# Caste and Urbanization with Malini Ranganathan and Juned Shaikh

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/caste-and-urbanization-with-malini-ranganathan-and-juned-shaikh
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/caste-and-urbanization-with-malini-ranganathan-and-juned-shaikh.md
Podcast: [New Books in South Asian Studies](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341)
Published: 2026-05-11T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK1091948056.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK1091948056.mp3
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Duration seconds: 4349

## Resource

This episode features a conversation with urban geographer, Malini Ranganathan, and historian, Juned Shaikh, on the centrality of caste to urbanization in India. Through a focus on 20th century Bombay (now Mumbai) and 21st century Bangalore (now Bengaluru), we explored the symbiotic relationship between caste and capitalism manifest in the political economy of urbanization from the heyday of industrial capitalism to contemporary neoliberalism. We also delved into the continuities between rural and urban caste relations as seen, for instance, in caste networks that remain key to the movement of capital from rural land to real estate. In addition to the centrality of caste in shaping urbanization, we also considered changes to caste wrought by its role within urban processes. The final part of the episode shifted to a discussion of oppositional mobilization among the urban poor, from the upsurge of literary and political activity among Dalits in Bombay and Bangalore in the 1950s-70s to the ongoing pushback against the threat of dispossession and displacement by real estate and finance capital. Guest bios Malini Ranganathan, Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University Juned Shaikh, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz References Khumbarwada: a historic potters’ colony now located within Dharavi, Mumbai (Bombay). OBC: shorthand for Other Backward Classes, a Government of India classification for socially and educationally disadvantaged castes who are beneficiaries of affirmative action. OBCs are distinct from and considered to be relatively more advantaged than the Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, and Scheduled Tribes, or Adivasis, who also benefit from affirmative action. SC/ST: shorthand for Scheduled Castes and S…

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