International Journal of Social Science & Economic Research
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Title:
Caste and Urban Housing in Mumbai

Authors:
Rudra Mohindroo

Journal: International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research (IJSSER)
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume: 10
Issue: 10
Publication Date: October 2025
DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER.2025.v10i10.049

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Rudra Mohindroo
Marlborough College

MLA 8
Mohindroo, Rudra. "Caste and Urban Housing in Mumbai." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 10, no. 10, Oct. 2025, pp. 5322-5334, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2025.v10i10.049. Accessed Oct. 2025.
APA 6
Mohindroo, R. (2025, October). Caste and Urban Housing in Mumbai. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 10(10), 5322-5334. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2025.v10i10.049
Chicago
Mohindroo, Rudra. "Caste and Urban Housing in Mumbai." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 10, no. 10 (October 2025), 5322-5334. Accessed October, 2025. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2025.v10i10.049.

References

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[2] . Naveen Bharathi, Deepak Malghan, and Andaleeb Rahman. 2019. “Neighbourhood-scale Residential Segregation in Indian Metros.” Economic & Political Weekly 54 (30), July 27.
[3] . Ankita Bhatkande, ‘“Do Not Talk Like the Other Castes”: Language and Everyday Casteism in a Marathi Brahmin Household in Mumbai’, in Caste in Everyday Life: Experience and Affect in Indian Society, edited by Dhaneshwar Bhoi and Hugo Gorringe, 271–90. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland (Palgrave Macmillan), 2023.
[4] . Contractor, Qudsiya. “‘Unwanted in My City’: The Making of a ‘Muslim Slum’ in Mumbai.” in Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of Marginalisation, edited by Laurent Gayer and Christophe Jaffrelot, 23–42. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
[5] . Shaikh, Juned. “The Housing Question and Caste, 1896–1950.” In Outcaste Bombay: City Making and the Politics of the Poor, 19–39. Seattle: University of Washington Press,2021.
[6] . Thatra Geeta “Differentiated Rehabilitation and the Geographies of Unfreedom in Post-Colonial Bombay.” Journal of Sindhi Studies 2 (2): 1-40. . 2022. https://brill.com/view/journals/joss/2/2/article-p1_2.xml
[7] . Sukhadeo Thorat, Anuradha Banerjee, Vinod K Mishra, Firdaus Rizvi. “Urban Rental Housing Market: Caste and Religion Matter in Access.” Economic & Political Weekly vols 26–27 (2015): 47-53.
[8] . Vithayathil Trina, and Gayatri Singh. “Spaces of Discrimination: Residential Segregation in Indian Cities.” Economic and Political Weekly 47, no. 37 (2012): 60–66.
[9] . Vithayathil Trina, Gayatri Singh, Kanhu C. Pradhan. “Only ‘Good People’, Please: Residential Segregation in Urbanising India.” In India’s Contemporary Urban Conundrum, edited by Patel Sujata and Goyal Omita, 45–54. New Delhi: Routledge India. 2018
[10] . Rao, Nikhil. “Peopling the Suburbs.” In House, but No Garden: Apartment Living in Bombay’s Suburbs, 1898–1964, 97–135. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.
[11] . Government of India. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. New Delhi: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2016. https://maharera.maharashtra.gov.in/sites/default/files/acts/Real_Estate_Act_2016-26-03-2016.pdf
[12] . Government of Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963. Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra, 1963. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15816/1/e_maharashtra_ownership_flats_act%2C_1963.pdf.
[13] . Times of India. “Debarring from Housing Societies on Basis of Faith, Food Goes Against Spirit of Co-op Law.” Times of India, September 30, 2023. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/debarring-from-hsg-societies-on-basis-of-faith-food-goes-against-spirit-of-co-op-law/articleshow/104056246.cms.
[14] . Natarajan, Manisha. “RERA: Built for Protection, Undone by Inaction.” Hindustan Times, May 2, 2025. https://www.hindustantimes.com/real-estate/rera-built-for-protection-undone-by-inaction-101746189967411.html.

ABSTRACT:
“When someone asks about your caste or food habits in that way, you can sense it’s about filtering you out.” — Tenant, Mumbai
Despite India’s constitutional guarantees of equality and urban inclusion, caste discrimination— long assumed to be a feature of rural, pre-modern society—continues to shape urban life in subtle yet enduring ways. Mumbai, India’s financial capital and a symbol of cosmopolitan aspiration, is paradoxically also a site where deep social divisions are embedded within the city’s housing structures. Cooperative housing societies, which were originally envisioned as democratic institutions for collective urban living, have increasingly become mechanisms of social gatekeeping. Interviewees stated that vague notions of “safety,” “cultural values,” or “community fit”, were often stated by housing societies in order selectively admit residents based on caste, religion, region, and food practices.

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