ABSTRACT
Contemporary commentators frequently express surprise at the resurgence of caste politics in Tamil Nadu. The distinctive Dravidian regional culture had put Tamil Nadu on a path to social reform and the eradication of caste. The interpretive frame of vernacularisation can be usefully applied to an analysis of caste politics in Tamilnad. The chapter sets the context by outlining the way in which the Dravidian movement contributed to the decisive reshaping of the public arena in Tamilnad in the mid-twentieth century. It considers another vernacular transformation in which caste returned to the foreground of Tamil politics from the late 1980s onwards. The Tamil public arena evolved continuously over the course of the twentieth century, with the Tamil language being a frequent point of reference in political contestation and quotidian political practice. From 1987, a number of mobilisations were organised by caste groups seeking a presence in the public arena of Tamil Nadu.
