caste: A Pathfinder

This is a computer-generated pathfinder created against the Distant Reader study called caste.

Each Distant Reader study carrel is composed of many individual items. Each item is bibliographically described with author, title, date, summary, and keyword values. Below is a list of the items' most signficant keywords as well as lists of the items themselves. Purpusing the content of this pathfinder provides the student, researcher, or scholar with one way to get their heads around the scope of the carrel. The keywords include:

India; Dalit; Ambedkar; Women; Social; Society; People; Discrimination; Groups; Identity; Health; Movement; Life; Cent; Tamil; Justice; Students; Sri; Colonial; Book; Wrongs; Dominant; Heart; बादल; Ari

Depending on how this pathfinder was created, many of the bibliographic sections will include elaborations on the meaning(s) of the given keywords. These elaborations were generated by feeding the items' summaries to a large langauge model and asking the model to address the question, "What is X?", where "X" is the keyword. The result will be a few sentences of elaboration. Be forewarned. The elaborations are often plausible, but they should not be take as truth. Instead, they should be taken as points for consideration.

• The Empire of Disgust: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Policy in India and the US: Zoya Hasan, Aziz Z. Huq, Martha C. Nussbaum, and Vidhu Verma by Sampath, Rajesh (2020) - When majorities institute this distinction by ‘projecting, irrationally, smelliness, hyper-animality, and hyper-sexuality’ onto other minority groups, the majority creates an illusory distance from its own ‘animality’ and ‘mortality.’ This critical addition of the category of ‘disgust’ sheds new light on traditional research in law and social policy to examine modalities of social exclusion and therefore, ways to craft sound recommendations to mitigate or eliminate them. Keywords: disgust; exclusion; india; policy
• Population-Poverty Linkages and Health Consequences: Understanding Global Social group Inequalities by Acharya, Sanghmitra Sheel (2020) - The robustness of the relationships between primary care, income inequality, and population health was tested in weighted multivariate regressions, income inequality measures such as Gini coefficient, Robin Hood Index) and were found to be significantly associated with mortality. Economic policies that increase income inequality are also known to have a detrimental effect on population health (Wilkinson, 1986, 1997; Keywords: access; caste; children; countries; discrimination; economic; exclusion; groups; health; income; india; inequality; journal; mortality; māori; new; non; percent; population; poverty; status
• Caste and Consequences: Looking Through the Lens of Violence by Pal, G. C. (2020) - The analysis reveals that consequences of caste violence are manifested in social, economic, psychological, and moral terms. Analysis Analysis primarily revolves around the patterns of caste violence over the years and its larger consequences. Keywords: act; cases; caste; consequences; crimes; india; justice; new; pal; rights; scs; victims; violence
• Why a Journal on Caste? by Simon, Laurence; Thorat, Sukhadeo (2020) - In 2011/12, of the total gap in per capita monthly consumption expenditure between the scheduled castes and high caste, about 60 per cent was due to differences in ownership of capital assets (land and enterprises), employment and education, but the rest 40 per cent was due to caste discrimination. In UK, after a report on the caste discrimination faced by the Dalits or the scheduled caste in India, the British Government tabled a bill for legal safeguards against caste discrimination, which is pending final approval. Keywords: article; caste; cent; discrimination; employment; india; journal; rights; system
• Persisting Prejudice: Measuring Attitudes and Outcomes by Caste and Gender by Thorat, Amit; Khalid, Nazar; Shrivastav, Nikhil; Hathi, Payal; Spears, Dean; Coffey, Diane (2020) - Why do many general caste women say they support women working outside the home even though it is the group with the lowest labour force participation rate among women? Is the fact that general caste women report experiencing less violence than women in other social groups a true difference, or due to differential reporting? Amongst Hindus, they are higher for OBCs, SCs, and STs than general caste women as well as Muslim women. Keywords: attitudes; caste; data; groups; india; outcomes; research; sari; survey; violence; women; work
• Reimagining Resources: Analyzing the Politics of Dalit Land Struggles in Kerala, India with Special Reference to Chengara by Parikkappalli, Joshy P. M. (2025) - Chengara land struggle was not a spontaneous movement. During his long tenure in SMPA, Ayyankali frequently raised land issues and demanded favors from the government (Saradamoni, 1980, pp. 159–160). Keywords: ayyankali; caste; chengara; dalit; gopalan; government; india; kerala; laha; land; movement; party; people; society; state; struggle; system; travancore
• The Psychomachia of Caste and Psychoanalysis in India by Dwivedi, Divya (2024) - Its tenacious regularity can be gauged from the fact that even today, of upper castes who are less than ten per cent hold most of the elected positions, and more than ninety per cent of positions in judiciary, financial institutions, academia, media, and culture industry. The Hindu Hoax: How upper castes invented a Hindu majority. Keywords: ambedkar; anti; caste; ego; father; freud; function; health; india; law; life; mind; polynomia; psychoanalysis; psychomachia; repression; society; unconscious; upper; verneinung; world
• Defining Bodies, Health, and Work of Dalits: The Decisive Role of Caste in Kerala, India by Kannothu Thazha Kuni, Nandu (2024) - Caste discrimination affects Dalit health beyond limited access to health services or wider determinants like education, employment, income, and housing. The observations leading to such a perception among health workers include inadequate sanitation facilities, improper garbage disposal, and a lack of clean water sources in Dalit colonies, which can contribute to the spread of diseases and health issues among Dalits. Keywords: caste; dalits; data; exclusion; health; india; kerala; labeling; laborers; lack; resistance; study; village; wage; work; workers
• Struggle for Emancipation and Dalit Consciousness in the Autobiography My Father Baliah by Koyya, Sivatejaa Kahul (2025) - The objectives and issues that predominantly feature in Dalit life narratives also constitute what Margo Perkins calls “rewriting the self” where “struggle against the Struggle for Emancipation and Dalit Consciousness in the Autobiography Similarly, Dalit life narratives are also identified as countering the “silence and misrepresentation of Dalits” (Rege, 2006, p. 13) and a “source of intrusion in the calm, contemplative and reflective mode of autobiographical writings” (Kumar, 2018, p. 60). Keywords: baliah; caste; colonial; dalit; english; father; india; life; literature; modernity; narratives; satyanarayana
• Witch Hunting: A Form of violence against Dalit Women in India by Yadav, Tanvi (2020) - The most common reasons to accuse and declare women witches are personal disputes or enmities, sexual desires towards women of the lower caste, coveting property of single women. Apart from establishing power over fellow humans, control over use of resources is gained by targeting Dalit women be it with sexual assault or witch hunting. Keywords: caste; dalit; hunting; india; law; patriarchy; social; state; superstitions; village; violence; witch; witch hunting; witchcraft; witches; women
• Ambedkar’s Emancipatory Constitutionalism by Thorat, Sukhadeo (2024) - brandeis.edu/j-caste Ambedkar’s Emancipatory Constitutionalism “Rights are Real only if they are accompanied by Remedies.” —Dr. Ambedkar, 1947 Sukhadeo Thorat1 Chief Justice of India Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud delivered a lecture on the theme of “Reformation Beyond Representation: The Social Life of the Constitution in Reme- dying Historical Wrongs”, at the Sixth International Conference on the “Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Law, Caste, and the Pursuit of Justice” at Brandeis University, Waltham (USA). Dr. Ambedkar goes on to say that: “The reason why it (the British Government) did not intervene is because it is afraid that its interventions to amend the existing code of social and economic life, will give rise to resistance” (Busi 2016). Keywords: ambedkar; caste; chandrachud; constitution; constitutionalism; india; justice; majority; rights; social
• Redefining Justice: Legal Scholarship in Critical Caste Studies by Wadekar, Disha (2024) - According to Dr. Ambedkar, caste persists as a legal code with harsh penalties for the violation of its rules: “Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate the code” (Ambedkar 2020b). However, these discussions often overlook the role of law as a crucial element to be examined in the context of caste studies. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; ccs; india; justice; law; scholars; studies; system
• Remedying Historical Wrongs: Plain-speaking in the Time of India's Rise by Mitta, Manoj (2024) - In what he frames as “social law vs. constitutional law”, Justice Chandrachud says that the arguments in courtrooms demonstrate that there is “a constant tussle between constitutional aspects of the law and entrenched social practices”. It was therefore apt that Justice Chandrachud recalled his 2018 judgment in a lecture he delivered at Brandeis University five years later on the subject of “remedying historical wrongs”. Keywords: caste; chandrachud; india; justice; social
• “Reformation Beyond Representation: The Social Life of the Constitution in Remedying Historical Wrongs” by Chandrachud, Dhananjaya Y (2024) - Diversity therefore needs to be understood from the perspective of representation and social discrimination. In essence, his vision for constitutionalism emphasized not only the protection of fundamental rights but also the active promotion of social equality and justice, making it a cornerstone of modern India’s democratic framework. Keywords: action; ambedkar; caste; communities; constitution; discrimination; equality; india; law; representation; rights; society; vol; wrongs
• Sex as a Weapon to Settle Scores against Dalits: An Quotidian Phenomenon by Diwakar, Jyoti (2020) - The semiotic expression of the sexuality of upper caste and lower caste women needs to be explored in the context of sexual violence on Dalit women. Sex as a Weapon to Settle Scores against Dalits: A Quotidian Phenomenon 125 Similar atrocious punishments persist in modern India against lower caste women. Keywords: ambedkar; cases; caste; community; dalit; delhi; dominant; india; land; new; rape; social; state; violence; women
• From a Wretched Past to an Uncertain and Undignified Future: The Open Secret of Manual Scavenging in India by Parida, Sanghamitra; Chichuan, Krushna (2024) - That is to say, it is fair to say that all the people who are known as the Dalits are not manual scavengers but it is for sure that all those people who do manual scavenging are necessarily Dalits. Eradication of inhuman practice of manual scavenging and comprehensive rehabilitation of manual scavengers in India. Keywords: caste; fact; india; manual; practice; scavengers; scavenging; social; women; work
• On the margins of Healthcare: Role of Social Capital in Health of Migrants in India by Abhishek, Shriyuta; Kannuri, Nanda Kishore (2021) - By the last place of residence 53 (86.8) Both by place of birth & by the last place of residence 49 (80.0) Exclusively by place of birth 8 (13.1) Exclusively by last place of residence 4 (6.5) Migration stream Frequency (%) Sub-state level Rural to urban 25 (41.0) Urban to Urban 36 (59.0) State-level Intra-state migration 52 (85.2) Inter-state migration 11 (18.0) Total participants (n) 61 (100) Social capital Two forms of social capital have been reported, cognitive social capital and structural social capital. In India, the various dogmas of the theory of social capital have not been studied to their potential, especially in the domain of public health. Keywords: access; capital; caste; chhattisgarh; group; health; healthcare; india; migrants; migration; people; percent; services; state; study
• The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India: Ajantha Subramanian   by Narayan, Vivek V. (2020) - Chapter five describes the role of the IIT-JEE examination in positing the IITs as meritocracy in action, and the changing demographics enabled by the ‘coaching factories,’ which bring in non- Brahmins caste elites who are seen to be the ‘wrong kind of upper castes.’ ’9 Subramanian’s emphasis on meritocracy as a technology for caste consolidation leads her to advance Deshpande’s influential argument about the normative ‘castelessness’ of upper castes. Keywords: book; caste; cisco; discrimination; education; iits; india; merit; meritocracy; new; privilege; reservations; subramanian
• Laying the Ground for a Critical Psychology of Caste by Jogdand, Yashpal (2024) - Increasingly, researchers have been using the concept of habitus to conceptualize the psychological impact of caste identity in the Indian educational context (Khanal 2024; Malish & Ilavarasan 2016; Renukuntla & Mocherla 2023). Many studies directly or indirectly include a focus on addressing the psychological impact of caste identity by invoking constructs such as stigma, social identity, exclusion, and discrimination. Keywords: ambedkar; approach; caste; context; dalit; discrimination; exclusion; health; identity; india; journal; press; psychological; psychology; research; social; system
• Buddhist Roots of Ambedkar’s Judicial Philosophy by Queen, Christopher Scott (2024) - While I have developed this hermeneutic in another study, I believe it will prove useful in this context.16 Dr. Ambedkar regularly invoked three slogans in his campaigns for human rights. Dr. Ambedkar: Life and mission. Keywords: ambedkar; buddha; buddhist; caste; conversion; dhamma; india; philosophy; religion; roots; society; time; vol; years
• Justice for the Marginalized in a Constitutional Democracy by Narasimha, P.S. (2024) - The Origins and Impact of Criminal Tribes Act 1871 Let us discuss the Act first. CEDE is a network of lawyers, law firms, judges, and other organizations and individuals, who are committed towards reforming the Indian legal profession.1 CEDE works towards improving the representation of minorities like Dalits, Adivasis, Other Backward Classes, Nomadic and Denotified Tribes, transgender persons, persons with disabilities, and people from North East India within the legal profession and judiciary. Keywords: act; communities; criminal; democracy; discrimination; equality; fraternity; india; justice; law; tribes
• Politicising the Public Space: On Dalit Women Sanitation Workers in India by Patil, Smita M. (2024) - This article investigates the nature of the stigmatized labour of Dalit women sanitation workers (who come under the manual scavenging community) within diverse public urban spaces. This article investigates the nature of stigmatized labour of Dalit women sanitation workers (who come under the manual scavenging community) within diverse public urban spaces. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; dalit; gender; india; labour; manual; public; sanitation; sanitation workers; scavenging; social; space; women; women sanitation; women workers; workers
• Caste-ing Space: Mapping the Dynamics of Untouchability in Rural Bihar, India: Bluestone Rising Scholar 2021 Award by Prasad, Indulata (2021) - I noticed that when Dalits walked into non-Dalit areas to perform specific tasks for grihast households, or collect wages, or seek a loan from them, it appeared customary for non-Dalits to inquire about the presence of ‘other caste’ or ‘outsiders’ in their space although the reverse never occurred in my presence. Kaari residents are categorized within non-Dalit castes (i.e. Yadav, Kahar) and Dalit castes (i.e. Bhuiyan, Dushad, Pasi). Keywords: bhuiyan; bhuiyan dalit; bihar; caste; dalits; dih; india; kaari; kachcheri; land; non; resources; segregation; space; untouchability; village; water; women
• Editorial Essay by Arya, Sunaina (2020) - What is more disturbing is that the caste norms and practices against Dalit women, have not disappeared in spite of laws against them. They are the raison d’être for the persistence of sexual 1Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India E-mail: sunainaarya9@gmail.com xii CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 1, No. 2 exploitation of Dalit women even today. Keywords: brahmanical; cases; caste; dalit; feminist; gender; india; mainstream; patriarchy; rape; rights; savarna; south; vol; women
• Introduction by Gurung, Ashok (2020) - Arya argues that caste is essential for understanding the increasing violence against women and young girls and why we must interrogate arguments about Savarna feminists that ignore and undermine the lived experiences, aspirations and political agency of Dalit women in South Asia. 1Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs, The New School E-mail: gurunga@newschool.edu Introduction vii The articles by Jyoti Diwakar, Tanvi Yadav, and Amit Thorat offer important contemporary context and analysis on why violence against Dalit women persists. Keywords: caste; dalit; gender; india; new; scholars; women
• Cover and Table of Contents by Simon, Laurence (2020) - Dolly Daftary University of Massachusetts Boston, USA SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Afia A. Adaboh Brandeis University, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS Jaspreet Mahal Brandeis University, USA PRODUCTION EDITOR Vinod Kumar Mishra Indian Institute for Dalit Studies, India UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Matthew Sheehy Brandeis University, USA OJS TECHNICAL MANAGER Brian Meuse Brandeis University Library, USA CASTE A GLOBAL JOURNAL ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION LEGACY OF GENDER AND CASTE DISCRIMINATION VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; President, International Economics Association; former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Krishna Bhattachan, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Kevin D. Brown, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, USA Ipsita Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, USA Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, India Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India Ashok Gurung, Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs , The New School, New York, USA John Harriss, Professorial Research Associate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Eva-Maria Hardtmann, Associate Professor and Director of Studies, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita of the Practice, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA Sushrut Jadhav, Clinical Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Psychiatry, University College London; Consultant Psychiatrist & Medical Lead, Focus Homeless Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust; Clinical Lead, C & I Cultural Consultation Service; Founding Editor, Anthropol- ogy & Medicine journal (Taylor and Francis, United Kingdom); Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, London, United Kingdom Chinnaiah Jangam, Assistant Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada S. Japhet, Vice Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University, Bengaluru, India Sangeeta Kamat, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA Joel Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, USA David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Samuel L. Myers, Jr., Roy Wilkens Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice and Director, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA Balmurli Natrajan, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, William Patterson University, USA Purna Nepali, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal Katherine S. Newman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts system, Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, USA Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Services Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, University of Chicago, USA Devan Pillay, Associate Professor and Head, Depart- ment of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (Retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA Jehan Raheem, Former Founding Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme and Former UNDP Resident Representative, Burma (Myanmar)  Anupama Rao, Associate Professor of History, Barnard and Columbia Universities, USA Amilcar Shabazz, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department for Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA A.B. Shamsul, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Ethnic Studies, The National University of Malaysia Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Research Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka Harleen Singh, Associate Professor of Literature, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University, USA Jebaroja Singh, Visiting Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies, St. John Fisher College, USA Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Social Anthropology Program Director, Harvard University, USA Abha Sur, Scientist in the Science, Technology and Society Program; Senior Lecturer, Program in Women and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Goolam Vahed, Associate Professor, History, Society & Social Change Cluster, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Gowri Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor of Sociology and South Asian Studies, Brandeis University, USA Annapurna Waughray, Reader in Human Rights Law, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School, USA Copyright © 2020 JOINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Laurence R. Simon Brandeis University, USA Sukhadeo Thorat (Emeritus) Jawaharlal Nehru University, India EDITOR Joseph K. Assan Brandeis University, USA REVIEWS EDITOR Keywords: associate; brandeis university; department; india; professor; school; studies; university; usa
• Clearing of the Ground - Ambedkar's Method of Reading: Bluestone Rising Scholar Honorable Mention 2021 by Kawade, Ankit (2021) - In V. Moon (Ed.), Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and speeches: vol. 1 (pp. 3–22). In V. Moon (Ed.), Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and speeches: vol. 3 (pp. 95–148). Keywords: ambedkar; clearing; ground; hindu; history; india; madness; method; reading; thinking
• 'The Foresighted Ambedkar: Ideas That Shaped Indian Constitutional Discourse’: Anurag Bhaskar by Kumar, Shubham (2024) - These include Raosaheb Kasbe’s Marathi book Dr. Ambedkar Ani Bhartiya Rajyaghatana, translated in English as Dr. Ambedkar and the Indian Constitution (Kasbe, 2016) and DC Ahir’s Dr. Ambedkar and the Indian Constitution (Ahir, 1997). The book 1Advocate, Supreme Court of India Email: kumarshubham2309@gmail.com 526 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 5, No. 3 also demolishes several myths spread against Dr. Ambedkar, such as that he wanted to burn the Constitution, or that he wanted quotas in jobs and education to end after a period of ten years. Keywords: ambedkar; bhaskar; caste; constitution; india; justice
• Documenting a Caste: The Chakkiliyars in Colonial and Missionary Documents in India by S, Gunasekaran (2021) - This paper is a small part of a larger ethnohistory project that strives for a comprehensive history of the Chakkiliyars and conceptualizes its historical experience – of being ‘untouchable among the untouchables’ – in a broader context of the history of lower caste and mobilizations in South Asia. These observations, no doubt, indicate the efforts of certain missionaries to abolish caste inequalities and to bring lower castes like Chakkiliyar, Paraiyar, Pallar, and Shanar into the Church and its educational institutions. Keywords: caste; census; chakkiliyars; colonial; community; district; government; hand; history; india; journal; leather; madras; new; people; press; south; tamil; village; vol; workers
• The Policy Paradox: Persistent Manual Scavenging Despite Reform Efforts by Anurag, Anurag Kumar (2025) - The content analysis method is used to examine the various laws, schemes, and policies enacted to eradicate manual scavenging. The article emphasises the need for a holistic approach to end manual scavenging, emphasising that effective reform requires policy promises and actionable, systemic change. Keywords: act; caste; government; india; lack; manual; policy; practice; sanitation; scavengers; scavenging; social; state; workers
• Caste Prejudices in Denial: Analyzing Student Perceptions in an Indian University by Yadav, Anupam; Singha, Dhiraj (2025) - Dhiraj Singha2 Abstract How do caste prejudices vary across students from different socio-economic communities? The findings provide empirical insights into the literature around caste prejudice and inform policies to eradicate caste-based discrimination, especially in higher education. Keywords: caste; caste prejudice; cpi; discrimination; economic; education; exclusion; group; india; journal; levels; perceptions; prejudice; reservation; students; university
• Caste Matters in Public Policy Issues and Perspectives: Edited by: Rahul Choragudi, Sony Pellissery and N. Jayaram by Komath, Rajesh (2025) - Upper castes like Rajus and Kepus did not wish to migrate as the land is abundant and the patron-client relationship in the traditional jati order placed them above lower castes like Malas, Setti Balijas, and Goudas. Lower castes were able to get benefits from the government only when they made initial progress through the migration to Persian Gulf. Keywords: caste; chapter; communities; context; dynamics; groups; india; policy; reservation; scs; state
• Jetor: An Unrecognized Caste Community in West Bengal by Roy, Debdas (2025) - Thus, on the basis of this latter etymological meaning, and also on Jetor: An Unrecognized Interstitial Caste Community in West Bengal, India 455 the basis of a popular myth of their origination from water, one meaning of the word ‘Jator/Jatord’ is caste people who are ‘borne by water current’. In fact, the denomination ‘Jetor’ which the Jetor people accept only half-heartedly (the young generation in Jetor community do not like the denomination at all because it smacks of social stigma) was invented either by the elderly members of the Jetor community or by the so called ‘upper caste’ people who considered them to be their social ‘inferiors’. Keywords: bengal; caste; community; ghorai; india; jetors; jhargram; mahar; maity; p.s; people; river; rural; social; society; surnames; west; western
• Researching with Dalit Women Activists: An Intersectional Feminist Social Work Approach by Kumar, Shewli (2025) - The study, a cross-case/context study (state-wise), enabled Dalit women leaders from the grassroots (villages and urban peripheral localities) to frame, develop and research sexual violence against Dalit women. Through critical and participatory engagement with Dalit women activists via the initiatives of the National Council for Women Leaders collective, this article elucidates the experiences of sexual violence faced by Dalit women in India. Keywords: activists; approach; caste; dalit; feminist; india; justice; research; social; violence; women; work
• Hate Speech against Dalits on Social Media: Would a Penny Sparrow be Prosecuted in India for Online Hate Speech? by Sajlan, Devanshu (2021) - While comparing Indian ‘caste-based hate speech’ law with International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), this article attempts to answer two principle questions: (i) whether caste based hate speech ought to be regulated only when there is incitement to violence or hatred, or it can also be regulated when it violates the right to dignity of a marginalized community; and (ii) whether hate speech should also be prosecuted when it is directed against an entire community, as opposed to being directed against particular individuals. Racial discrimination and caste based discrimination: violation of dignity Keywords: article; caste; community; discrimination; hate; hate speech; icerd; india; international; law; para; rights; section; social; speech
• Sickle Cell Disease: A Review Article on Social Pathology, Social Determinants, and Poverty by Khaparde, Sunil (2025) - These repeated experiences of discrimination foster deep medical mistrust among SCD patients, which, in turn, is directly linked to reduced engagement in preventative care, poorer disease management, and lower adherence to prescribed treatments. The characteristics of an individual’s neighborhood and built environment directly influence health outcomes for SCD patients. Keywords: access; caste; cell; cell disease; cent; determinants; disease; gene; health; healthcare; india; individuals; management; patients; poverty; research; scd; sickle; sickle cell
• Baby Kamble's The Prisons We Broke as an Anti-Caste Manifesto by SOMA MANDAL, SOMA MANDAL (2025) - His method articulated a modern conception of political history and freedom by altering or defying the existing conventions of caste social history. Over centuries, anti-caste writings have taken different forms, such as novels, short stories, poems, and critical thought that speaks against widespread casteism and cultural discrimination against Dalits. Keywords: ambedkar; animals; baby; caste; community; dalits; existence; gods; history; india; kamble; lives; mahar; practices; prisons; writings
• From Lhasa to Dharamshala: Statelessness and Identity in the Tibetan Exile Diaspora by Kohar, Sara; Kumar, Naresh (2025) - He asserted that Tibetans who have been living in Tibet, not members of the exile administration, will head the government of free Tibet as it will ensure accountability and transparency. 1: Map of historical Tibet and its current administrative divisions under the People’s Republic of China. Keywords: china; chinese; dalai; diaspora; exile; global; government; identity; india; lama; people; tibet; tibetan
• Caste and Emancipatory Quest: Ethnography of Dalits in an Urban Neighborhood : Rama Devi by Sarkar, Ratan; Juvvaka, Santhosh (2025) - The book thereby 1Assistant Professor, Tezpur University (A Central University), Assam, India 2Assistant Professor, Assam Don Bosco University, Assam, India E-mail: 1ratan91@tezu.ernet.in, 2santhosh86.jnu@gmail.com Caste and Emancipatory Quest: Ethnography of Dalits in an Urban Neighborhood 489 challenges modernization theory’s assumption that caste is a “traditional” institution bound to vanish in urban contexts (pp. 5–7). While the book has limitations in scope and comparative reach, it stands as a significant contribution to caste studies, urban sociology, and the wider quest for social justice in India and beyond. Keywords: book; caste; dalit; india; urban
• An Integrated Approach to Caste in Sri Lanka by Esler, Dominic (2025) - In other words, while scholars working elsewhere in South Asia approach caste per se as an important comparative topic, in Sri Lanka caste is usually enclosed and circumscribed within a framework of essentialised Tamil Hindu or Sinhala Buddhist identities that precludes similar comparative investigations. An Integrated Approach to Caste in Sri Lanka Dominic Esler1 Abstract In this article I argue that Sri Lankan caste research has been inhibited by the widespread popular assumption that caste manifests in Sri Lanka in the form of parallel and incommensurate ethnoreligious caste systems. Keywords: approach; buddhism; cambridge; caste; caste systems; ceylon; colombo; ethnicity; hindu; india; jaffna; journal; lankan; new; press; religion; research; silva; sinhalese; society; sri lanka; studies; system; tamil; theory; university
• Fracturing the Historical Continuity on Truth: Jotiba Phule in the Quest for Personhood of Shudras by Das, Snehashish (2021) - D Scholar, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi E-mail: mx.snehashish@gmail.com Fracturing the Historical Continuity on Truth: Jotiba Phule in the Quest 31 Introduction Jotirao Govindrao Phule, alias Jotiba Phule, is associated with the renaissance in Indian history; considered to be the father of modern India, and endearingly called Mahatma (great soul) within anti-caste traditions. brandeis.edu/j-caste Fracturing the Historical Continuity on Truth: Jotiba Phule in the Quest for Personhood of Shudras Snehashish Das1 Abstract Anti-caste traditions in India work to understand and examine the idea of personhood which the majority in India is deprived of by virtue of being born in the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy. Keywords: caste; continuity; essence; history; india; jotiba; life; marriage; peasant; personhood; phule; satyashodhak; shudras; subject; truth; woman
• Journey with Rural Identity and Linguicism by Kumar, Deepak (2021) - Consequently, minority language medium students are suffering an inferiority complex and consequently losing their confidence. Cutting across language mediums students participate without any hesitation in such an environment. Keywords: caste; classroom; discrimination; education; english; india; institutions; instruction; knowledge; language; medium; mother; power; students; university
• The Identity of Language and the Language of Erasure: Urdu and the Racialized- Decastification of the "Backward Musalmaan" in India by Umar, Sanober (2020) - ‘Traditional professions’ that lower caste Muslims had practised in the qasbas (market oriented towns of the gentry/Nawabs) of Lucknow such as rickshaw pullers, tongawallas (carriage drivers), ghasals (those who bathe dead bodies), gorkuns (undertakers) pheriwalaas (roaming vendors), brass band players, kaanmailiya (ear wax fixers), malishiya (massagers), weavers in traditional zardozi and chikankari handicrafts, leather tanners and even hijras (hermaphrodites/eunuchs ) witnessed an accelerated decline in their professions as they lost their patronage as protected and recognised groups working for elite Muslim local cultural economies when the country transitioned from a colonial to a post-colonial economy (Hasnain, 2016). Mohammed Shahabuddin Querishi, a resident of the severely neglected Ballochpura mohalla in Lucknow, populated by mostly Dalit-Muslims remembered: Unlike elite Muslims, the Partition was never an incentive for us to migrate to Pakistan as our local business [as butchers] was here, and we did not want the stigma of muhajirs29 in addition to being lower caste Muslims there. Keywords: ashraf; backward; caste; colonial; community; culture; dalit; hindu; histories; identity; india; islam; language; leaders; lucknow; minority; muslims; new; pasmanda; politics; pradesh; press; social; state; university; urdu; uttar
• Manual Scavenging in India: The Banality of An Everyday Crime by Shankar, Shiva; Swaroop, Kanthi (2021) - Keywords Manual Scavenging, Caste Atrocity, India, Dalit Women, Human Rights, Safai Karmachari Andolan The Unparalleled Social Abuse of Manual Scavenging ‘Manual scavenging’ is the term used to describe the practice of ‘manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit,’ and a ‘manual scavenger’ is a person engaged in or employed for manually carrying human excreta. The central horror of manual scavenging is the fact that it is an inherited occupation, decided at the very birth, by caste. Keywords: caste; crime; february; government; human; india; manual; people; scavenging; social; women; workers
• Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents: A Historical Reflection On Two Cultures by Sundiata, Ibrahim K (2021) - Keywords caste, African American, Wilkerson, racial order, Dalit-slave comparison Introduction In 2020 Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, published Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents. Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai (2020), critiquing her, remarks: ‘either India has no underlying social programme, grammar and theory, and its social world is simply caste all the way up and down (something I doubt), Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents: A Historical Reflection on Two Cultures 19 or Wilkerson’s dramatic unearthing of caste under the surface of race in the US is just a literary device to tell a familiar American story in an unfamiliar way and is not based on a genuine similarity.’ Keywords: ambedkar; american; black; caste; dalit; dubois; gandhi; india; king; new; percent; race; rights; south; states; united; white; wilkerson
• “I Can’t Breathe”: Perspectives on Emancipation from Caste by Simon, Laurence (2021) - Pranjali Kureel’s Indian Media and Caste: of Politics, Portrayals and Beyond contends that the hegemony over the Indian media industry by dominant castes has powerfully inflicted “epistemic violence over the oppressed castes as it helps dominant discourses to prevail and shapes popular perceptions and culture.” Like white privilege, there is caste privilege in high Brahmanical societies, and like white supremacy, caste supremacy is responsible when Dalits choose suicide over humiliation at universities or when high caste men gang rape Dalit girls in rural villages. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; india; people; rising; sampath
• Cover and Table of Contents by Manager, J-CASTE (2021) - I T Y Volume 02 :: Issue 01 April 2021 ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste http://brandeis.edu/j-caste JOINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Laurence R. Simon Brandeis University, USA Sukhadeo Thorat (Emeritus) Jawaharlal Nehru University, India EDITOR Joseph K. Assan Brandeis University, USA REVIEWS EDITOR Jebaroja Singh St. John Fisher College, USA SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Afia A. Adaboh Brandeis University, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS Jaspreet Mahal Brandeis University, USA PRODUCTION EDITOR Vinod Kumar Mishra Indian Institute for Dalit Studies, India UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Matthew Sheehy Brandeis University, USA OJS TECHNICAL MANAGER Brian Meuse Brandeis University Library, USA CASTE A GLOBAL JOURNAL ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION PERSPECTIVES ON EMANCIPATION VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; President, International Economics Association; former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Krishna Bhattachan, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Kevin D. Brown, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, USA Ipsita Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, USA Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, India Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India Ashok Gurung, Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs , The New School, New York, USA John Harriss, Professorial Research Associate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Eva-Maria Hardtmann, Associate Professor and Director of Studies, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita of the Practice, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA Sushrut Jadhav, Clinical Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Psychiatry, University College London; Consultant Psychiatrist & Medical Lead, Focus Homeless Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust; Clinical Lead, C & I Cultural Consultation Service; Founding Editor, Anthropol- ogy & Medicine journal (Taylor and Francis, United Kingdom); Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, London, United Kingdom Chinnaiah Jangam, Assistant Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada S. Japhet, Vice Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University, Bengaluru, India Sangeeta Kamat, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA Joel Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, USA David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Samuel L. Myers, Jr., Roy Wilkens Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice and Director, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA Balmurli Natrajan, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, William Patterson University, USA Purna Nepali, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal Katherine S. Newman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts system, Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, USA Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Services Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, University of Chicago, USA Devan Pillay, Associate Professor and Head, Depart- ment of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (Retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA Jehan Raheem, Former Founding Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme and Former UNDP Resident Representative, Burma (Myanmar) Anupama Rao, Associate Professor of History, Barnard and Columbia Universities, USA Amilcar Shabazz, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department for Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA A.B. Shamsul, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Ethnic Studies, The National University of Malaysia Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Research Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka Harleen Singh, Associate Professor of Literature, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University, USA Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Social Anthropology Program Director, Harvard University, USA Abha Sur, Scientist in the Science, Technology and Society Program; Senior Lecturer, Program in Women and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Goolam Vahed, Associate Professor, History, Society & Social Change Cluster, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Gowri Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor of Sociology and South Asian Studies, Brandeis University, USA Annapurna Waughray, Reader in Human Rights Law, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School, USA Copyright © 2021 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL AND INTRODUCTION “I Can’t Breathe”: Perspectives on Emancipation from Caste Laurence Simon ....... v-viii ARTICLES A Commentary on Ambedkar’s Posthumously Published Philosophy of Hinduism - Part II Rajesh Sampath ....... 01-16 Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents: A Historical Reflection on Two Cultures Ibrahim K. Sundiata ....... 17-29 Fracturing the Historical Continuity on Truth: Jotiba Phule in the Quest for Personhood of Shudras Snehashish Das ....... 30-46 Documenting a Caste: The Chakkiliyars in Colonial and Missionary Documents in India S. Gunasekaran ....... 47-66 Manual Scavenging in India: PERSPECTIVES ON EMANCIPATION EDITORIAL AND INTRODUCTION “I Can’t Breathe”: Perspectives on Emancipation from Caste Laurence Simon ARTICLES A Commentary on Ambedkar’s Posthumously Published Philosophy of Hinduism - Part II Rajesh Sampath Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents: A Historical Reflection on Two Cultures Keywords: associate; bluestone; caste; india; professor; scholar; studies; university; usa
• Hariprasad Tamta: Father of Shilpkar Revolution in India by kumar, Sandeep (2023) - Hariprasad Tamta is not less than that 1Assistant Professor, Department of History, Government Degree College, Baluwakote, Uttarakhand, India Email: sk411625@gmail.com Hariprasad Tamta: Father of Shilpkar Revolution in India 145 Jyotipunj, which will burn itself and provide the path of illumination to the Shilpkar society with its own light. Hariprasad Tamta has an important contribution in giving a new conceptual dimension to the Shilpkar consciousness. Keywords: almora; british; caste; conference; consciousness; government; hariprasad; hariprasad tamta; india; people; shilpkar; tamta
• Retro-Modern India: Manuela Ciotti by Husain, Zeeshan (2021) - Ciotti interviews a number of women from Chamar caste and unlocks the interaction among social development, change in gender relations and modernity. She coins the term Chamar modernity to make the point that Chamars have their own version of modernity which is overlapping with, yet different from, the modernity as we understand it in common parlance. Keywords: book; caste; chamars; ciotti; dalits; education; hindu; india; modernity; women
• Ambedkar and the Buddha's Sangha: A Ground for Buddhist Ethics by Loftus, Timothy (2021) - A scientifically compatible Buddha who, for the educated and often elite Western receivers of the tradition, can play the foil to the culturally familiar Christian creator God has played a central role in the construction of Buddhism in the West.8 For Ambedkar though, the jewel that takes center stage in his modernist reception of the Buddhist tradition is, in some ways, 6B. R. Ambedkar, “The Buddha and the Future of His Religion,” Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Volume 17, Part 2, pp. Dr. Ambedkar: life and mission. Keywords: ambedkar; bhikkhu; buddha; buddhist; caste; dhamma; india; new; practice; saṅgha; social; states; tradition; women
• Reading Dalit Autobiographies in English: A Top Ten List by Queen, Christopher (2021) - In contrast to the harrowing school stories in other Dalit autobiographies, Gaikwad’s description of the training of Uchalya children is disturbing: Now Bhagwan-Anna and Samhu Bhau started accompanying Manik-Dada on thieving trips to take charge to stolen bundles. Tracing the origins of Dalit autobiography in the writings of Siddharth College and Milind College students in the 1950s, protest writers in the 1960s, and the Dalit Panthers and their followers in the 1970s, the survey identifies recurring themes of social exclusion, poverty, patriarchy, survival and assertion in the realms of politics, employment, education, and religion. Keywords: ambedkar; autobiography; caste; dalit; english; exclusion; india; life; literature; marathi; moon; movement; new; nimgade; pawar; women
• Dalit-Bahujan Feminism: A Newly Emerging Discourse: Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore by Shepherd, Kancha Ilaiah (2021) - In regional languages, several Dalit women writers have been producing plenty of writings on the struggles of Dalit women in their day-to-day life—struggles which are unknown to the dwija or the ‘upper’ Shudra women, as they have not dealt with them at any time in their known history. Sex work in the Devadasi4 form or bar sex work form is that which Dalit women are forced into; whereas globally, many women who are employable in other sectors might chose sex work as work for livelihood (Chapter 8). Keywords: bahujan; caste; dalit; dwija; feminist; india; women; work
• Caste, then Class: Redistribution and Representation in the Dravidian Model by KR, Vignesh Karthik; Vasanthakumar, Vishal (2022) - Dalit political imagination and replication in contemporary Tamil Nadu. Seen together, his agrarian and land-related laws were the first bundle of administrative measures that targeted the development of rural Tamil Nadu. Keywords: backward; caste; class; dalits; development; dravidian; india; justice; karunanidhi; model; movement; nadu; percent; periyar; politics; social; state; tamil; tamil nadu
• Struggling for Freedom from Caste in Colonial India: The Story of Rettaimalai Srinivasan by Jayanth, Malarvizhi (2022) - He reads untouchability as a complex of social, political, and economic injunctions, and caste as an external imposition, going on to argue for leadership from Dalit castes to lead the way out of caste subjugation. 13Starting with the declaration that Adi Dravida referred to the 86 Scheduled Castes (referring to the list drawn up in 1935 of Dalit castes), the Tamil pamphlet sketches a history of caste as produced by an Aryan imposition and goes on to argue that the Adi Dravida had attained several advancements under British rule. Keywords: adi; autobiography; caste; classes; dalit; dravidian; groups; india; pariah; representation; srinivasan; untouchability; work
• Between the Global and Regional: Asia in the Tamil Buddhist Imagination by Narasimhan, Shrinidhi (2022) - One of the key problematics of studying the global dimensions of a socially- and culturally-rooted movement like Sakya Buddhism is that it occupied a marginal position in the landscape of Asian Buddhism within which it was located. In this article, I explore the global dimensions of Sakya Buddhism through an intertextual reading of its journal, Oru Paica Tamilan, and the work of Asian Buddhists like Henry Olcott and Anagarika Dharmapala who were associated with the movement. Keywords: asian; buddhist; caste; dalit; dharmapala; india; journal; movement; olcott; revival; sakya; sakya buddhism; south; tamil; thass; university; world
• Conceptions of Community, Nation and Politics: The Ezhavas of South Malabar, India and their Quest for Equality by K, Anish K (2022) - This defies popular view that the Narayana movement, which originated in Travancore, fostered and shaped lower caste movements in other regions. Then responses of lower caste communities in South Malabar, India’s “blackest spot” on the untouchability map, the land of inequality, are considered for the study (Kumar, 1992; Nayar, 1996). Keywords: arya; brahmin; caste; colonial; community; ezhavas; gandhi; government; hindu; india; madras; malabar; movement; nation; new; non; politics; press; public; social; south; vol
• Cover and Table of Contents by Manager, J-CASTE (2021) - A Global Journal on Social Exclusion is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to our journal In memory of Siddalingaiah, poetic voice of the Dalit movement JOINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Laurence R. Simon Brandeis University, USA Sukhadeo Thorat (Emeritus) Jawaharlal Nehru University, India EDITOR Joseph K. Assan Brandeis University, USA REVIEWS EDITOR Jebaroja Singh St. John Fisher College, USA SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Afia A. Adaboh Brandeis University, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS Jaspreet Mahal Brandeis University, USA PRODUCTION EDITOR Vinod Kumar Mishra Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, India UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Matthew Sheehy Brandeis University, USA OJS TECHNICAL MANAGER Brian Meuse Brandeis University Library, USA CASTE A GLOBAL JOURNAL ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION MARGIN AND TRANSCENDENCE VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; President, International Economics Association; former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Krishna Bhattachan, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Kevin D. Brown, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, USA Ipsita Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, USA Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, India Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India Ashok Gurung, Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs , The New School, New York, USA John Harriss, Professorial Research Associate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Eva-Maria Hardtmann, Associate Professor and Director of Studies, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita of the Practice, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA Sushrut Jadhav, Clinical Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Psychiatry, University College London; Consultant Psychiatrist & Medical Lead, Focus Homeless Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust; Clinical Lead, C & I Cultural Consultation Service; Founding Editor, Anthropol- ogy & Medicine journal (Taylor and Francis, United Kingdom); Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, London, United Kingdom Chinnaiah Jangam, Assistant Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada S. Japhet, Vice Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University, Bengaluru, India Sangeeta Kamat, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA Joel Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, USA David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Samuel L. Myers, Jr., Roy Wilkens Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice and Director, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA Balmurli Natrajan, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, William Patterson University, USA Purna Nepali, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal Katherine S. Newman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts system, Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, USA Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Services Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, University of Chicago, USA Devan Pillay, Associate Professor and Head, Depart- ment of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (Retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA Jehan Raheem, Former Founding Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme and Former UNDP Resident Representative, Burma (Myanmar) Anupama Rao, Associate Professor of History, Barnard and Columbia Universities, USA Amilcar Shabazz, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department for Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA A.B. Shamsul, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Ethnic Studies, The National University of Malaysia Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Research Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka Harleen Singh, Associate Professor of Literature, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University, USA Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Social Anthropology Program Director, Harvard University, USA Abha Sur, Scientist in the Science, Technology and Society Program; Senior Lecturer, Program in Women and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Goolam Vahed, Associate Professor, History, Society & Social Change Cluster, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Gowri Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor of Sociology and South Asian Studies, Brandeis University, USA Annapurna Waughray, Reader in Human Rights Law, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School, USA Copyright © 2021 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL AND INTRODUCTION Laurence Simon and Sukhadeo Thorat ....... VI-X ARTICLES A Commentary on Ambedkar’s Posthumously Published “Philosophy of Hinduism” - Part III Rajesh Sampath ....... 219-234 Norm Entrepreneurship at the UN – Dalits and Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent Paul Divakar Namala ....... 235-264 Ambedkar and the Buddha’s Saṅgha: MARGIN AND TRANSCENDENCE EDITORIAL AND INTRODUCTION Laurence Simon and Sukhadeo Thorat ARTICLES A Commentary on Ambedkar’s Posthumously Published “Philosophy of Hinduism” - Part III Rajesh Sampath Norm Entrepreneurship at the UN – Dalits and Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent Paul Divakar Namala Ambedkar and the Buddha’s Saṅ gha: A Ground for Buddhist Ethics Timothy Loftus Reading Dalit Autobiographies in English: A Top Ten List Ethnic Identity, Discrimination and the Shaping of Remittance Culture in Ghana Joseph Kweku Assan A Critique of Sanskritization from Dalit/Caste-Subaltern Perspective Ishita Roy Exclusion of Tribal Women from Property Inheritance Rights: A Study of Tripuri Women of India Ashim Shil and Hemraj P Jangir On the Margins of Healthcare: Role of Social Capital in Health of Migrants in India Tending Immanence, Transcending Sectarianism: Plane of Mixed Castes and Religions Roshni Babu FORUM Ari Varutada A Poem by Chandni Girija Reflection A Poem by Gaurav J. Pathania fa m il y; m ix ed m ed ia ; 2 6x 39 c m ; S av i S aw ar ak ar C E N T E R FO R G LO B A L D EV E LO P M E N T + S U STA I N A B Keywords: associate; brandeis; caste; dalit; india; professor; studies; university; usa
• Dalits and the Making of Modern India: Chinnaiah Jangam by Pathania, Gaurav J. (2022) - A prominent caste scholar, Gail Omvedt (2011), notes that the cultural revolution that had begun in colonial India—and been heralded in struggle and dialectic process long before that—remained incomplete (312). 207–210 April 2022 ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste https://doi.org/10.26812/caste.v3i1.390 Dalits and the Making of Modern India Author: Chinnaiah Jangam (2018) Keywords: caste; dalits; india; jangam; nationalism
• Freedom From Caste: New Beginnings in Transdisciplinary Scholarship by Dhanda, Meena; Manoharan, Karthick Ram (2022) - Our leading questions were: How have anti-caste themes emerged in cinema, literature, and poetry, and how does anti-caste thought inform social and political movements and vice-versa? Contributors were encouraged to offer analyses of anti-caste thought from a range of perspectives of cultural theory, sociology, linguistics, history, political theory, area studies, or philosophy. Keywords: ambedkar; anti; bengal; caste; dalit; freedom; india; new; periyar; politics; south; tamil; thought
• Cover and Table of Contents by Manager, J-CASTE (2022) - JOINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Laurence R. Simon Brandeis University, USA Sukhadeo Thorat (Emeritus) Jawaharlal Nehru University, India EDITOR Joseph K. Assan Brandeis University, USA REVIEWS EDITOR Jebaroja Singh St. John Fisher College, USA SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Afia A. Adaboh Brandeis University, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS Jaspreet Mahal Brandeis University, USA PRODUCTION EDITOR Vinod Kumar Mishra Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, India UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Matthew Sheehy Brandeis University, USA OJS TECHNICAL MANAGER Brian Meuse Brandeis University Library, USA CASTE A GLOBAL JOURNAL ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION FREEDOM FROM CASTE: ANTI-CASTE THOUGHT, POLITICS AND CULTURE VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; President, International Economics Association; former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Krishna Bhattachan, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Kevin D. Brown, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, USA Ipsita Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, USA Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, India Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India Ashok Gurung, Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs , The New School, New York, USA John Harriss, Professorial Research Associate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Eva-Maria Hardtmann, Associate Professor and Director of Studies, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita of the Practice, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA Sushrut Jadhav, Clinical Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Psychiatry, University College London; Consultant Psychiatrist & Medical Lead, Focus Homeless Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust; Clinical Lead, C & I Cultural Consultation Service; Founding Editor, Anthropol- ogy & Medicine journal (Taylor and Francis, United Kingdom); Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, London, United Kingdom Chinnaiah Jangam, Assistant Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada S. Japhet, Vice Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University, Bengaluru, India Sangeeta Kamat, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA Joel Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, USA David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Samuel L. Myers, Jr., Roy Wilkens Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice and Director, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA Balmurli Natrajan, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, William Patterson University, USA Purna Nepali, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal Katherine S. Newman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts system, Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, USA Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Services Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, University of Chicago, USA Devan Pillay, Associate Professor and Head, Depart- ment of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (Retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA Jehan Raheem, Former Founding Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme and Former UNDP Resident Representative, Burma (Myanmar) Anupama Rao, Associate Professor of History, Barnard and Columbia Universities, USA Amilcar Shabazz, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department for Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA A.B. Shamsul, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Ethnic Studies, The National University of Malaysia Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Research Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka Harleen Singh, Associate Professor of Literature, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University, USA Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Social Anthropology Program Director, Harvard University, USA Abha Sur, Scientist in the Science, Technology and Society Program; Senior Lecturer, Program in Women and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Goolam Vahed, Associate Professor, History, Society & Social Change Cluster, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Gowri Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor of Sociology and South Asian Studies, Brandeis University, USA Annapurna Waughray, Reader in Human Rights Law, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Cornel West, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary , USA Copyright © 2022 CASTE: C E N T E R FO R G LO B A L D EV E LO P M E N T + S U STA Keywords: anthropology; associate; brandeis; caste; department; india; professor; studies; university; usa
• Politics of Recognition and Caste among Muslims: A Study of Shekhra Biradari of Bihar, India by Ahmad, Tausif (2023) - According to the instructions, by letter dated Shekhra Development Council, District Araria, letter- SVP/04/2018, dated – 09.07.2018 attention has been drawn to the difficulties faced by the members of Shekhra caste in obtaining caste certificate. Here is a translation (by the author) of the written version of his speech.13 According to him, The history of Shekhra caste in Araria district dates to the era of Aurangzeb when Saif Khan was made a faujdar of Purnea at the request of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal. Keywords: backward; bihar; biradari; caste; certificate; community; india; muslims; people; recognition; reservation; sheikh; shekhra; shekhra biradari; social; society
• The Exclusion of Bahujan Schoolchildren: An Anti-Caste Critique of the National Education Policy 2020, India by Singh, Yuvraj (2023) - Keywords Education, caste, NEP 2020, exclusion, Bahujan, educational inequality, caste and education, Ambedkar, Phule, schooling, school education, social reproduction Introduction In 1882, Jotirao Phule addressed the Hunter Commission (formally, the Indian Education Commission), airing the concern that the (British) government’s education policies served the wellbeing of ‘Brahmins and the higher classes only’ and left ‘the masses wallowing in ignorance and poverty’ (Deshpande, 2002, p. 103). More specifically, I’m using Bahujan as an umbrella term representing the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) cutting across religion, ethnicities and geographies, as well as Denotified Tribes (DNTs), Nomadic Tribes (NTs) and Seminomadic Tribes (SNTs).2 While a growing body of scholarship has accentuated higher education institutions as sites of exclusion for marginalised castes (see: Subramanian, 2019; Sukumar, 2023), there has been relatively less emphasis on school education. Keywords: ambedkar; article; bahujan; caste; children; curriculum; education; exclusion; india; nep; new; policy; schools; state; students; system; vol
• Sanitising India or Cementing Injustice? Scrutinising the Swachh Bharat Mission in India by Shekhar, Sudhanshu (2023) - Other studies have also contended government’s claim, like the one reported by the Institute of Labour Economics in January 2019, which maintains that despite a significant increase in toilet ownership in rural India, ‘the fraction of people who now own a latrine, but who nevertheless defecate in the open, did not change between 2014 and 2018’ (Gupta et al., 2019). Similarly, other self-contained, on-site systems of sanitation like the single pit toilets, will also require removal of partly digested faecal sludge at frequent intervals (Tayler, 2Other research has also found that for the type of toilet preferred in rural India, the cost of construction of ` 12000/- is not enough. Keywords: bharat; caste; cent; dalits; india; labour; mission; policy; rural; sanitation; sbm; swachh; toilets; urban
• Un‘casting’ Universities: Examining the Intersections of Inclusive Curriculum and Dalit Pedagogies in a Private University in Bangalore, India by Das, Rolla (2023) - Hence, while on one hand, upper caste students claim “caste as a practice of the past and denies witnessing it in contemporary society” (2020, p. 106) often denying its existence (Pan, 2022), on the other hand, students from the marginalised communities maintain silence (Mittal, 2020) or look for alternative articulations of their identities. Suicide of Dalit student sparks rage over caste discrimination in Indian universities. Keywords: caste; class; classrooms; curriculum; dalit; india; pedagogy; social; students; universities; university; vol
• The Human Dignity Argument against Manual Scavenging in India by Wankhede, Asang; Kahle, Alena (2023) - Indeed, especially practitioners have commended that the Act sees manual scavenging as a social justice rather than sanitation issue, that “it recognizes a constitutional obligation to correct the historical injustice and indignity suffered by manual scavenging communities by providing alternate livelihoods and other assistance” (Human Rights Watch, 2014, p. 5), and that it “explicitly adopts an understanding that manual scavenging is [...] against the spirit and essence of the Constitution of India” (Koonan, 2021, p. 157). In this article, we argue that manual scavenging and the 2013 Act which prohibits it are unconstitutional as they violate human dignity, the prohibition against untouchability, and the right to life enshrined in the Constitution of India. Keywords: act; caste; dignity; exclusion; human; india; life; manual; manual scavenging; right; scavenging; sci; social; untouchability
• Chains of Servitude: Bondage and Slavery in India: Utsa Patnaik and Manjari Dingwaney by Siwach, Manoj; ., Bharat; Jakhar, Babloo (2022) - In this essay, the author has discussed several issues such as urban chattel slavery, the framework of caste within the slaves, the hereditary nature of bonded labour, the emergence of another form of slavery (other than chattel slavery and bondage), i.e., agrestic slavery, domestic slavery, indentured labour, the religious shade of slavery and bondsman and even the system for manumission. The forms of servitude, which involves the slaves captured in war or the enslaved people born in masters’ houses, or those reduced to slaves due to their caste, are some of the dominant forms of slavery that existed in the ancient time instead of bondage labour. Keywords: bondage; caste; india; labour; period; slavery
• The Revolt of the Upper Castes by Drèze, Jean (2020) - Lower castes are passing better life than upper castes. He said: ‘Castes play the same role in Hindu society that furrows play in farms, and help in keeping it organised and orderly… Castes can be fine, but casteism is not…’5 The Revolt of the Upper Castes 231 To look at the issue from another angle, Hindutva ideologues face a basic problem: how does one ‘unite’ a society divided by caste? Keywords: bjp; castes; golwalkar; hindutva; india; nationalism; rss; society; system
• Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? by Gupta, Indrani; Ranjan, Avantika (2022) - The study concludes that to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)- 3, there is a need to increase health spending in especially lower middle- income countries. Table 8: Health financing indicators for countries with significant UHC Countries with significant UHC Domestic Government Health Expenditure Per Capita, PPP (current international $), 2019 Domestic Government Health Expenditure (% of GDP), 2019 Norway 6194 9.0 Germany 5238 9.1 France 4137 8.3 Japan 3847 9.0 Turkey 925 3.4 Brazil 610 3.9 Thailand 524 2.7 China 493 3.0 Sri Lanka 269 1.9 India 69 1.0 Rwanda 58 2.6 Source: World Bank Open Data A recent World Health Organization report (WHO, 2020) indicates that health financing vulnerabilities that existed prior to 2020 will also affect health spending in the coming years post COVID. Keywords: bihar; cent; diseases; expenditure; government; health; india; sector; spending; states; total; urban
• Enculturalising Casteism in Health Care in India by Narayan, Navin (2022) - Theoretically, being poor and excluded, schedule caste communities are more prone to seasonal disease and chronic illness than other social groups. Hutton (1963), the last administrator scholar to review the existing theories of caste, remarked that although most of these theories had contributed to the subject, they generally emphasized the phenomena ‘rather than the causes of caste system’. Keywords: ambedkar; care; caste; casteism; cent; class; dalit; delhi; doctors; economic; health; illness; india; new; society; sociology; system; varna
• Situating Hadis’ Occupation and Caste: Exclusionary Journey from Manual Workers to Sanitation Workers in India by Ziyauddin, K.M. (2022) - Keywords Dalits, manual scavengers, exclusion, Jharkhand, ethnography, Hadi caste, sanitation worker, safai karamchari 1Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India E-mail: ziyakm@manuu.edu.in 1Ziyauddin, K. M. 2016. Though they are misspelt in census reports, Hadis assert themselves as Hadi caste and not as Hari. Keywords: bokaro; caste; census; chas; children; cooli; exclusion; hadi; hadi cooli; india; jharkhand; manual; new; occupation; people; social; state; work; workers; years
• Social Inequities in Private Health Sector Workforce in India: Religion, Caste, Class, and Gender by Baru, Rama V.; Zafar, Seemi (2022) - 388 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 3, No. 2 While the above statistics are cumulative that includes the public and private sectors, available estimates show that the situation of private health sector is much worse. The study based on private health sector in Siliguri, West Bengal notes the transformation of nursing homes to limited companies owing to mergers and acquisitions by corporate giants, however, labour relations continuing to be informal especially for care workers who remain semi or unskilled. Keywords: caste; cent; class; data; doctors; health; health sector; health workers; hospitals; india; nurses; nursing; public; sector; staff; study; urban; workers; workforce
• Media Coverage and Corona Induced Health Emergency: Understanding Prejudice, Stigma, and Social Inequalities in India by Tandon, Achla Pritam (2022) - The few times men and boys would try out something it would always be highlighted and shared as an achievement par excellence through social media. In the case of the coronavirus, social media has not only propagated doubtful rumours on the emergence of the virus, but also has brought forth absurd methods for prevention. Keywords: access; corona; coronavirus; coverage; disease; health; india; information; media; pandemic; people; prejudice; spread; stigma; virus; world
• Addressing Hegemony within the System of Medicine for an Inclusive and Sustainable Health System: The Case of Traditional Medicine in India by Guite, Nemthianngai (2022) - Often, local practitioners using traditional medicine knowledge are not given their due credit (Reddy, 2006). The domination and superiority of biomedicine over traditional medicine have been visible from postcolonial time to till date. Keywords: care; healers; health; india; knowledge; medicine; ministry; practitioners; social; system
• Impact of Covid-19 on Livelihood and Health Experiences of Migrant Labourers in Kerala, India by G., Dilip Diwakar; Viswambaran, Visakh; M.K., Prasanth (2022) - Due to a combination of all these historical factors, Kerala state was already at an advantage at the time of its formation in 1956. While looking at the health access and utilisation of migrant workers, factors like lack of awareness about the provision of health facilities, lack of confidence in accessing the health services due to apprehensions about approaching the healthcare system, language barriers, cultural bias and patriarchal dominance affects the inter- state migrant workers from accessing healthcare services (Babar, 2011; John et al., 2020). Keywords: caste; cent; covid-19; crisis; food; government; health; healthcare; india; kerala; lockdown; public; state; study; workers
• Caste and Socioeconomic Inequality in Child Health and Nutrition in India: Evidences from National Family Health Survey by Raushan, Rajesh; Acharya, Sanghmitra S.; Raushan, Mukesh Ravi (2022) - Association of caste and child health inequality has been found significant in many studies (Borooah, 2004; Nayar, 2007; Prasad & Raushan, 2020; Ram et al., 2016; Saikia et al., 2019; Subramanian, et al., 2006) and require further investigation with a new approach. Abstract This study is on caste inequality in child health outcomes: mortality, malnutrition and anaemia for the year 1998/99 to year 2019/21 and examines the association of socio-economic factors with outcomes. Keywords: anaemia; caste; child; children; et al; health; india; inequality; malnutrition; mortality; raushan
• Appearing in Court in India: Challenges in Representing the Marginalised by Muralidhar, S. (2022) - Here I have the unedifying task of quoting my own work “Law, Poverty and Legal Aid: Access to Criminal Justice”: One disincentive for a person to avail of legal aid offered is the problem of uncompensated costs that have to be incurred. In a critical study of the public defender system in the USA, Charles Silberman found that defendants, who were represented by legal aid lawyers, said ‘He’s not my lawyer, he is the legal aid’, and that in the court “when judges ask who the lawyer is in the case at hand, legal aid lawyers typically answer, ‘I’m standing up for this case,’ not ‘I’m representing this client,’ let alone ‘I’m representing Mr. Jones’” (Silberman, 1978). Keywords: act; aid; april; bar; cases; caste; challenges; court; india; journal; justice; law; lawyers; legal; marginalised; person; rights; section; services; system; times; vol; work
• Health Disparity and Health Equity in India: Understanding the Difference and the Pathways Towards Policy by Acharya, Sanghmitra S. (2022) - It is necessary to understand that health disparity is embedded in health differences linked with economic, social, and environmental disadvantages. As evident from the Healthy People (2020), ‘Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater social or economic obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group, religion, socioeconomic-status, gender, age, or mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.’ Keywords: access; caste; disparities; disparity; economic; equity; groups; health; healthcare; india; inequality; public
• Cover and Table of Contents by Manager, J-CASTE (2022) - A Global Journal on Social Exclusion is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to our journal un to uc ha bl e an d re li gi on ; m ix ed m ed ia ; 1 7x 11 c m ; S av i S aw ar ka r Appearing in Court in India: Challenges in Representing the Marginalised S. Muralidhar Manifestations of Academic Untouchability in India: Exclusionary Practices that Subvert Reservations in Admissions in Higher Education C. Jerome Samraj JOINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Laurence R. Simon Brandeis University, USA Sukhadeo Thorat (Emeritus) Jawaharlal Nehru University, India EDITOR Joseph K. Assan Brandeis University, USA REVIEWS EDITORS Jebaroja Singh St. John Fisher College, USA Sanghmitra Acharya Jawaharlal Nehru University, India SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Afia A. Adaboh Brandeis University, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS Jaspreet Mahal Brandeis University, USA PRODUCTION EDITOR Vinod Kumar Mishra Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, India UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Matthew Sheehy Brandeis University, USA OJS TECHNICAL MANAGER TBA Brandeis University Library, USA CASTE A GLOBAL JOURNAL ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION CASTE, UNEQUAL STATUS, AND DISCRIMINATORY ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES IN INDIA VOLUME 3, NUMBER 2 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; President, International Economics Association; former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Kevin D. Brown, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, USA Ipsita Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, USA Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, India Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Jean Drèze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India Ashok Gurung, Associate Professor, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs , The New School, New York, USA John Harriss, Professorial Research Associate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Eva-Maria Hardtmann, Associate Professor and Director of Studies, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita of the Practice, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA Sushrut Jadhav, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry, University College London; Consultant Psychiatrist & Medical Lead, Focus Homeless Services, C & I NHS Foundation Trust; Clinical Lead, C & I Cultural Con- sultation Service; Founding Editor & Editor-in-Chief, Anthropology & Medicine (Taylor and Francis, UK); Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, London, United Kingdom Chinnaiah Jangam, Assistant Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada S. Japhet, Visiting Professor, National Law School of India University; formerly Founding Vice Chancellor, Bengaluru City University, Bengalore, India Sangeeta Kamat, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA Joel Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, USA David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom Samuel L. Myers, Jr., Roy Wilkens Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice and Director, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA Balmurli Natrajan, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, William Patterson University, USA Purna Nepali, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal Katherine S. Newman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Massachusetts system, Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, USA Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Services Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, University of Chicago, USA Devan Pillay, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (Retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA Jehan Raheem, Former Founding Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme and Former UNDP Resident Representative, Burma (Myanmar) Anupama Rao, Associate Professor of History, Barnard and Columbia Universities, USA Amilcar Shabazz, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department for Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA A.B. Shamsul, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Institute for Ethnic Studies, The National University of Malaysia Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Research Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka Harleen Singh, Associate Professor of Literature, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University, USA Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Social Anthropology Program Director, Harvard University, USA Abha Sur, Scientist in the Science, Technology and Society Program; Senior Lecturer, Program in Women and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Goolam Vahed, Associate Professor, History, Society & Social Change Cluster, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Gowri Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor of Sociology and South Asian Studies, Brandeis University, USA Annapurna Waughray, Reader in Human Rights Law, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Cornel West, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary , USA Copyright © 2022 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL AND INTRODUCTION Health Disparity and Health Equity in India: Understanding the Difference and the Pathways Towards Policy Sanghmitra S. Acharya —Guest Editor ....... 211-222 ARTICLES Being Insider-Outsider: Public Policy, Social Identity, and Delivery of Healthcare Services in India G.C. Pal ....... 223-244 Keywords: associate; brandeis; caste; health; india; professor; studies; university; usa
• Caste Identities and Structures of Threats: Stigma, Prejudice and Social Representation in Indian universities by Pathania, Gaurav J.; Jadhav, Sushrut; Thorat, Amit; Mosse, David; Jain, Sumeet (2023) - Through a Right to Information Act file, it was learned that in the viva-voce portion of the exam, lower caste students were given 1 or 2 and sometimes 0 points. In other words, universities are becoming “socially toxic” spaces for lower caste students. Keywords: caste; dalit; delhi; discrimination; education; exclusion; humiliation; identities; identity; india; journal; language; new; research; stigma; students; suicide; teachers; universities; university; vol
• Importance of Caste-Based Headcounts: An Analysis of Caste Specific Demographics Transition in India by Singh, D. P.; Chanda, Srei; Dwivedi, L. K.; Dixit, Priyanka; Jana, Somnath (2023) - Our study could not capture the change in the population share of caste groups in the representative sampling as NFHS do not consider the sub-castes in the sampling frame. An analysis of fertility differentials among caste groups in Andhra Pradesh. eSocialSciences. Keywords: age; caste; cent; child; fertility; india; mortality; nfhs; population; rate; rounds; vol
• Revisiting Inequality and Caste in State and Social Laws: Perspectives of Manu, Phule and Ambedkar by Sanil, Akanksha (2023) - But in India, each occupation is held by a caste and the finished product is produced by the family or caste by following all the processes of caste occupation” (Chalam 2020: 13). It is to be noted here, that the ‘process of production’ is equally important as the ‘end-product’14 produced by such castes. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; chapter; dharma; india; inequality; knowledge; laws; manusmriti; order; phule; power; religion; society; state; text; varna; verse; women
• In Search of a Utopian Society: Situating ‘Dalit’ Conversions in Contemporary India by Lal, L. David (2023) - Dalit conversions, in particular, have been examined not only as an attempt in exercising freedom of conscience but also as an act encompassing various dimensions. The existing body of literature on Dalit conversions has recognized them as instances of social protest, group assertion, a direct challenge to caste-based dominance, the pursuit of egalitarianism, and the quest for self- respect. Keywords: ambedkar; buddhism; caste; christianity; christians; conversion; dalit; delhi; identity; india; islam; new; process; religion; society; vol
• Narratives from the Margin: Sexual Harassment and Strategies of Resistance by Gawali, Sandhya Balasaheb (2023) - The study based on empirical findings, focuses on experiences of women workers at a wholesale vegetable market in Pune1 and follows an ethnographic approach. Although women play a significant role in the market economy, male employees have historically predominated the Market/Mandi.8 Several productive tasks such as segregation of rotten goods, filling goods sacks, loading goods in vehicles, stitching gunny sacks, picking over stones, pests in grain, and so forth, are done by women workers. Keywords: act; caste; committee; discourse; experiences; harassment; india; male; market; vol; women; workers; workplace
• Latitudes of Marginality in India by Simon, Laurence (2023) - Sanitising India or Cementing Injustice? Politics of Recognition and Caste among Muslims: A Study of Shekhra Biradari of Bihar, India advances J-Caste’s mission to expand caste analysis into other prominent religions of South Asia and beyond. Keywords: caste; india; issue
• Raving with Equality? On Protean Forms of Caste and Gender in the Women’s/Gender Studies Departments in India by Patil, Smita M. (2023) - Many of them said that upper caste women academicians make personal remarks and intrude into personal lives. They further commented that upper caste women academicians consider Dalit women’s articulations as ingrained in identity politics. Keywords: caste; caste women; dalit; dalit women; education; faculty; feminist; forms; gender; gender studies; india; studies; vol; women; women academicians
• The Visible ‘Caste Gaps’ amid an ‘Invisible’ Caste System in West Bengal, India: A Study of Discrimination in Bengali Society by Patra, Manas (2024) - Spearheaded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj (1828), the earliest Bengali Hindu intellectuals discarded outmoded traditions, polarising maxims, and rampant discrimination. When the RSS was working silently to build its base and growing leaps and bounds insidiously, the Left, instead of halting the process of Hindutva or stopping the RSS altogether, adopted a policy of persuasion towards its Bengali Hindu population and tried to attend to their deep psychic wounds owing to partition (Narayan, 2021). Keywords: bengal; bhadralok; caste; caste system; class; communities; culture; gaps; hierarchy; hindu; india; movement; professions; system; west
• Democratizing Spiritual Sphere: Radical Bhakti Traditions in the Telugu-Speaking Region in India by Gopani, Chandraiah (2023) - In fact, new castes like Jangamas, Linga Jangam, Nulaka Chandaiah, and Lingayats emerged out of this process. After he passed away, some of his disciples, Siddaiah, Eshwaramma, Yadla Ramadasu, and Yagantivaru carried his message and teachings to the common people and spread his teachings through songs.47 In the early nineteenth century in Andhradesha, there were also several non- Hindu alternative semi-religious cults, all of which emerged from lower castes. Keywords: andhra; bhakti; buddhism; caste; delhi; iddasu; india; movement; new; people; pothuluri; region; saints; social; sphere; telugu; traditions; veerabrahmam; vemana
• The Bir Sunarwala: An Uncharted Dalit Land Movement of Haryana, India by Mehra, Anand (2023) - Dalits are historically landless; in this outbreak, they participated in various land movements to access land. Keywords Bir Sunarwala, nazul land, Dalit movement, land struggle, social movement 1Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi, India E-mail: anandmehra444@gmail.com 186 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 4, No. 2 Land and Its Importance Land has been the most crucial source of power and authority for centuries. Keywords: ambedkar; bir; caste; cent; dalits; government; haryana; india; land; movement; ram; struggle; sunarwala
• Imagining an Anti-Caste Utopia Through Food: Dalit Student Politics in Hyderabad, India by Garalytė, Kristina (2023) - 4For more about beef festivals on campuses, see Gundimeda 2009, Pathania 2016, Sébastia 2017. Gaurav Pathania interpreted beef festivals on university campuses in terms of counter-hegemonic assertion of the marginalized groups. Keywords: anthem; beef; beef anthem; campus; caste; community; cow; culture; dalit; festival; food; groups; hindu; hyderabad; india; issue; movement; new; politics; student; symbol; university; vol
• Dalits and Discourses of Anti-Caste Movements in Kerala, India by Madhavan, K.S.; Komath, Rajesh (2023) - The pre-colonial non-Hindu identity of Dalit castes and their historical identity as a broken people of untouchable past was selectively appropriated by the nationalist discourses to reform Hindu society by eradicating untouchability. This provided new possibilities to engage with the Dalit historical past and the lived experiences with the politics of democratic equality of Ambedkar in the Kerala Dalit movement. Keywords: ambedkar; books; caste; dalit; delhi; discourses; exclusion; groups; india; kerala; movement; new; public; reform; society
• Socio-spatially Segregated Experience of Urban Dalits and their Anti-caste Imagination: A Study of the Balmiki Community in Delhi, India by Suzuki, Maya (2023) - This article is based on data collected from a survey conducted among 135 Balmiki households chosen from three districts (New Delhi, Northwest and South) of Delhi between 2006 and 2014 and recent interviews with Balmiki sweepers conducted in February 2020. Valmiki temples in Delhi attract devotees from all over India and abroad. Keywords: balmikis; caste; cent; colony; community; dalits; delhi; gandhi; government; india; movement; sweepers; temple; urban; valmiki; vol
• From Panthers to Political Dalits: Revisiting the Legacy of Dalit Panthers in India by Wankhede, Harish S. (2024) - 393-409 October 2024 ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste From Panthers to Political Dalits: Revisiting the Legacy of Dalit Panthers in India Harish S. Wankhede1 Abstract The Panthers had created a rupture from the earlier pattern that Ambedkar has strategized to integrate the Dalits as one of the important political subjects of the modern nation state. Sympathizers and members of Dalit Panthers, be ready for the final struggle of the Dalits.” Keywords: activists; ambedkar; bsp; caste; class; dalit; dalit movement; india; leadership; movement; new; panthers; party; politics; revolutionary; social
• Envisioning ‘Prabuddha Bharat’: A Discourse for Social Transformation by Sukumar, N.; Garalytė , Kristina; Menon, Shailaja (2023) - How can anti-caste utopias be part of the pedagogy? Similarly, K. Kalyani in Repertoires of Anti-caste Sentiments in the Everyday Performance: Narratives of a Dalit Woman Singer attempts to read Dalit women through their lifeworld and life-narratives. Keywords: article; caste; dalit; discourse; india; land; movement; new; society; utopia; women
• Psychology Behind Rejection of Caste-based Reservations in the Private Sector: A Mixed Method Study Among Dalit Buddhists in India by Ahire, Shweta (2024) - Disunity and fragmentation among Dalit castes of Maharashtra. Disunity and fragmentation among Dalit castes of Maharashtra. Keywords: action; ambedkar; buddhist; caste; class; community; dalit; disagree; discrimination; exclusion; identity; india; journal; merit; psychology; rejection; reservation; respondents; sector; study; vol
• Exploring Narratives of Victimization, Resistance, and Resilience Among Dalits Using Thematic Analysis by Mukherjee, Aritra; Agarwal, Garima; Tandon, Charvi; Meena, Aakanksha (2024) - Upper Caste Disgust and Production of Dalit Shame This theme was challenging to define for the participants as their observation of disgust among upper caste individuals towards marginalized caste groups was at an embodied level, often given as a “look” or “gaze” mixed with “contempt.” Another participant mentions that it is necessary because they have never had access to the capital and network that upper caste individuals deprived other caste individuals of having. Keywords: caste; caste individuals; community; dalit; female; groups; india; individuals; journal; media; narratives; participants; people; psychology; research; resilience; resistance; shame; study; victimization; violence; ways
• Caste as a Socio-Psychological Construct: Theoretical and Empirical Expositions by Pal, G. C. (2024) - Jogdand, Khan & Mishra (2016) see the changes in the weakening of traditional power relations between caste groups, the declining role of ideological beliefs in the legitimation of the caste system, and growing consciousness and assertion among low caste groups. It was even argued that since low caste groups were already excluded and stigmatized, the concern is that simply reporting significant differences between caste groups might naturalize differences (Mahalingam 2003). Keywords: ambedkar; behaviours; caste; discrimination; groups; identity; india; intergroup; journal; processes; psychology; research; social; society; socio; violence

• Civility against Caste: Dalit Politics and Citizenship in Western India: Suryakant Waghmore by Shaikh, Juned (2020) - To cordon off civil society from political society and offset its relevance would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. For instance, theoretically, Waghmore’s case for the resonance of civility and civil society in Dalit politics helps us reimagine the transformative power of these concepts. Keywords: caste; dalit; society; waghmore
• Speaking is Healing: Dalit Women Gain a Voice through a Charismatic Healing Movement in Nepal by BK, Amar Bahadur (2020) - Thereafter, I will dwell on what speaking means for Sachchai women. Nonetheless, Sachchai women now had become more confident about speaking with strangers. Keywords: believers; caste; dalit; family; god; healing; microphone; nepal; public; sachchai; sachchai women; satsang; sound; speaking; voice; women
• The Rhetoric of Dalit Psychological Suffering in Meena Kandasamy’s The Gypsy Goddess (2014) by Cherechés, Bianca (2024) - LaCapra posits that trauma victims should embark on an effort to “articulate and rearticulate affect and representation in a manner that may never transcend, but may to some viable extent counteract […] that disabling disassociation” caused by trauma (2014: 42). Although to different degrees, this symptomatology of trauma is revealed in The Gypsy Goddess, proving that Dalits can indeed be called trauma victims. Keywords: caste; collective; dalit; event; experience; goddess; gypsy; individual; kandasamy; loss; oppression; suffering; trauma; victims
• Intersecting Dalit and Cultural Studies: De-brahmanising the Disciplinary Space by Ingole, Prashant (2020) - Reading through the anti-caste tradition and its influences on Dalit movement, the paper has provided a detailed overview of disciplinary political relations and contestations in and around Dalit studies. By invoking the different claims of dominant epistemologies re-articulated by the Dalit intellectuals (Guru& Geetha, 2000) and locating the cultural past of Dalit humiliation, this paper examines the anti-caste discourse and Dalit cultural resistance from the colonial and postcolonial time. Keywords: ambedkar; anti; caste; culture; dalit; indian; knowledge; literature; mainstream; movement; new; politics; social; studies; way
• The Advent of Ambedkar in the Sphere of Indian Women Question by Singh, Poonam (2020) - Contrary to popular perception that he championed the cause of Dalits and dalit women, Babasaheb, as Ambedkar is fondly referred to, worked as a socio-political advocate for Dalit as well as upper caste Indian women concomitantly. In his quest to ensure freedom, equality, and individuality of Indian women, he resorted to the legalized mechanism and proposed sweeping constitutional provisions, famous as the Hindu code Bill, placing women at par with men in matters of inheritance and allowing them freedom to marry outside their caste. Keywords: ambedkar; bill; caste; chakravarti; dalit; freedom; gender; hindu; indian; movements; position; rights; society; system; vol; women
• Thathagata Buddha Songs: Buddhism as Religion and Cultural-Resistance among Dalit Women Singers of Uttar Pradesh by Kalyani, Kalyani (2020) - The Emergence of Tathagata Buddha Songs The emergence of Tathagata Buddha songs in Navayana Buddhism gained popularity, particularly post-independence, following the Dalit conversion led by Dr. Ambedkar on October 14, 1956. This iconographic representation of Buddha and Dr. Ambedkar Tathagata Buddha Songs: Buddhism as Religion and Cultural-Resistance... 57 reflects the significant cultural change in the presentation of ‘Pop Bhajans’ of the Dalit-Bahujan community in the form of Tathagata Buddha songs and Bhimgeet. Keywords: ambedkar; bhakti; buddha; buddha songs; buddhism; dalit; emergence; form; music; new; resistance; social; songs; tathagata; women
• A Cultural Psychological Reading of Dalit Literature: A Case Study of 'Joothan' By Om Prakash Valmiki by Vyas, Aparna (2020) - He also puts to scrutiny the Sanskrit and western literary conventions which are considered the very origins of aesthetic tradition in Hindi literature, and further stresses the inability of these forced conventions in portraying the essence A Cultural Psychological Reading of Dalit Literature... 159 and specificities of Dalit lives and doing justice with the linguistic, metaphorical, and emotional foundations of Dalit literature (Ibid). Keywords Dalit literature, Valmiki, Joothan, dalit expression, caste 1Doctoral Scholar, Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India E-mail: a02.vyas@gmail.com 158 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 1, No. 2 Introduction The word Dalit captures the collective struggle against the caste based hierarchy and oppression associated with it. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; dalit; hindi; ibid; life; literature; new; prism; resources; school; use; valmiki
• Dalit Counterpublic and Social Space on Indian Campuses by Garalyte, Kristina (2020) - Contributing to the recent scholarship on student politics in South Asia (Martelli and Garalytė, 2019), this article argues for the understanding of interactive relation between campus space and student politics, showing how Dalit students changed the campus space through symbolic appropriation and, conversely, how historically constituted campus spaces affected the nature of Dalit student activism. Contributing to the recent scholarship on student politics in South Asia this article argues for the understanding of interactive relation between campus space and student politics, showing how Dalit students changed the campus space through symbolic appropriation and, conversely, how historically constituted campus spaces affected the nature of Dalit student activism in each of the discussed localities. Keywords: activism; ambedkar; campus; campuses; caste; dalit; groups; indian; jnu; movement; new; politics; public; social; space; student; student activism; telangana; universities; university
• Leisure, Festival, Revolution: Ambedkarite Productions of Space by Crowley, Thomas (2020) - Specifically, Ambedkarite spaces, when codified as sacred, complicate Lefebvre’s suggestions about the withering away of religious space, while opening up new possibilities for transformative politics. Despite Lefebvre’s (1991) sensitivity to the complex layering of space – the way, for instance, that ‘nothing disappears completely’ from social space, but ‘continues to underpin what follows’(p. 229) – his overall argument in The Production of Space at times slips into Hegelian teleology, with history moving through the production of different spaces with an implausible dialectical neatness. Keywords: ambedkar; ambedkarite; caste; chavdar; commune; dalit; festival; lefebvre; leisure; mahad; new; paris; revolution; satyagraha; space; tale; way
• Ambedkar, Lohia, and the Segregations of Caste and Gender: Envisioning a Global Agenda for Social Justice by Bhaskar, Anurag (2020) - Contrary to the assertions of Ilaiah, Paik has questioned the postulate of considering Dalit women as‘somehow more free than high caste women’ (2009, p. 39). The report further stated that the life expectancy among Dalit women is eleven years lower than that of higher caste women despite experiencing identical social conditions like sanitation and drinking water. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; class; dalit; feminist; gender; lohia; movement; social; women
• Caste and Counselling Psychology in India: Dalit Perspectives in Theory and Practice: Bluestone Rising Scholar Honorable Mention 2021 by Sawariya, Meena (2021) - It was a significant development in the field of social sciences that considered both theoretical and clinical dimensions enclosed with caste experiences (Davar and Jadhav, 2002). From the above case study, it can be observed that opening up of caste experiences in itself is distressing and fragile. Keywords: caste; client; counselling; dalit; experiences; need; practice; process; psychologist; psychology; social; theory
• The Jigsaw of Dis-coloration: Anti-Caste Poetics and The Absent Color by Leonard, Dickens (2024) - Abounded by allusions that are impersonal, hermeneutic, and often esoteric, each of his poems may create its own context; and a context within which other poems and references could be read. He evaluated, albeit unkindly yet judiciously, that “most poetry, including Dalit poetry, is based on aesthetics and metaphors…but it belongs to the particular though it is based on rich experience.” Keywords: caste; color; dalit; experience; jigsaw; nil; poems; poetry; spivak; subaltern; world; writing
• 'The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India': Shailaja Paik by Pathania, Gaurav J. (2024) - This intersectionality of sex, gender, and caste forms what Paik terms the “sex-gender-caste” complex, a framework that highlights how caste hierarchies intersect with gender and sexuality to maintain power structures, a social mechanism that degrades dancers, singers, and Tamasha performers, branding them as prostitutes and vulgar simply due to their caste. It delves into the political economy of caste, deviant sexuality, the pedagogy of Tamasha, and its generational capital, inviting scholars across diverse fields such as Ambedkar studies, caste studies, gender and sexuality, colonialism, folk music, performance, and art, to engage with its rich insights. Keywords: caste; dalit; gender; paik; women
• Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada: Shahu Patole by Sophan, Angel (2025) - In the preface, the author has done an excellent job of placing critical questions as food for thought, garnished with humor, yet punch in the gut style of writing. Patole passionately writes about caste, religion, food, and politics. Keywords: author; book; caste; communities; dalit; food; kitchens; marathwada
• CONCEALING CASTE: Passing and Personhood in Dalit Literature: K. Satyanarayana and Joel Lee by Ingole, Prashant (2025) - Through Goffman’s idea, Satyanarayana and Lee write, “the impression management framework reminds us that caste concealment is but one of many interrelated modes of self-fashioning in everyday life, and that its operations significantly overlap with the everyday performance of selfhood and belonging in terms of gender, class, religion, sexuality, occupation and other axes of identity” (p. 16). What insights can we gain from Dalit writing on caste concealment and vice versa from the CONCEALING CASTE: Keywords: book; caste; dalit; narratives; passing; volume
• Rethinking Knowledge, Unthinking the Brahminical: Dalit Feminism and Gender-Caste by Geetha, Uthara (2025) - Dalit feminists have tried to emphasise the importance of foregrounding differentials within gendered experiences, of not just oppressed caste women but of all genders, as being mediated and controlled through brahminic forces. This leads to extreme isolation and control over sexuality of oppressor caste women, while lower caste women experiences a state of non-being characterised by violence, economic deprivation and untouchability. Keywords: ambedkar; brahminical; caste; categories; colonial; communities; dalit; experiences; feminist; gender; gendered; hindu; indian; journal; knowledge; oppressor; order; power; social; standpoint; untouchability; women
• Reproduction of Caste Privilege in Elite Educational Institutions by Param, Ravneet (2025) - I primarily wanted to speak to upper caste students to understand their journeys from their respective schools to college, their experience in college and how they navigate different counters of a college life. I do not want to dismiss, if not assert vigorously, the possibility of upper caste students’ behaviour as caste entitlement. Keywords: capital; caste; class; college; dalit; education; elite; field; institutions; privilege; school; students; way; work
• Indian Media and Caste: Of Politics, Portrayals and Beyond by Kureel, Pranjali (2021) - Dr. Ambedkar (2014b, p. 3) had grasped this attitude on the part of the upper castes engaging with caste issues in the following words: It is usual to hear all those who feel moved by the deplorable condition of the Untouchables unburden themselves by uttering the cry “We must do something for the Untouchables”. In the name of reporting caste issues, journalists reach villages to cover the atrocities but fail to see Brahminical hegemony in the urban spaces. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; cinema; communities; dalit; films; indian; industry; journalism; media; role; social; society; women
• Caste, Reading-habits and the Incomplete Project of Indian Democracy: Bluestone Rising Scholar Honorable Mention 2021 by Saha, Subro (2021) - brandeis.edu/j-caste Caste, Reading-habits and the Incomplete Project of Indian Democracy Subro Saha1 Abstract Emphasizing on the functioning of caste as embodiment, this paper attempts to show how the internalization of dominant caste-based framework(s) shapes our habits of thinking which include epistemological and pedagogical orientations as well. Caste in such making always operated as an anomaly, as the western ideals of equality, liberty, and fraternity stood absolutely against the logic of hierarchy and predetermination that caste stood for, and therefore newer ways of justifying caste-system were sought. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; century; colonial; dalit; democracy; experience; framework; habits; hindu; indian; intellectual; making; nation; new; problem; question; reading; system
• A Critique of Sanskritization from Dalit/Caste-Subaltern Perspective by Roy, Ishita (2021) - While Morton Klass’s analysis about the smallest endogamous unit of ‘marriage- circle’ in explaining the origin of caste-system in India may be anthropologically correct, it fails to or does not choose to engage with the implications of a common man’s perception of caste as undifferentiated group that goes a long way in lending to caste system in India an overall notion of naturalness that is difficult to dispel. The fact that the original ideal of four divisions of classes of people according to their distinct calling has already evolved into thousands of castes shows that chaturvarna has no other way except for denigrating into caste system. Keywords: ambedkar; brahmin; caste; dalit; political; sanskritization; social; srinivas; subaltern; varna
• Norm Entrepreneurship at the UN - Dalits and Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent by Namala, Paul Divakar (2021) - The admission of the Government of Nepal of the problem of caste discrimination against Dalits in their country and their willingness to have the issue squarely addressed in the WCAR was very encouraging to those who were raising the issue of caste discrimination.18 The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, acting as the Preparatory Committee for WCAR commissioned the International Human Rights Law Group led by Dr. Gay McDougal to prepare a draft agenda for the WCAR conference. Specifically pointing out the context of women and children of these communities who were distinctly vulnerable to brutal forms of violence, the NGO Conference recognized the role and task of individual states and the UN as a body to eradicate work and descent- based discrimination, including caste discrimination and untouchability. Keywords: asia; bodies; caste; cdwd; cerd; committee; communities; concerns; countries; dalit; descent; discrimination; elimination; forms; forum; human; international; norm; rights; special; states; work
• Spotted Goddesses: Dalit Women’s Agency-narratives on Caste and Gender Violence: Roja Singh by Natrajan, Balmurli (2021) - These include responding to rapes, threats, kidnapping, maiming and killing of Dalits, and destruction of the meagre property possessed by Dalits on an almost daily basis; seeking formal residency rights for Dalit communities living in precarity; seeking to eradicate manual scavenging (a bonded labor practice wherein Dalit women from particular castes are condemned to clean the dry toilets of caste communities and physically dispose the feces); fighting for the right of Dalits to bury their dead in a dignified manner; protesting to end the entrenched and debilitating impacts of illicit liquor brewing within Dalit communities, a business that is a nexus of local politicians, religious leaders, and the underground economic overlords with the connivance of the police; seeking wages for ritually unpaid work Spotted Goddesses: Dalit Women’s Agency-narratives on Caste and Gender Violence 387 (such as beating the dappu); and fighting to eradicate long-standing cultural rituals that degrade Dalits especially Dalit women (such as the ritual of forcing newly-wed Dalit women to sleep first with a dominant caste man on their wedding night). The book provokes us to think about how sexuality—in this case the masculinity of dominant caste men which privately wields power over dominant caste women—depends upon the public and routine humiliation and emasculation of Dalit men, and public shaming and hence subservience of Dalit women whose sexuality is sought to be domesticated/controlled due to its purported 384 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 2, No. 2 lack of ‘culture’ or ‘civility’ even while being the object of desire of casted subjects. Keywords: author; book; caste; dalit; difference; gender; patriarchy; social; subjects; violence; women
• Caste, Gender and Fire in Maadathy: an Unconventional Fairy Tale by Singh, Roja (2021) - The Vannar men’s experiences of dominant caste men who manipulate their vulnerable sub-ordinate masculinity as prime meat, instigating anger and mistrust against their own, is clearly layered for the viewer. As stated by the Vannar community, Leena brings into the film, women in dominant caste communities as well who seek their own victim-erasure in securing superiority over Dalit men, women, and other gender identities. Keywords: caste; dalit; film; vannar; women; yosana
• Barishaler Jogen Mandal: Construal of the Undisputed Dalit Leader of Undivided Bengal through a Twenty-first Century Bengali Novel by Roy, Suhasini (2022) - While they remained emotionally connected to the community and wished for their own people’s betterment, their political activities failed to identify Dalit agendas or promote Dalit political solidarity. I intend to present my reading of the novel in four interconnected but thematically divided sub-sections dealing with the author’s conceptualisation of sudra identity as being defined and redefined in history in terms of social and political structures of power (and powerlessness); Dalit politics in relation to nationalistic political formulations; distinctiveness of J.N. Mandal’s political thought; and the eventual failure of his political line in the backdrop of War and Famine-ridden Bengal during the final years of transfer of power. Keywords: author; bengal; caste; colonial; dalit; history; j.n; life; mandal; novel; politics; power; ray; sudra
• The Dominant Post-constitutional Indian Feminist Discourse: A Critique of its Intersectional Reading of Caste and Gender by Kumar, Santvana; Bakshi, Ekata (2022) - Dalit feminist movements have successfully made ‘Dalit women’ a critical part of the dominant feminist discourse and have confronted it for including a caste framework as imperative to understanding the women’s question. It also became an important tool in legal battles for seeking justice in cases of violence against Dalit women. Keywords: caste; caste women; dalit; difference; experiences; feminist; gender; indian; intersectionality; labour; legal; new; post; violence; women; work
• Maadathy-An Unfairy Tale: Caste, Space, and Gaze by Eswaran, Swarnavel (2022) - Thereafter, the depleted and ebbing Yosana musters enough of her feeble energy to crawl and climb over a nearby donkey, almost dropping dead on it. In contrast to Veni’s submissive nature, Maadathy-An Unfairy Tale: Caste, Space, and Gaze 165 Yosana’s pursuit of happiness and her jouissance troubles them as they cannot find the key to the secret of her jouissance, which they lack and want to possess, not unlike the alien spirit that comes to animate their dispirited life. Keywords: caste; community; dalit; desire; fantasy; film; gaze; gender; lacan; leena; maadathy; people; space; temple; veni; village; yosana
• Dalit Resistance during the Bengal Renaissance: Five Anti-Caste Thinkers from Colonial Bengal, India by Mandal, Mahitosh (2022) - Nor was the Namasudra sub-caste, to which he belonged, the only Dalit caste from Bengal to have launched and been launching anti-Brahmanical resistance. None of the history textbooks for school students in Bengal mention anything about anti-caste movement in colonial Bengal although these are replete with references to the so-called Bengal Renaissance. Keywords: bengal; bratya; caste; colonial; dalit; guruchand; harichand; history; karan; kshatriyas; mahendranath; mallabarman; movement; poundras; renaissance; resistance; sarkar; sri; thakur
• Margin and Transcendence: In memory of Siddalingaiah by Simon, Laurence; Thorat, Sukhadeo (2021) - https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2004.106.2.334 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2004.106.2.334 Editorial vii Another possible reason for the absence of caste studies in many American universities may be the predisposition of faculty who believe that caste discrimination is a thing only of the past or, for some, perhaps turning a blind eye to an embarrassing or controversial tradition. Few university courses across the United States, even those on South Asian religions, histories and societies incorporated caste studies into their syllabi. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; dalit; discrimination; exclusion; journal; south; study
• 'Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader': Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore by ., Preeti (2023) - Aloysius et al. argue that dominant caste feminists often disregard the caste- based exploitation of women that poses greater risks to Dalit women due to their caste location in the varna system. Therefore, Dalit feminists argue for a multiple-axis framework to understand the difference in the position of women due to the different locations occupied by women of different castes in this structure (Chapter 13). Keywords: caste; chapter; dalit; feminist; women
• Towards an Alternative Epistemology of Resistance: A Reading of Pulayathara by Paul Chirakkarode Against the Backdrop of Dalit Christian Liberation Movements in Kerala, India by N., Bincy Mariya (2023) - For instance, Pathrose and other Dalit Christians in the novel were tenants of the Hilltop Church. By proudly saying “I am a Pulayan”, Thoma and other Dalit Christians in the novel declared that they are no longer slaves of either religion or caste. Keywords: caste; century; chirakkarode; christian; church; dalit; identity; kerala; movements; novel; society
• Dalit or Brahmanical Patriarchy? Rethinking Indian Feminism by Arya, Sunaina (2020) - Dalit women speak out: violence against dalit women in India. Whatever might have been the differences between dalit women’s experience of patriarchy and that of upper caste women, the process of Sanskritisation or ‘jatikarana’—intensified castification—led to upper caste norms and upper caste patriarchal practices percolation into the lower caste ranks too. Keywords: brahmanical; caste; dalit; feminist; gender; indian; patriarchies; patriarchy; rege; society; women
• Recasting Food: An Ethnographic Study on How Caste and Resource Inequality Perpetuate Social Disadvantage in India by N, Nakkeeran; Jadhav, Sushrut; Bhattacharya, Aruna; Gamit, Sunil; Mehta, Chetan; Purohit, Pratiksha; Patel, Ruchi; Doshi, Minal (2020) - In Bhavnagar village the Kharak, Aahir, Mali, and Koli families practised this tradition between them, but not with other caste groups below them. Individual families from other caste groups may consume these foods too. Keywords: awc; awcs; caste; children; communities; community; dalit; families; food; groups; households; programme; snp; village
• When Fists Write (of) the Past: Conceptualising Dalit Historiography through the Cultural Productions of Dravida Varga Aikya Munnani by Jose, Sephora (2023) - Despite staging powerful anti-caste activism, which extends to the social, economic, and ideological realms, DCUF’s contributions are absent in the narratives of Kerala history, even in Kerala Dalit historiographic discourse. Kinds of Mainstream Kerala Historiography Recognition of the specificity of Kerala history demands attention to the historiographic trends in Kerala. Keywords: adi; caste; dalit; dcuf; dravida; dravidian; historiography; history; indian; kerala; kerala historiography; land; mainstream; past; sabharaj; slavery; thirumeni
• Utilizing Dalit Autobiographies in History by Jatin (2023) - The section highlights the positivist influences, absence of Dalit narratives in the dominant archives, Brahmanical hegemony and Dalit exclusion in the knowledge production in Indian society, and subsequent non-recognition of narrative forms like Dalit autobiographies. I employ his method of analysis by systematically marking the structure of signification to contextualize the Dalit narratives and their reception.22 Within Dalit narratives, like in doing ethnography—while faced with such an abundance of complex conceptual structures in Dalit autobiographies, Geertz’s suggestion would be of critical importance: Keywords: autobiographies; baisantri; caste; communities; dalit; dalit autobiographies; history; knowledge; moon; narratives; paper; past; sense; untouchability; untouchables; women
• Teaching Dalit Bahujan Utopias: Notes from the Classroom by Sukumar, N. (2023) - Writing social history, Delhi: OUP, p. 1. 15 Michel-Rolph Trouillot (1995). Why not Gandhi and Ambedkar and why not Ambedkar with other social thinkers? Keywords: ambedkar; bahujan; caste; classroom; course; dalit; education; history; indian; knowledge; pedagogy; power; students; university; vol
• Repertoires of Anti-caste Sentiments in the Everyday Performance: Narratives of a Dalit Woman Singer by Kalyani, K. (2023) - For Dalit women cultural performers, the everyday resistance practices are deeply embedded in the creation of an alternative worldview, a counterpublics, that both represent their ‘world of (caste) experience’ as well as becomes a space to ‘talk-back’ about their exclusion and humiliation. Resistance in the everyday life of Dalit women includes how they challenge the existing public spaces, cultural norms, and practices through the creation of a ‘subaltern counterpublics’ space. Keywords: caste; dalit; exclusion; experience; family; icons; life; malti; new; practices; resistance; songs; vol; women
• The Caste of Campus Habitus: Caste and Gender Encounters of the First-generation Dalit Women Students in Indian Universities by Renukuntla, Anusha; Mocherla, Ashok Kumar (2023) - Accordingly, Dalit women students are stigmatized based on their appearance, skin color, and dietary practices such as the consumption of beef on the hostel premises. Dalit women students always have to put in extra effort to convince parents before pursuing their higher education. Keywords: campus; capital; caste; dalit; dalit women; education; gender; generation; generation dalit; habitus; scholars; students; university; women
• As a Dalit Women: My Life in a Caste- Ghetto of Kerala by Pramod, Maya (2020) - A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 1, No. 1 ghettoization of an entire populace brought about and institutionalized through the so-called ‘welfare schemes’ be understood.5 If you look at the problem of land rights in Kerala you will clearly see how and when the dalits/adivasis and other backward classes got ousted from the exchanges of the symbolic capital. It is from such revelations that all historical protests over land rights had sprung up in the past. Keywords: act; adivasi; capital; caste; cents; colonies; colony; communities; dalit; government; kerala; land; life; people; power; society
• The Promise of Memory: Politics of Memory and Caste Inequality in Collective Memory Consolidation by Choudhary, Vikas Kumar (2024) - 7Anastasio et al. (2012) highlights that proponent of organic memory link memory and heredity, suggesting humans inherit memory from ancestors and society inherits the memory of The Promise of Memory: Politics of Memory and Caste Inequality in Collective Memory 205 Identity, Memory and ‘Counter Memory’ Scholars of memory studies have noted that “(c)ontestation clearly is at the centre of both memory and identity” (Olick & Robbins 1998: 126). The core argument is that Dalits are unequally placed as an entity in the caste-based memory structure of collective memory; this unequal placement of Dalits is carefully constructed and mobilized by the dominant castes. Keywords: bjp; caste; community; consolidation; context; dalit; hindutva; icons; identity; individual; journal; memories; memory; politics; rss; studies; system
• Psychology of Caste in Food: A Letter to My Upper Caste Friend by Sophan, Angel (2024) - The details of Brahmin food are not discussed in this letter. When enquired about the purpose of A mess when B and C mess offered vegetarian food, it was said that ‘A mess is Brahmanical, it is only for Brahmins, A mess is an Agraharam’.15 It is important to understand the role that food plays in maintaining the concepts of purity and pollution. Keywords: brahmins; caste; children; community; dalit; eating; food; hindu; journal; letter; merriam; n.d; webster
• Caste and Colourism: Analysing Social Meanings of Skin Colour in Dalit and Savarna Discourses by Jidugu, Kavya Harshitha (2024) - Analysing Social Meanings of Skin Colour in Dalit and Savarna Discourses Jidugu Kavya Harshitha1 Abstract We know little about how skin colour is used to discriminate and dehumanise Dalits in everyday language. Thus, the construction of fairness and darkness of skin colour in savarna perception and the qualities attributed need to be under- stood through the lens of caste identities. Keywords: caste; colour; colourism; dalit; dark; fairness; language; meanings; palle; qualia; qualities; quality; savarna; skin; skin colour; study

• A Commentary on Ambedkar’s Posthumously Published “Philosophy of Hinduism” by Sampath, Rajesh (2020) - From a standpoint of social justice, this paper attempts to draw out the profound implications of one of Ambedkar’s last studies prior to his death, and argues for the centrality of both philosophy and the philosophy of religion in Ambedkar studies in general. We can say that at the outset of this commentary on Ambedkar studies of caste and social exclusion, for Ambedkar, it does not.7 In asking what makes caste a self-perpetuating, malignant form of social exclusion, stratification, inequality, and injustice that persists within society through religion, we must embark on a journey into Ambedkar’s investigations on the ‘philosophy of religion.’ Keywords: ambedkar; caste; hinduism; history; justice; life; philosophy; religion; social; vol; writings
• Ambedkarites in Making: The Process of Awakening and Conversion to Buddhism among Non-Mahar Communities in Maharashtra by Ghadage, Tushar (2020) - But in the recent past, people from different social backgrounds belonging to non-Mahar castes have embraced Buddhism. This paper, an outcome of my anthropological study, concerns with changing consciousness among non-Mahar castes regarding conversion to Buddhism as a tool of resistance to overcome caste inequalities. Keywords: ambedkar; buddhism; caste; conversion; hindu; maharashtra; new; non; people; religion; society; women
• Tending Immanence, Transcending Sectarianism: Plane of Mixed Castes and Religions by Babu, Roshni (2021) - In arguing for an inclusionary form of Indian identity, Sen’s deliberation is over the sectarian view of deriving an Indian identity from a Hindu identity (Sen, 2006: 352). This article is an attempt to make the Deleuzean motif of “immanence” amenable to understanding postcolonial engagement with the notion of hybridity in general, and the idea of “Dalit” identity in particular in the background of Ambedkar’s observations on the mixtures of castes and religious identities springing forth amidst the nominal Hindu identity. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; deleuze; dissent; ganeri; hindu; identity; immanence; indian; new; plane; reason; resources; work
• Consciousness Not Without Danger: Theorising Violence Faced by Dalit Converts by Ayub, Afsara (2025) - Ambedkar’s desire for religious conversion in his delivered speech on 31 May 1936 at the Yeola Conference encouraged his fellow Dalits to leave Hinduism. Dalit Consciousness and Religious Conversion To articulate the relationship between Dalit consciousness and religious conversion, one needs to begin with the positioning of Dalits and their historically marginalized position in Hinduism. Keywords: ambedkar; buddhism; caste; change; consciousness; conversion; converts; dalits; danger; hindu; identity; ravidas; socio; structure; system; violence
• 'Ambedkar's Constitution': A Radical Phenomenon in Anti-Caste Discourse? Bluestone Rising Scholar 2021 Award by Bhaskar, Anurag (2021) - Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in colonial India. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: life and mission. Keywords: ambedkar; april; caste; constitution; constitutionalism; dalits; delhi; discourse; ibid; indian; justice; minorities; new; november; phenomenon; rights; state; vol
• Indian Political Theory: Laying the Groundwork for Svaraj: Aakash Singh Rathore by Zene, Cosimo (2020) - Singh considers Gandhi and Ambedkar as the most prominent representatives of these two positions. Having examined Thomas Pantham’s, Ramachandra Guha’s, and Partha Chatterjee’s attempt to resolve the tension between Gandhi and Ambedkar, Rathore concludes that he is ‘quite sceptical about the validity of such attempts of reconciliation. Keywords: ambedkar; gandhi; philosophy; rathore; svaraj
• A Commentary on Ambedkar's Posthumously Published "Philosophy of Hinduism" - Part II by Sampath, Rajesh (2021) - Utilizing resources from various modern continental European philosophers and social theorists, particularly of religion, we elaborate on several key passages within Ambedkar’s overall framework of analysis. The paper continues to explore how Ambedkar conceives relations between philosophy and religion, and how historical shifts in general human consciousness have occurred whereby altering both fields. Keywords: ambedkar; caste; commentary; global; hinduism; history; human; new; philosophy; present; relations; religion; revolution; society; time
• A Commentary on Ambedkar's Posthumously Published "Philosophy of Hinduism"- Part III by Sampath, Rajesh (2021) - See Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 3, ed. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: writings and speeches, vol. Keywords: ambedkar; birth; caste; death; hinduism; human; life; philosophy; preservation; religion; savage; society
• Poothapattu: Sobs of a Broken People, Fragmented Ethos, and the Lost Land by Vijayan, Anilkumar Payyappilly (2024) - But this aspect of Kerala history, the Buddhist past and the conflict between Buddhism and Brahminism, has never been a concern of the mainstream historiographers of Kerala. In other words, the mainstream historiography of Kerala systematically erases the Dalit and other lower caste populations from the purview of history. Keywords: ambedkar; body; brahminic; caste; child; history; image; kerala; land; mother; myth; pariah; people; pootham; poothapattu; population; violence; world
• The American Question: Ambedkar, Columbia University, and the “Spirit of Rebellion” by Stroud, Scott (2024) - There is not much indication that young Ambedkar had a preference for Columbia specifically; Ambedkar’s father—helped by his time in the British service—might have preferred his son to pursue more standard routes to higher education through the channels of Empire. Even after his time in Baroda was finished, Borden continued to seek out meetings with the Gaekwad when the ruler visited Europe in 1913.19 11Interestingly enough, it was conflicts at the museum between Jesup and Bumpus and the anthropologist, Franz Boas, that would drive the latter away from the museum; Boas would shift his affiliation to Columbia University in 1906, where he would interact more fully with John Dewey and other stars soon to be in the orbit of young Ambedkar. Keywords: ambedkar; america; baroda; british; bumpus; caste; columbia; columbia university; democracy; dewey; education; gaekwad; new; sayajirao; university; york

• Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens: Uma Chakravarti by Prasad, Indulata (2020) - The text is among the first critical feminist interventions and push-backs on the dominant discourse of caste that views caste as a consensual rather than oppressive system that encompasses the economic, social, cultural, and political realm of Indian society, wherein ‘caste ideology denies subjectivity to the Dalits by depriving them of dignity and personhood.’ It draws much needed attention to the fact that while ‘the law maintained its monopoly to punish crimes it did not displace the monopoly of dominant caste to rape, parade, and kill Dalit women.’ Keywords: caste; state; women
• Caste, Christianity, and the Invented Moral Panic of ‘Love Jihads’ by Thomas, Sonja (2024) - During the anti-Mandal agitation in Delhi, dominant caste women held signs that said, “We don’t want unemployed husbands.” As feminist scholars have explained, dominant caste women in Kerala are monitored and vilified for stepping out of the “good woman” norm (Sreekumar, 2009; Devika, 2007). Keywords: caste; catholic; christians; hindu; jihads; kerala; love; malabar; muslim; syro; women
• From Margins to Mainstream: The Journey of Scheduled Caste Women through Panchayati Raj Institutions in Haryana, India by Mangat, H.S.; Ahmed, Shaik Iftikhar; Gill, L.S. (2025) - Consequently, there was approximately a twofold spatial expansion in areas reporting a high level of SC women empowerment in PRIs in 2016 compared to 2010 (Fig. 1). 1 Source: Table 1 138 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 6, No. 1 In 2010, three districts—Rohtak, Faridabad, and Palwal recorded a low level of SC women empowerment. Keywords: caste; cent; district; elections; empowerment; level; pris; raj; sc women; women
• Exclusion of Tribal Women from Property Inheritance Rights: A Study of Tripuri Women of India by Shil, Ashim; Jangir, Hemraj P (2021) - This section deals with the role of gender in accessing inheritance of property rights among women in general and Tripuri women in particular. Survey and FGDs are used as methodological tools to assess the circumstances of Tripuri women with respect to property rights. Keywords: exclusion; inheritance; land; ownership; percent; property; rights; tribal; tripuri; violence; women
• A Critical Lens to Understand Gender and Caste Politics of Rural Maharashtra, India by Harad, Tanuja (2023) - The Kopardi protest was among the first time that dominant caste women were out in public protests (Aasbe, 2019). To take the presence of dominant caste women as protesters in the public sphere as an indication of their empowerment also ignores the terms that defined their presence. Keywords: archie; caste; masculinity; movie; sairat; women
• “Our Poverty has No Shame; the Stomach has No Shame, so We Migrate Seasonally”: Women Sugarcane Cutters from Maharashtra, India by Shinde, Saroj (2023) - Keywords Women sugarcane cutters, seasonal migration, migration of vulnerable people, sugar belt, reasons for migration, social exclusion 1Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India E-mail: shinde.saroj4@gmail.com 438 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 4, No. 2 Introduction After Independence, agriculture policy favored the sugarcane crop, as also evidenced by a demand for sugar. This background gives us a context to explore the concerns of women sugarcane cutters. Keywords: cutting; exclusion; maharashtra; migration; sugarcane; vol; women; work; workers
• Periyar: Forging a Gendered Utopia by Menon, Shailaja (2023) - Such women would cause a moral panic in society. Albeit heterogeneous by nature, women have borne the burden of history, community, tradition and even geography being violently mapped across their bodies. Keywords: caste; gender; gendered; life; marriage; movement; new; periyar; question; respect; self; social; society; utopia; vol; women
• Feminist Pedagogy and Peer Relations in Women’s Studies Classrooms: Reflections on Caste Inequalities in Indian Higher Education by Anand, Arpita (2024) - The divide became even more charged and bitter when a Dalit male professor was accused of making sexist remarks by upper caste women students. Certainly the experiences of women students from marginalised castes would be marked by intersectional oppression, however this did not come through in my fieldwork as both men and women students from marginalised caste positions were focused on the caste-based tensions in their classrooms. Keywords: caste; classroom; education; feminist; locations; marginalised; pedagogy; peer; relations; students; studies; teachers; university; women

• Caste, Religion and Ethnicity: Role of Social Determinants in Accessing Rental Housing by Mishra, Vinod Kumar (2020) - The study also discusses the unpleasant outcome of discrimination in rental housing market against scheduled caste, Muslims and ethnic minorities. Systematic studies related to exclusionary practices in rental housing market in India have been ignored. Keywords: brokers; caste; discrimination; groups; house; housing; housing market; muslims; rental; social; tenants
• The Arrogation of Being Tamil and Other Campaigns Against Caste Discrimination in Jaffna, 1927–1957 by Balmforth, Mark Edward (2025) - Even though it was claimed that “the opinion of most of the thinking 32As public examples of the general practice were challenged in Jaffna in the first half of the twentieth century, differential seating was explicitly deployed to reiterate caste caste position and subordination, and as a form of insult. By the turn of the twentieth century, to be Jaffna Tamil was already deeply associated with certain elite and distinctly Veḷḷāḷar characteristics. Keywords: activists; caste; century; ceylon; commission; communities; community; discrimination; education; equality; government; island; jaffna; july; lanka; minority; people; police; public; representation; rights; schools; seating; slnak; social; sri; tamil; times; work
• Populism, Anti-populism and Minorities: Governmental Discourses and Policies on the Romani People in Greece by Markou, Grigoris (2024) - Roma people in Europe: A long history of discrimination. Roma communities in the time of the pandemic. Keywords: discourse; greece; greek; groups; inclusion; journal; minorities; minority; people; policies; populism; rights; roma; romani; social; syriza
• Caste and Religion Matters in Access to Housing, Drinking Water, and Toilets: Empirical Evidence from National Sample Surveys, India by Mishra, Vinod Kumar (2023) - : Access to bathroom Sector Access to Bathroom Exclusive use of Household Common use of Household in the building Public/ community use without payment Public/ community Use with payment Others No bathroom Rural 50.3 6.1 0.07 0 43.4 0.25 Urban 75.0 15.9 0.15 0.01 8.8 0.16 Slum 59.3 13.2 1.26 0.04 25.9 0.25 Non-slum 76.2 16.1 0.05 0.01 7.5 0.15 Source: NSSO, 76th Round, 2018 Analysis of inter-group inequality for bathroom shows that like other basic amenities, marginalized social group households have lower access to bathroom for exclusive use of households than high caste households. However, among social groups high caste households have highest, 45 per cent access to exclusive water source. Keywords: access; amenities; caste; groups; households; housing; probability; social; water

• Caste, Materiality and Embodiement: Questioning the Idealism/Materialism Debate by Saha, Subro (2020) - If the Dalit’s touch violates the body of other castes then touch cannot be identified within the material body of the toucher only (then how can one project the Dalit’s body as ‘polluting’?), and if it remains always connected with the originating body then how can it affect other bodies? The specific focus remains to read the internal contradictions haunting the elementary aspects of thinking caste: purity and touch. Keywords: approach; attempt; body; caste; idea; idealism; indian; lokayata; materialism; question; reading; remains; society; thinking; touch
• Nationalism, Caste-blindness and the Continuing Problems of War-Displaced Panchamars in Post-war Jaffna Society by Silva, Kalinga Tudor (2020) - According to the leaders of WCMC, this action motivated largely by caste considerations of Karaiyar IDP in Velvetithurai ,seen as a Karaiyar stronghold and their refusal to treat lower caste IDP as their equals let alone partners in a common struggle, served to dampen their struggle for winning their rights as IDP. In caste societies this can lead to what is called ‘caste-blindness’ in public policies. Keywords: camps; caste; discrimination; government; idp; idp camps; jaffna; jaffna society; land; lanka; ltte; nationalism; new; panchamar; peninsula; society; sri; state; tamil; war
• Power, Performance, and the Limits of Contemporary Animism as a (De)colonial Perspective for Indian Caste Society  by Prakash, Brahma (2024) - The article points to the relational approach of Hinduism (informed by strong currents of Brahmanism) based on hierarchies and argues on the (im)possibility of new animism to make a critical turn in the postcolonial context without fundamentally acknowledging the cultural context of animism—is Ontology just another name for culture? Abstract “Contemporary animism” or what is often termed as “new animism” has emerged as one of the most powerful perspectives to understand and decolonize the indigenous cultural practices and knowledge systems in recent years. Keywords: animism; beliefs; caste; hinduism; human; knowledge; nature; new; non; perspective; practices; society; world
• Recasting the Brahmin: Martin Wickramasinghe and the Epistemic Critique of Caste by Tilakaratne, Praveen (2025) - 55-75 April 2025 ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste Recasting the Brahmin: Martin Wickramasinghe and the Epistemic Critique of Caste Praveen Tilakaratne1 Abstract The dominant public perception is that caste is a matter of minor and diminishing significance in Sri Lanka, especially for the Sinhalese, who form the island’s ethnic majority. Keywords Sri Lanka, Sinhala Literature, Martin Wickramasinghe, Caste; Buddhism, Coloniality, Epistemology 1PhD Candidate, Department of Comparative Literature, Cornell University, USA E-mail: wt295@cornell.edu 56 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 6, No. 1 Introduction: Conditions and Possibilities Questions of caste are seldom raised in the field of modern Sinhala literature. Keywords: bava; brahmin; buddhism; caste; ceylon; colonial; forms; knowledge; lanka; novel; power; sinhala; society; sri; sri lanka; taraṇaya; university; wickramasinghe
• Towards a Multispecies Approach to Caste in Sinhala Society: Interspecies Dynamics between Cinnamon and the Salagama People by Silva, Kalinga Tudor (2025) - This article begins with a multispecies take on Sinhala caste, using Salagama caste to illustrate the potential of this approach for 1Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka E-mail: tudorsilva@pgihs.ac.lk Towards a Multispecies Approach to Caste in Sinhala Society 9 expanding the understanding of caste by exploring its human diversification and natural resource base as well. I argue that caste systems prevail at local levels encompassing inter-caste relations rather than at national or global levels. Keywords: approach; caste; caste system; ceylon; cinnamon; cinnamon industry; foraging; human; industry; knowledge; lanka; multispecies; plant; salagama; salagama caste; silva; sinhala; sinhala caste; society; sri; sri lanka; system
• The Caste Negotiations of Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) in Colonial Ceylon by Hewage, Bhadrajee (2025) - Despite his criticisms of Sinhalese caste communities, Dharmapala nonetheless clarified that these specific criticisms reflected his rejection of the Sinhalese caste system as it then existed during his lifetime. While Dharmapala did not cater his appeals in Ceylon towards specific caste groups, he undoubtedly attracted the strongest support from those who did not belong to the upper echelons of Sinhalese caste communities—hence his alienation from political elites discussed earlier (Hewage, 2025, pp. Keywords: anagarika dharmapala; buddha; buddhist; caste; ceylon; collection; colombo; dharmapala; govigama; guruge; island; letters; press; sinhalese; society; sri

• A Touchable Woman’s Untouchable Daughter: Interplay of Caste and Gender in Nepal by Pariyar, Sarita (2020) - Impure and untouchable castes (Hofer, 2012 p. 10) Impure, but touchable castes) 6. Keywords: ajit; caste; family; mother; nepal; people; sister; woman
• Cultural Ambivalence: A Socio-Historical Account of the Berava Caste of Southern Sri Lanka by Simpson, Bob; de Silva, Premakumara (2025) - This is how the tradition of ‘yaga’ evolved, first taught by Mahabrahma වමසිරිලක රජ පැමිණි නිරිවඳෝ යාෙ බමුණන් වෙන්නො අසිරි සලසන යාෙ කරුො නැෙත සත ට දන්නො විසිරි උන්වෙන් වබෝෙ පැෙවතන දැනුත් බමුනන් ඉන්නො අසිරිමත් උන් කවුද වසායමුය අඩඟු සිත් තන්නො Kings of this Sri Lanka, having invited Brahmins for yaga Having performed ‘yaga’ and letting the people know Some Brahmins still exist scattered, descending from them, Let us trace, who they are, focusing our minds It is really true; men in this world are the same As the reason, the actions of the ancient kings of this Lanka Some of them know of the Veda and were named respectable Brahmins, Those who committed much sin, were segregated as low castes සීරු වෙස්නා දනන්වේ කුල ෙනන කලක් වෙයි. More recently, Kapferer notes that in both urban and rural Sri Lanka, the Berava are viewed by other castes as close to the bottom of the caste order (1983, pp. Keywords: ambivalence; berava caste; brahmins; buddha; caste; country; cultural; dance; drum; govi caste; kings; lanka; low; making; men; people; ritual; science; sri lanka; time; traditions; yaga; උතුම්; උන්; දැන; යාෙ; වපර
• Caste, Space, and Retail Religiosity in Tamil Toronto by P. Whitaker, Mark (2025) - Yet in one arena of Toronto Tamil life caste is still, unabashedly, and publicly quite important: Toronto’s Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu temples. In Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, similarly, although caste practices have been revived with surprising enthusiasm, and the old game of temple-centered caste disputes continues, diasporic money is linked to the ongoing “agamic” (orthodox and Sanskritic) transformations of many of the area’s important “regional” (tēcam) Keywords: batticaloa; canada; canadian; caste; diaspora; district; example; hindu; jaffna; lankan; lankan tamil; local; people; priests; sri; sri lankan; tamil; temples; toronto; vellalar; war
• Exploring Strategies to Maintain Tribal Identity in Sundarban Island, India by Bera, Mohan (2025) - There is a trend of social discrimination towards tribal people in Sundarban by non-tribal people. Tribal people played an important role during the reclamation process in the Sundarban islands, but non-tribal people acquired most of the available agricultural land. Keywords: acculturation; activities; adaptation; bengali; community; culture; hindu; identity; islands; munda; people; process; socio; sundarban; tribal

• ‘I’m an Upper Caste Myself’: Caste Identities in Negotiating Casteism by Sambaraju, Rahul (2025) - Findings show that interviewees negotiated their positions on casteism through softening their attachment to caste identities. Interviewee accounts developed their own and others’ caste identities in ways that grounded these in contexts of higher education to downgrade or upgrade claims about prevalent casteism. Keywords: caste; casteism; discrimination; education; exclusion; groups; identities; identity; interviewee; journal; reservations; students; study; university; ways
• “When I tell them my caste, silence descends”: Caste-based Discrimination among the Nepali Diaspora in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA by Pariyar, Prem; Gupta, Bikash; Fonseka, Ruvani W (2022) - In his ethnographic work, caste discrimination was also observed during housing transactions, renting, and during marriages (2020). Experiences with caste discrimination can impact victims’ mental health. Keywords: area; bay; caste; dalits; diaspora; discrimination; exclusion; health; identity; nepali; participants; study
• 'Scheduled Castes in the Indian Labour Market: Employment Discrimination and its Impact on Poverty’ : Sukhadeo Thorat, S. Madheswaran, B. P. Vani by Sabri, Tauqueer Ali (2023) - There is constraint in terms of the upper limit of 472 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 4, No. 2 a Dalit moving into higher paid jobs due to caste discrimination. Explaining the classical economic theories of discrimination, the authors provide useful insights on the causes and consequences of employment discrimination and contextualise these theories in the Indian context. Keywords: book; caste; discrimination; labour

• Perspectives on Caste and Militant Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The LTTE and Resistance Against Vellalah Hegemony by Rasanen, Bahirathy Jeeweshwara (2025) - See Sivasegaram, 2008. 14“C. that in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.” It sheds light on the interplay between LTTE-led militant nationalism and Tamil caste dynamics by focusing on Vellalah interpretations of the movement’s efforts to overturn caste, and how this project was perceived to be a deliberate deconstruction of longstanding Vellalah hegemony.7 By focusing on Vellalah interpretations of this phenomenon, the work draws attention to an understudied dynamic within Tamil nationalist debates: resistance to the hegemonic position of the Vellalah. Keywords: author; caste; eelam; elites; exclusion; groups; identity; jaffna; journal; lanka; ltte; nationalism; press; sri; sri lanka; tamil; tamil nationalism; university; vellalah; war; youth
• Ethnic Identity, Discrimination and the Shaping of Remittance Culture in Ghana by Assan, Joseph Kweku (2021) - He argues that migrants tend to take on the behavior and practices of mainstream culture at their respective destinations and conceded that migrants might preserve their ethnic values, norms, and tight group solidarity for the benefit of the group members and relatives back home or abandon such values, including sending of remittances for the culture of the dominant social group, possibly to the detriment of ethnic groups members (Lamphere, 2007; Portes and Manning, 1991; Zhou, 1997). The research also shows that migrants from ethnic groups with strong internal cohesion and less assimilation remit more than those from more ethnically heterogeneous groups. Keywords: africa; akuapem; caste; development; districts; economic; ethnic; ethnicity; family; ghana; groups; households; identity; members; migrants; migration; north; percent; remittances; study
• Inequality in Access to Medical Education in India: Implications for the Availability of Health Professionals by Khan, Khalid (2022) - One may note that the inequality is high in access to medical education which also indicates that the prevailing inequality among health professionals is linked to the existing inequality in higher education. Keywords Higher education, choice, employment, inequality Introduction The years of school are considered as one of the most important factors that lead to improved labour market outcomes (Card, 1999). Keywords: access; cent; courses; education; groups; health; muslims; share
• The Nature of Caste Prejudice: A New Look at Prejudice, Social Identity, and Casteism in India by Sharma, Suryodaya; Jogdand, Yashpal (2024) - 84 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 5, No. 2 subjective identification with caste groups may predict caste prejudice. RWA 4.11 1.01 0.43*** 0.46*** 0.40*** 0.23*** 0.23*** 0.23*** - *** p < .001, **p<.01, *p<0.10 Testing Hypothesis 1 We predicted that the caste groups occupying higher positions in the social hierarchy would endorse a higher degree of caste prejudice compared to caste groups occupying lower positions. Keywords: caste; caste prejudice; et al; groups; identification; identity; indian; individual; ingroup; journal; nature; opposition; personality; prejudice; psychology; reservations
• Social Psychological Explorations of Caste: Unravelling Challenges and Discovering Opportunities by Fatima, Iram; Zafar, Maria; Thangal, M. Rejoyson (2024) - Differences across caste groups, hence, need to be carefully explained and discussed so they do not justify existing caste-based inequalities. Essentialism, the view that social groups have “deep, immutable, and inherent defining properties” (Toosi & Ambady 2011: 17), is intricately related to questions of power and hegemony. Keywords: bias; caste; challenges; context; groups; identity; journal; psychological; psychology; research; researchers; resistance; study

• ‘Henri Tajfel: Explorer of Identity and Difference’: Rupert Brown by Zafar, Maria (2024) - Keywords Henri Tajfel, social psychology, social identity theory, intergroup relations Henri Tajfel at 100: Revisiting the Life and Impact Social issues like prejudice, inequality, exclusion, and oppression have long interested social scientists across disciplines. Social identity theory addresses questions such as: Under what conditions do ‘Henri Tajfel: Explorer of Identity and Difference’ 341 disadvantaged groups resist their oppression? Keywords: academic; brown; henri; identity; life; psychology; tajfel; theory
• Being Insider-Outsider: Public Policy, Social Identity, and Delivery of Healthcare Services in India by Pal, G. C. (2022) - Being Insider-Outsider: Public Policy, Social Identity, and Delivery of Healthcare Services in India 241 While high caste service providers in a pursuit of maintaining high caste identity and autonomy, tend to show differential behaviours towards low caste users of health services, low caste service providers, on the other hand, under the influence of dominant social norms, face conflict in course of providing health services to different social groups. Given that public health services are the only options for marginalized groups including low caste groups, when low caste service providers cannot ensure health services within their own community due to dominance of other socio-cultural norms, this is a challenge for achieving inclusion in the health services. Keywords: access; aww; caste; cent; delivery; health; health services; healthcare; healthcare services; households; identity; low; providers; services

• Differences in Access to Health Resources: An Analysis of Disparities among Dalit Sub-castes in Uttar Pradesh, India by Kumar, Kanhaiya (2022) - The case reports of the respondents facilitate an understanding of the intersection of social identity, economic status and spatial inaccessibility of health services as barriers in accessing health care services. Some studies also note that as compared to non-Dalits, the utilization of health services are lower among Dalits (Ram et al., 1998; Kulkarni and Baraik, 2003; Baru et al., 2010). Keywords: access; care; caste; chamar; differences; economic; health; resources; respondents; services; sub

• Periyar’s Spatial Thought: Region as Non-Brahmin Discursive Space by ., Ganeshwar (2022) - Tamilnadum Thanthai Periyarum (Tamilnadu and Thanthai Periyar). The question that began to pre-occupy Periyar was this: why was it that the anti-colonial nationalist movement that polemised extensively about poverty and degradation of masses was unable to address social inequality as manifested in caste, which for Periyar was the single greatest threat to national unity. Keywords: brahmin; caste; congress; gandhi; indian; movement; nationalism; non; periyar; politics; region; respect; self; space; tamil

• In Nāki’s Wake: Slavery and Caste Supremacy in the American Ceylon Mission by Balmforth, Mark E. (2020) - The inheritance of caste and patrimony likely explains why the three communities of enslaved castes during the period all follow naming practices like Nāki’s: her full name, Caṅkari Nāki, denoted her mother’s given name followed by her own (female gendered) given name.14 At the age of about seven, Nāki was taken into Susan and Daniel Poor’s home as one of the mission’s first female students (Poor, 1823, p. 210). In Nāki’s Wake: Slavery and Caste Supremacy in the American... 163 The missionaries that contributed to the ACM’s approach to caste arrived in Ceylon with knowledge gleaned from the extensive missionary networks present in South Asia from the fifteenth century. Keywords: acm; american; american ceylon; caste; ceylon; ceylon mission; death; history; jaffna; life; marriage; mission; missionaries; missionary; nāki; poor; slavery; south; tamil; veḷḷāḷar

• Manifestations of Academic Untouchability in India: Exclusionary Practices that Subvert Reservations in Admissions in Higher Education by Samraj, C. Jerome (2022) - In regard to the RTI query “whether the communications from UGC regarding implementation of reservation in admissions and appointments are displayed in the university website?,” the Pondicherry University administration replied that “All communications on reservation policies on appointments received from UGC are not displayed in University website. As a corrective measure of the historical injustices to certain sections of the society, the state and union governments in India have enacted reservation policies in education and employment. Keywords: act; cent; pondicherry; reservation; scs; seats; sts; university

• A Symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora: An Introductory Note by Tudor Silva, Kalinga; E. Balmforth, Mark (2025) - A Symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora: An Introductory Note Kalinga Tudor Silva1, Mark E. Balmforth2 In comparison to the expanding body of literature on caste in the Indian subcontinent, caste in and connected to Sri Lanka has received relatively little attention in contemporary academic research, policy debates and social development interventions. Caste in Southern Sri Lanka Three of the papers published in this symposium deal with caste in Sinhala society in southern Sri Lanka. Keywords: caste; jvp; lanka; ltte; silva; sri; sri lanka; symposium; tamil; university
• Pariyerum Perumal and a Periyarite Note on Political Engagement by Valan, Antony Arul (2022) - Tamil films have had a long history with social movements. This is where we will leave a historian’s perspective on Tamil films and move to another historian’s perspective on the history of the Dravidian movement which gave birth to the DMK. Keywords: article; caste; engagement; father; film; pariyan; pariyerum; periyar; perumal; self; speech; tamil; words; world

• The Twilight of Equality and the Birth of Fraternity: A Commentary on Chief Justice Chandrachud’s Historic Address at the 6th Annual Conference on the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar by Sampath, Rajesh (2024) - The Twilight of Equality and the Birth of Fraternity: A Commentary on Chief Justice Chandrachud’s Historic “Brandeis Lecture” Rajesh Sampath1 In his brilliant keynote address at the 6th International Conference on the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Law, Caste, and Pursuit of Justice at Brandeis University in 2023, Chief Justice Chandrachud delivered hope and inspiration. The Twilight of Equality and the Birth of Fraternity 47 Seen from a wider conception of social justice, the law has a powerful role, alongside politics, systems of governance, and civil society, in maximizing the fair distribution of these goods. Keywords: caste; chandrachud; justice; law

• Assessing the Impact of Public-Private Funded Midday Meal Programs on the Educational Attainment and Well-being of School Children in Uttar Pradesh, India by Assan, Joseph Kweku; Simon, Laurence; Kharisma, Dinar D; Adaboh, Afia A; Assan, Nicola; Al Mamun, Abdullah (2020) - Keywords India, Uttar Pradesh, midday meal, school feeding program, equity, well-being, social inclusion, Dalit, SDGs. This approach could be particularly helpful for school feeding programs operated by national and local organizations. Keywords: analysis; caste; food; impact; mdm; meal; number; percent; program; quality; satisfaction; school; status; students; study; suggestions; teachers
• Do Teachers have in-group Bias about Student Caste and Socioeconomic Status in India? by Parashari, Shradha (2024) - OLS Teacher expectation Constant High caste teacher_ High caste student 0.0194** (0.066) 3.41** (0.02) High caste teacher_ Low caste student -0.193** (0.069) 3.59*** (0.031) Low caste teacher_ High caste student 0.137 (0.102) 3.49*** (0.015) Low caste teacher_ Low caste student -0.128 (0.122) 3.50*** (0.01) Grader fixed effects For instance, high caste teachers assign 0.53 per cent or 0.019 points higher occupational expectations to high caste students and assign 5.6 per cent or 0.19 points lower occupational expectations to low caste students. Keywords: bias; caste; caste teachers; economic; expectations; group; socio; status; students; study; teachers

• Introduction to the Symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora, Part II by Balmforth, Mark Edward; Silva, Kalinga Tudor (2025) - In the process, Esler provides an extensive appraisal of caste research on the island. 199-201 October 2025 ISSN 2639-4928 brandeis.edu/j-caste Introduction to the Symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora, Part II Mark E. Balmforth1, Kalinga Tudor Silva2 For this second part of the Symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora, we have selected a set of four essays that continue our interest in thinking about caste on and of the island, not as something predominately relegated to history and declining in significance, but as an ongoing part of everyday life that remains understudied and in need of social and political attention. Keywords: caste; lanka; sri

• Mirrors of the Soul: Performative Egalitarianisms and Genealogies of the Human in Colonial-era Travancore, 1854-1927 by Narayan, Vivek V. (2020) - The doctrine of sin and practices of repentance held, for slave castes, a simultaneous acknowledgement of their interiority, agency, and capacity for transformation. We need not subscribe to the missionary’s condemning attitude towards ‘heathen’ practices of worship, nor affirm his unshakeable faith in Christianity, to learn about the spiritual lives of slave castes before Christianity, and their transformation through 132 CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 1, No. 1 colonial modernity. Keywords: caste; colonial; consciousness; discourse; equality; guru; hawksworth; human; humanity; individual; jati; kali; missionary; new; particular; practices; saiva; self; slave; soul; suffering; transformation; travancore; universal; yuga

• ‘Breaking Barriers: The Story of a Dalit Chief Secretary’: K. Madhava Rao by Acharya, Sanghmitra S. (2023) - They also inform us about the values that Madhava Rao cherished most and followed diligently in all his official and personal dealings, subsequently as he held various offices. Madhava Rao was not only noticed but also marked when as the District Collector he stood by the marginalised groups against powerful political forces, resulting in his transfer. Keywords: author; book; chapters; governance; rao; secretary

• Memory, Grief, and Agency: A Political Theological Account of Wrongs and Rites: Sunder John Boopalan by Chukka, Helen (2022) - The text articulates the importance of an active memory of wrongs of the past in preventing such wrongs in the present. The foundational claims that advance the thesis of Memory, Grief and Agency are fourfold: first, “wrongs have ritualistic character”; second, wrongs can be categorized as “brutal wrongs and everyday ‘ordinary’ wrongs”; third, wrongs emerge from “uncritical examination of social conditions”; fourth, “wrongs are socially conditioned corporeal habits” (21). Keywords: grief; text; wrongs

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents: Isabel Wilkerson by Holcombe, Susan (2020) - She ably distinguishes among the different levels of caste in the U.S.—just as there are different levels of castes in India that exclude only the Dalits. The creation and maintenance of caste systems is embedded in religion and justified by religion (Pillar One). Keywords: americans; caste; dominant; racism; wilkerson

• Heart Lamp: Banu Mushtaq by PATHANIA, GAURAV J. (2025) - Heart Lamp, a literal translation of the Kannada term hridaya deepa, is a radiant collection of twelve stories that illuminate the inner lives of women in Muslim communities of southern India, capturing the quiet yet pervasive pressures of patriarchy, religious tradition, class, and belonging through prose that is both spare and resonant. Moreover, because the narrative lens is so often interior and personal, Heart Lamp occasionally risks reiteration: the oppressive husband, the silent shame, the thwarted voice appears across multiple stories, and some vignettes echo one another in their texture if not in plot. Keywords: caste; heart; lamp; mushtaq

• Reflection by Pathania, Gaurav J. (2021) - पर पृथ्वी पर रहने वालों को न जाने क्यों तृिप्त के बाद आसमान में िसफर् सफ़ेद बादल देखना ही अच्छा लगता ह ै और अनंत आसमान के कोने कोने में िफर से सफ़ेद बादल छा जाता ह ै काला बादल पर पृथ्वी पर रहने वालों को न जाने क्यों तृिप्त के बाद आसमान में िसफर् सफ़ेद बादल देखना ही अच्छा लगता ह ै और अनंत आसमान के कोने कोने में िफर से सफ़ेद बादल छा जाता ह ै काला बादल Keywords: बादल; में

• Ari Varutada by Girija, Chandni (2021) - In finishing great amounts of snacks A 'justified' indulgence for my scholarly full-nighters Often selfishly finishing whole packets Not keeping a single bite for Amma No, today with the fridge looking solemnly half-empty And the dining table spick-and-span Today held no possibility Of heading to the local store To stave off the insistent hankering No, today held no such possibility Today and tomorrow In finishing great amounts of snacks A 'justified' indulgence for my scholarly full-nighters Often selfishly finishing whole packets Not keeping a single bite for Amma No, today with the fridge looking solemnly half-empty And the dining table spick-and-span Today held no possibility Of heading to the local store To stave off the insistent hankering No, today held no such possibility Today and tomorrow Keywords: ari; today; varutada

Epilogue

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Created: 2025-12-23