Machine derived contents note: Introduction Dennis B. McGilvray; 1. Caste conundrums: Views of caste in a Sinhalese Catholic fishing village R. L. Stirrat; 2. Mukkuvar vannimai: Tamil caste and matriclan ideology in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka Dennis B. McGilvray; 3. Caste rank and verbal interaction in western Tamilnadu Stephen C. Levinson; 4. Caste and politics in India since 1947 Geoffrey Hawthorn