cásts

Cásts is a term used primarily in speculative fiction and worldbuilding to denote a system of social organization in which people are grouped into durable divisions, or casts, with prescribed roles, rights, and obligations. The accent on the a is a stylistic variant found in some multilingual or fantasy texts to convey foreignness or antiquity; there is no standard spelling.

Core characteristics include defined membership criteria (birth, achievement, or ritual markers); stable boundaries between casts; limited or regulated social mobility; differential access to resources, political authority, and legal protections; and distinct cultural markers such as language, dress, or code of conduct.

Economic and political arrangements often align with cast lines, with some casts controlling particular crafts, lands, or offices. Mobility between casts is usually restricted, though some depictions allow reform in response to crisis or merit, while others enforce hereditary or ritual continuity. Enforcement mechanisms may include legal codes, social sanctions, or religious authority.

Variants may include sub-casts or overlapping networks, enabling intricate hierarchies and interdependencies. Use in worldbuilding and fiction is common to explore themes of inequality, power, resistance, and the stability of societies in imagined worlds. Cásts are fictional constructs and not a description of real-world social systems.

See also: caste system, social stratification, guilds, worldbuilding.