ABSTRACT
It has been strongly argued that the process of globalization would lead to the democratization of our social, political and cultural life.6 Partha
Chatterjee succinctly sums up the two important arguments in ‘the celebratory literature on globalisation in the 1990s’ (Chatterjee 2004: 4157). The first argument is that the process of globalization results in the removal of trade barriers by national governments, the greater mobility of people, global information flows, democratic forms of government and democratic values in social life. The second argument is that, in the new global conditions, the international community (of states and institutions) would protect human rights and promote democratic values in all the countries in the world. Chatterjee further points out that globalization is seen as a condition that enables the ‘free, unrestricted flow of capital, goods, people and ideas’ (4157). Undoubtedly, globalization has opened up new spaces beyond the nation, and has enabled the mobility of people, goods and ideas. However, whether this opening up of new spaces, the mobility of goods and ideas and the protection of global civil society would contribute to the democratization of society is a claim that needs to be critically examined. Even so, my suggestion here is that the opening up of the new global spaces is crucial to the understanding of the circulation of Dalit writing in general, and the success of Outcaste, especially with its particular articulation of a new politics of identity.
