Caste and Untouchability

Coprology and Caste: The Status of Sewerage in Ahmedabad, India

by Stephanie Tam

Rethinking Postcolonial Democracy: An Examination of the Politics of Lower-Caste Empowerment in North India

by Jeffrey Witsoe

Corruption as Power: Caste and the Political Imagination of the Postcolonial State

by Jeffrey Witsoe

Miért nem léphet be a súdra a szentélybe?

by Ferenc Ruzsa

Why cannot a shudra enter the sanctum?

A short essay on the origins and logic of Indian tolerance and caste discrimination A short essay on the origins and logic of Indian tolerance and caste discrimination

Family prestige as old-age security: Evidence from rural Senegal

by Jean-Luc Demonsant

This paper aims at studying the self-enforcing family contract between a migrant son and his ageing father who... more This paper aims at studying the self-enforcing family contract between a migrant son and his ageing father who remained in the village and expects to receive support. In 2004, a household survey conducted in the Senegal River Valley was especially designed to account for the complex socio-political structure of the local institutions. The empirical results suggest that the social rank of the family within the village is a key to the enforcement mechanisms at work. Indeed, while belonging to a prestigious family lowers the probability of migrating, it raises the probability of frequently remitting to the patriarch. Conversely, sons from historically disadvantaged groups are more likely to both migrate and cut ties with their village of origin, including their family. Additional qualitative evidence is rather suggestive that despite their economic success, low status migrants keep being stigmatized in their village of origin. Hence, inheriting his father's dominant position in the village represents a strong incentive for a migrant son from a high-ranked family to remit. Under such circumstances, patriarchs from prestigious families only, can actually rely on their migrating sons as old-age security.

Changes in Mahatma Gandhi’s views on caste and intermarriage

by Mark Lindley

Published in “Hacettepe University Social Sciences Journal,” v.1 (2002)

The university (which is in Ankara) later abandoned this online journal. Earlier versions of the article were published in 1999 in English by the University of Kerala, in Hindi by the National Gandhi Museum (New Delhi) and in Kannada translation by K.V. Subbanna. Given here is a slightly updated version of the 2002 publication.

Gandhi’s views in regard to basic aspects of the caste system changed in the last years of his life. In the 1920s he... more Gandhi’s views in regard to basic aspects of the caste system changed in the last years of his life. In the 1920s he had held that every Hindu “must follow the hereditary profession” and that “prohibition of intermarriage” between people of different varnas is “necessary for a rapid evolution of the soul.” But later he gradually became “a social revolutionist,” advocating intermarriage between Brahmins and Untouchables in order to dismantle the caste system “root and branch,” and acknowledging that “When all become casteless, monopoly of occupations would go.” The changes were due in part to the influence of two opponents of the caste system whose integrity he held in high regard: Ambedkar and Gora.
Gandhi’s view of marriage between people of different religious affiliations underwent a similar change.

Gandhi and humanism

by Mark Lindley

Published in 1995 as a booklet by the Humanist Chaplancy at Harvard University, and in later editions and translations.  The 4th edition is given here.

An account of Mahatma Gandhi’s views in regard to caste (a religious issue in India), theism vs atheism, euthanasia,... more An account of Mahatma Gandhi’s views in regard to caste (a religious issue in India), theism vs atheism, euthanasia, etc.

A Review of the Indian Association of Women's Studies XIII National Conference; 'Resisting Marginalisations, Challenging Hegemonies; Revisioning Gender Politics'.

by China Mills

Psychology of Women Section Review, 2011, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 28-33.

Caste, Ethnicity and Inequality in Nepal

by David Gellner

2007 in Economic and Political Weekly 42(20): 1823-8.

Uttar Pradesh: Untouchability and politics

by manuela ciotti

Forthcoming, chapter in The Many Indias. A Reader on ethnography after Independence, Peter Berger & Frank Heidemann (eds), Routledge

A retrospective on the anthropological imagination on Uttar Pradesh (north India) since India's Independence A retrospective on the anthropological imagination on Uttar Pradesh (north India) since India's Independence

Census and caste: debating caste enumeration in Census 2011

by Kamala Kanta Dash

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/southasiamasala/2010/06/11/census-and-caste-debating-caste-enumeration-in-census-2011/

The Indian census is a decennial exercise started by the British colonial power in 1872.  It has been religiously... more The Indian census is a decennial exercise started by the British colonial power in 1872.  It has been religiously followed ever since. The 2011 census, the 15th since the first and the 7th after independence, is touted to be the biggest ever in the history of mankind. This mammoth exercise will cover all 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than six hundred thousand villages of the country. More than 2 million primary teachers have been trained to act as enumerators for this census. It  would count more than 1.2 billion people on their socio-economic characteristics including gender, religion, occupation and education. The debate about whether to include ‘caste’ in the 2011 census or not has divided the political and academic spectrum alike.

Dr Ambedkar on Aryan Debate

by Devendra Ingle

Dr. Ambedkar on Aryan Debate. Dr. Ambedkar on Aryan Debate.

Review of Gidwani's CAPITAL INTERRUPTED

by Betsy Taylor

ABSTRACT:    This excellent study of dynamic interactions of global capitalism, caste and religious... more ABSTRACT:    This excellent study of dynamic interactions of global capitalism, caste and religious identities, financial flows, agricultural labor, and state ideologies and policies (both British Imperial and Indian national) is richly grounded in close observation of the micropolitics of village life in western India.

Caste, social stigma and identity processes

by Rusi Jaspal

Jaspal, R. (2011). Caste, social stigma and identity processes. Psychology and Developing Societies, 23(2), 27-62.

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Caste persists as an important socio-psychological phenomenon in many spheres of Indian social life and particularly... more Caste persists as an important socio-psychological phenomenon in many spheres of Indian social life and particularly within village contexts. It is argued that socio-psychological insights into caste identity and caste-based stigma may complement ongoing sociological and anthropological research into caste. Drawing upon identity process theory, this paper explores the possible functions performed by caste-based stigma both for the higher caste groups (HCG) and the ‘Scheduled Caste’ (SC) groups. It examines how the maintenance of the social hierarchy implicated in the caste system, the spatial and endogamous separation of caste groups and the historical division of labour in accordance with caste group affiliation may impinge upon identity processes among both groups. It is argued that caste group affiliation and caste-based stigma have differential and sometimes conflicting implications for identity processes among the HCG and SC. While negative social representations of the SC may threaten self-esteem among SC members, it may enhance the self-esteem, meaning and distinctiveness principles among the HCG. The systematic positioning of the caste ingroup and outgroups within the social matrix may enhance meaning and distinctiveness among both the HCG and SC. This paper highlights a potential rationale underlying caste group members’ resistance to social change vis-à-vis caste, even among those who might be expected to benefit from such change. Some theoretical points are made in the form of testable hypotheses and methodological issues in caste-related research are considered.

Writing and Agency: A Minor Critique of Mahasweta Devi’s Narration

by Ajay Sekher

അയ്യപ്പനും വിജയനും: ഒരു പാഠാന്തര ബഹുജന വായന

by Ajay Sekher

Self-Consciousness of the Dalits as “Subalterns”: Reflections on Gramsci in South Asia.

by Cosimo Zene

published in 'Rethinking Marxism', 2011, 23: 1, pp. 83 — 99

re-published in Green, Marcus (ed.) 2011, Rethinking Gramsci, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 90-104.

In this article I reflect on Gramsci’s category of the ‘‘subaltern,’’ taking into consideration recent contributions... more In this article I reflect on Gramsci’s category of the ‘‘subaltern,’’ taking into consideration recent contributions to this topic, particularly those offered by Joseph Buttigieg, Giorgio Baratta, and Marcus Green. The latter, besides presenting an eloquent critique of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s article ‘‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’’ allows me to return to Gramscian sources so as to carry out a radicalization of Gramsci’s positions with reference to the experience of ‘‘Untouchables’’/Dalits in South Asia. There is little doubt that inquiry into the ‘‘subaltern question’’ in India
today cannot ignore the ‘‘Dalit question.’’ The case study referring to the Rishi-Dalits of Bangladesh accentuates still further the precarious position of these groups as
subalterns, but also their aspiration to overcome subalternity.

Key Words: Subalterns, Dalits, Antonio Gramsci, South Asia, Bangladesh

Myth, identity and belonging: The Rishi of Bengal/Bangladesh

by Cosimo Zene

published in 'Religion' 37 (2007) pp. 257-281

This essay discusses the politics and relevance of myth and myth making in relation to the subordination of... more This essay discusses the politics and relevance of myth and myth making in relation to the subordination of Untouchables in South Asia. Through the case study of one particular group e the Muchi-Rishi of Bengal/ Bangladesh, traditionally skinners, leather-workers and musicians e it is argued that ex-Untouchables do not share the ideology of caste which places them on the lowest echelon of society. This is in contrast with the case of ‘Untouchable myths of origin’ offered by anthropological research (Michael Moffatt, Robert Deliège) in South India, Tamil Nadu. However, another set of counter-myths recounted by the Rishi, centred around the figure of Ruidas, offers an alternative which allows them to gain a self-ascribed identity.
Far from engaging in a ‘theological’ struggle, the idiom of religion and myth becomes for these ‘ex-Untouchables’ and subaltern groups a ‘place of resistance’ from which they can hope to better themselves also in the economic, social and political spheres, as part of their overall endeavour to achieve full human dignity. For some Rishi, this process has taken the form of a long journey from being defined an ‘Untouchable’ to becoming a Dalit.

“Bonafide Tribals”: Religion and Recognition Among Denizens of Mumbai's Forest Frontier

by William Elison

This essay discusses a predicament confronting semi-urban members of
the Warli community, a tribal (adivasi)... more This essay discusses a predicament confronting semi-urban members of
the Warli community, a tribal (adivasi) group whose settlements occupy the
wooded northern frontier of the city of Mumbai. Much of this area is
administered as a nature reserve, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, with
adjacent sections having been opened to development by business
interests, prominent among them the Bollywood film industry. When first
an environmental NGO and then the film studios sought to drive the
Warlis from their land, Warli NGOs responded in court first by enumerating
their presence and then by establishing a connection between those
abstract numbers and constructions of tribals already circulating in legal
discourse and other privileged channels—ideas, images, and narratives
that could frame them as a certain kind of community whose relation to a
certain kind of space gave them legitimate rights of occupancy. At stake in
these conflicts, I argue, was the problem of recognition. Invisibility, which
had so long defined the condition of denizens of the Indian wilderness,
was no longer a refuge; once the forest zone had been absorbed within the
realm of polity, it became incumbent on the Warlis to claim recognition as
fellow subjects in whatever terms were practicable or be consigned to
abjection.

Immanent Domains: Gods, Laws, and Tribes In Mumbai

by William Elison