Are the Intelligentsia a Ruling Class

Andre Beteille What is most appealing about Ashok Rudra's paper is the manner in which it raises issues of general and permanent interest: for example, the correspondence between contradiction and conflict, the distinction between mental and manual labour, and the relation between rule and dominance. A large body of empirical evidence will be needed before a conclusion can be reached on the status and role of the intelligentsia, though Rudra has made a beginning by indicating the nature of the evidence. The present paper, in the meantime, is an attempt at seeking a little more clarity on some conceptual points.