Contested Hierarchies

This collective study of the urban civilization of the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, is the most complete and approachable account yet of a regional caste system. All the major Newari viewpoints are covered: low castes as well as high, artisans as well as priests, Buddhist as well as Hindu, rural as well as urban.

The ten papers in this volume approach the Newars through an examination of individual castes ... Along the way many fascinating details of the life of the Kathmandu Valley emerge ... This volume is the most comprehensive ethnographic account of the Newars so far, lent extra richness by the differing perspectives the contributors bring to it. The editors present their arguments for the salience of the Newars in re-assessing the wider debate on caste in the subcontinent with admirable clarity. Students of Nepal, of South Asia and of Hinduism, as much as professional anthropologists, will find this a thoroughly rewarding work.

This volume is the most comprehensive ethnographic account of the Newars so far, lent extra richness by the differing perspectives the contributors bring to it ... Students of Nepal, of South Asia and of Hinduism, as much as professional anthropologists, will find this a thoroughly rewarding work.

Not only provides an innovative study into the role caste plays in the Kathmandu Valley, but also develops a systematic approach for the study of caste in general. The book is a well-rounded and balanced work.