The Journey of Caste in India

N. Sukumar teaches Political Science at Delhi University, India. His area of interest includes Indian Political Thought, Ambedkar and Dalit Bahujan Studies, Human Rights, and Social Exclusion. Currently, he is engaged in the study of caste discrimination in Indian universities and Dalit Citizenship. He is also a member/advisor for many professional bodies in many Central Universities and other institutions. For his research credit he owns one international project on “Dalits and Well Being” (Indo-Swiss ICSSR Research Project), two major research projects – one on “Student Politics in Central Universities” (funded by UGC), and the second one is on “Exclusion and Discrimination in Higher Education” (funded by the ICSSR) – one sponsored project on “University as a Sight of Exclusion” (funded by the ICSSR). He also conducted two research projects – one on “Panchayati Raj” and another on “Atrocities on Dalits” – in association with the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, Delhi. He has published widely in research journals, blogs, etc., and has been involved in both national and international research studies on poverty and public institutions, migration, and caste-based atrocities. Apart from the classroom, he is also actively involved in grassroots people’s struggles. Paul D’Souza, after completing his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India, served at various institutes in Gujarat engaged in social action and research at the grassroots. Since 2013 he has been with the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, India, first as Research Director and then working as Head of the Department of Dalit Studies. Indian Social Institute, established in 1951 is a premier Centre for Research, Training and Action for Socio-Economic Development and Human Rights in India. His areas of interest and engagement have been marginalisation and development and city and caste. He has engaged with a number of research projects: “Negotiating Citizenship in Urban Space: A Study of Delhi Resettlement Project” (funded by the ICSSR); “Discrimination and Exclusion in Education: A Study of the Children of Communities Engaged in ‘Unclean Occupations’” (funded by the ICSSR); half-widows of Kashmir, the refugees of Afghanistan, etc. His current research engagement focuses on “Single Women and the Emerging Social Change among Tribals of Gujarat”. He has a number of years of experience working at the grassroots with marginalised communities. He has published articles in various journals and has contributed chapters to several edited volumes.

Introduction - N Sukumar and Paul D’Souza. Part I: The Trajectory of Caste in Post Independent India. 1. A Critique of Right Based Policies on Justice - Ambrose Pinto 2. Dalits and Cultural Identity: Ambedkar's Prevarications on the Question of Culture- Valerian Rodrigues 3. Ambedkar’s Quest for Social and Economic Democracy- Pradyumna Bag Part II: Dalit Culture and Identity 4. Dalit Culture: A Perspective from Below- Raj Kumar 5. Human Rights and the Subordinated People - A Cross Cultural Study of Dalit and Black Life World- Selvaraj Arulnathan 6. The Right to Selfhood: The Paradox of Being a Dalit Woman- Subhadra Mitra Channa Part III: Caste Violence: Movements for Social Mobility 7. Dandora: The Madiga Movement for Equal Identity and Social Justice in A.P.- P. Muthaiah 8. Post-Ambedkar Scheduled Cates’ Agitations and Social Exclusion in Andhra Pradesh- K.S. Chalam 9. Caste Conflict and Dalit Identity in Rural Punjab: Significance of Talhan- Prakash Louis and Surinder Jodhka 10. Globalisation: Assessing Impact on the Dalits in India-Anand Teltumbde 11. Panchayati Raj Institutions and Social Inclusion of Dalits- Karunakar Singh 12. Discrimination and Exclusion in Education: A Perspective from Below- Paul D’Souza and Teena Anil 13. Dalit Merit and Institutional Injustice: A Case Study- N. Sukumar and Shailaja Menon. Index