Section Article

Intersectionality: Caste Gender and Class in Contemporary India
Author(s): Prof. Nalin Mehta

Abstract
Intersectionality has emerged as a critical analytical framework for understanding the layered and interconnected structures of inequality that shape social life in contemporary societies. In the Indian context the interplay between caste gender and class constitutes one of the most enduring and complex matrices of power and marginalization. This paper examines how these three axes of identity and hierarchy operate not in isolation but in mutually reinforcing ways to structure access to resources opportunities dignity and citizenship. While caste historically determined ritual status and occupational roles gender regulated social reproduction and normative behavior and class structured economic mobility their intersections create distinctive patterns of privilege and disadvantage that cannot be fully understood through single-axis analyses. The experiences of a Dalit woman from a rural agrarian background for instance cannot be adequately captured by examining caste discrimination patriarchy or economic deprivation separately rather her lived reality is constituted by the simultaneous and compounded effects of all three. This study situates intersectionality within the broader discourse of social stratification drawing upon feminist theory subaltern studies and sociological analyses of inequality to interrogate how institutional structures cultural norms and policy frameworks reproduce layered forms of exclusion. By exploring domains such as education labor markets political participation access to justice and digital spaces the paper demonstrates that intersectional marginalization manifests both structurally and symbolically. The study also reflects on the limitations of mainstream policy approaches that often treat caste gender and class as discrete categories thereby overlooking the lived complexities of marginalized communities. Through a critical engagement with theoretical literature and contemporary socio-political developments this paper argues for a more nuanced and integrated understanding of inequality in India emphasizing the need for intersectional policy design inclusive governance and transformative social justice frameworks.