Cast(e) in Concrete: Unpacking the Embeddedness of Caste in the Private Housing Infrastructure in India

Caste is the helm of the Indian society producing relations of hierarchy, power, discrimination and inequality. The parallels between caste and race become evident through their shared role as structures perpetuating social and economic dominance. Contrary to the expectations of B.R. Ambedkar, who believed that urbanisation would offer discriminated groups escape

from the shackles of caste (Ambedkar, 1984), the persistence of caste is observable in contemporary times. Caste-based inequalities do not get filtered out in the urban space and continue to manifest in global spaces, as seen with the passage of a law banning caste discrimination in Seattle in 2023.

In my recent article (Patil, 2023), I highlighted how gated communities reproduce caste-like discrimination through built structure and social relations, under the disguise of class distinction. Through this doctoral research, I intend to study the role of caste within India's urban political economy, specifically in the private housing sector. The study will focus on

understanding how the real estate industry plays a role in reproducing caste-based inequalities. It will contribute to the fields of urban political economy, urban inequalities, and critical caste studies.