Suchergebnisse

The authors discuss the concurrence of the caste system & poverty in India. After addressing the the caste basis of poverty, the authors explore the position of the dalits ("untouchables") at the bottom of the socioeconomic order, & efforts by various social movements to combat dalit poverty. The evolution of state policies toward dalits is traced, as well as the reponses of of activist groups. Three case studies are presented: (1) the radical Dalit Panthers, (2) the dalit-based Bahujan Samaj Party, & (3) dalit nongovernmental organizations. K. Hyatt Stewart

Discusses the 1963 stripping & parading of four naked dalit women in the village of Sirasgaon, India, to explore the production of knowledge about dalit women & the nature of anthropological narratives dealing with issues of caste & gender. The relation between dalit women's caste-specific differences & mainstream Indian feminism is explored, along with the judicial discourse surrounding the incident in Sirasgaon. It is argued that the avoidance of descriptions of the atrocious event itself in the documents, & the lack of serious legal consideration given to questions of untouchability or violence against women, reveal how various forms of untouchability are elaborated & disciplined, as well as how dalit women are constituted through critical events managed by legal mechanisms. Other issues explored are the position of certain aspects of Indian society in the domain of juridical reason, & the political basis for how the identities of dalits & others are expressed in legal arguments. The need to rethink modes of intellectual inquiry & practice in relation to gendered caste violence is discussed. 45 References. J. Lindroth