Dropping offensive terms for Dalits without dismantling caste changes appearances, not reality. True dignity arises when communities name themselves, shifting from state correction to self-…
Does caste still dictate occupation and occupational mobility? A socio-economic survey in Uttar Pradesh reveals that aside from modest Dalit upward mobility, the occupational gap between upper-caste…
The Supreme Court’s concern about unequal access to reservations within beneficiary groups is valid. However, the court and executive should prioritise an evidence-based approach, using data to…
Reports of the death of Buddhism in precolonial India were greatly exaggerated. The many Buddhisms promoted by ideologies across the spectrum in modern times came to distinctively shape South Asia.
There is no connection between politics, elections and governance in Bihar. It is instead caste that defines both society and politics: caste parties and caste-based alliances seek to get the better…
The Azad Samaj Party represents both a crisis following the fracturing of the Dalit movement and a possible future regeneration under a new Ambedkarite organisation.
Attempts to 'invisibilise' caste through definitional alterations – whether in terms of an organic community or of a cultural community – are enmeshed in long-range socioeconomic…
The writings between the 1980 and 2003 of K. Balagopal, the scholar and democratic rights activist who died too early, emphasised caste’s role in fuelling fascism in India.
Dalits aspire to practice the ethics of democracy as their way of life. Yet, when they live a democratic life and celebrate the Constitution as their social public ethics, the consequence is the end…
Urbanisation has offered the Adivasi youth of Jharkhand new opportunities, but also opened them up to new forms of discrimination. Adivasi women are doubly disadvantaged, with their needs more likely…
