Caste: the origins of our discontents

A man in the crowd

Part one. Toxins in the permafrost and heat rising all around. 1. The afterlife of pathogens ; The vitals of history ; 2. An old house and an infrared light ; 3. An American untouchable ; An invisible program

Part two. The arbitrary construction of human divisions. 4. A long-running play and the emergence of caste in America ; 5. "The container we have built for you" ; 6. The measure of humanity ; 7. Through the fog of Delhi to the parallels in India and America ; 8. The Nazis and the acceleration of caste ; 9. The evil of silence

Part three. The eight pillars of caste. The foundations of caste: The Origins of Our Discontents ; Pillar number one: Divine will and the laws of nature ; Pillar number two: Heritability ; Pillar number three: Endogamy and the control of marriage and mating ; Pillar number four: Purity versus pollution ; Pillar number five: Occupational hierarchy: the Jatis and the Mudsill ; Pillar number six: Dehumanization and stigma ; Pillar number seven: Terror as enforcement, cruelty as means of control ; Pillar number eight: Inherent superiority versus inherent inferiority

Part four. The tentacles of caste. Brown eyes versus blue eyes ; 10. Central miscasting ; 11. Dominant group status threat and the precarity of the highest rung ; 12. A scapegoat to bear the sins of the world ; 13. The insecure alpha and the purpose of an underdog ; 14. The intrusion of caste in everyday life ; 15. The urgent necessity of a bottom rung ; 16. Last place anxiety: packed in a flooding basement ; 17. On the early front lines of caste ; 18. Satchel Paige and the illogic of caste.