CASTE AND INHERITED STATUSdigging graves, handling corpses, and guard-
ing tombs.
The outcasts were formally emancipated in
1871, by the Meiji government (1868–1912). The
descendants of Burakumins were identified as ‘‘new
common people.’’ However, they continued to
face discrimination as their identity could be re-
vealed through the household register system that
included the ancestry of all Japanese families.
Although now the household register is not made
available to the public without the permission of
the family, the identity of individuals is frequently
revealed when families and employers conduct
investigations for marriage purposes and hiring
(Ishida 1992).
Rwanda, a country just south of the Equator in
Africa and which has witnessed violent ethnic
conflict is another example of a system of caste
stratification. Before European colonization, po-
litical power was concentrated in the hands of the
king and the pastoral aristocracy (Tutsi). The Tutsis
constituted only about 10 percent of the popula-
tion. Hutus, the lower caste of agriculturalists,
formed the vast majority of the population. The
lowest caste, known as Twa, were a small minority
and worked as potters, court jesters, and hunters.
No intermarriage was permitted between the
groups. The Tutsis used their political and military
power to maintain the hierarchical system (Southall
1970), particularly in central parts of the country.
This hierarchical relationship was later reinforced
under colonial rule and lasted until it was brought
to an end in the 1950s (Newbury 1988).
As Gerald Berreman (1981) has argued, the
blacks in America and South Africa, the Burakumin
of Japan, the Dalit of India, and the Hutu and Twa
of Rwanda, all live in societies that are alike in their
structure and in their effect on the life experiences
of those most oppressed. However, those at the
bottom do not accept their condition willingly.
Often too powerless to revolt openly, structurally
similar forms of domination create common forms
of infrapolitics—of surreptitious resistance. Rituals
of aggression, tales of revenge, use of carnival
symbolism, gossip, and rumor are all examples of
the strategic form of resistance the subordinates
use for open defiance under severely repressive
conditions (Scott 1990). Finally, similarities also
exist in the political consequences of preferential
policies that culturally distinct societies such as the
United States and India have adopted to reduce
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