A caste system is an extreme example of stratification, a social structure that includes several mutually exclusive populations; it is one of the extreme forms of social discrimination based on class, ethnicity, or culture. In societies with a caste system, membership is determined at birth and remains the same throughout life; any transition between social classes is impossible, as is the marriage of representatives of different castes (McDowell, 2019). The importance of this term lies in the need to draw public attention to the extreme form of discrimination still existing in the modern world to raise awareness of the need to abolish this system. Although caste systems exist in only a few countries, the importance of understanding this term remains for members of other communities as a historical and social example of the inadmissibility of discrimination.
The caste system was originally intended to streamline life, clearly distributing responsibilities among members of society; it assumed the absence of unhealthy competition and the denial of social justice at the level of material goods. However, in modern society, the existence of a century-old system of restricting all types of social mobility is unacceptable, as well as restricting the freedom of professional and social choice.
Reference
McDowell, P. (2019) Political anthropology: A cross-cultural comparison. In N. Brown, T.F.
McIlwraith, & L.T. Conzalez, L.T. (Eds.). Perspectives: An open invitation to cultural anthropology (pp. 148-179), p. 167. American Anthropological Association.