Vakulabharanam explores how caste-based segregation mirrors racial segregation elsewhere, while also tracing how histories of colonialism, migration, and industry continue to shape cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Highlights:
-Why caste does not disappear in cities and how it reorganises itself
-How urban segregation works through housing, labour, and credit markets
-What mixed neighbourhoods can (and cannot) achieve
-Drawing parallels between caste segregation in India and racial segregation in the US
-The historical roots of urban inequality in cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai
-Why “world-class” city visions often deepen exclusion
-What fighting caste discrimination in cities realistically looks like today
Perfect for viewers interested in:
-Caste, class, and urban inequality in India
-Indian cities, housing segregation, and labour markets
-Comparative urban studies and political economy
-Neoliberalism, smart cities, and development politics
Credits:
Host: Saatvika Radhakrishna
Editing: Razal Pareed
Camera and Producers: Kavya Pradeep M and Mridula Vijayarangakumar
Special thanks to the Madras Institute of Development Studies for facilitating the interview and providing the venue.
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