ABSTRACT
In the dominant perspective on caste, modernity, development and democracy are seen as opening up possibilities of advancement and freedom to the Dalits. Contrarily, the trajectory of modernity could be seen leading to the reproduction of Dalit subalternity and thereby paving the way for new forms of exploitation, exclusion and contradictions. To understand this process, it is necessary to map the mediations between the structures of caste dominance and hegemony and the evolving modes of engagement through an ensemble of institutions and processes like political society, party, civil society associations, electoral linkages, caste networks, etc. The argument is sought to be substantiated through an analysis of the empirical material drawn from the experience of the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh which has seen a vibrant Dalit movement since the mid-1980s.
