ABSTRACT
Through its investigation of the underlying political economy of gender, caste and class in India, this book shows how changing historical geographies are shaping the subjectivities of Dalits across India in ways that are neither fixed nor predictable. It brings together ethnographies from across India to explore caste politics, Dalit feminism and patriarchy, religion, economics and the continued socio-economic and political marginalisation of Dalits.
With contributions from major academics this is an indispensable book for researchers, teachers and students working on new political expressions, gender identities, social inequalities and the continuing use of the notion of ‘caste’ identity in the oppression of subalterns in contemporary India. It will be essential reading in the disciplines of politics, gender, social exclusion studies, sociology and social anthropology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |50 pages
Introduction We ask you to rethink
part I|44 pages
Imagining a new Dalit women’s politics
chapter 2|20 pages
For another difference
part II|92 pages
Dalit women’s conceptualizations of caste difference and their means of collectivization
chapter 3|34 pages
Gendered negotiations of caste identity
chapter 5|29 pages
Microcredit self-help groups and Dalit women
part III|89 pages
A broken empowerment? Are women still trapped by caste and patriarchy?
chapter 7|28 pages
Different Dalit women speak differently
chapter 8|30 pages
Subsidising capitalism and male labour
part IV|74 pages
Religion as Dalit political practice