From stigma to assertion : untouchability, identity and politics in early and modern India / edited by Mikael Aktor and Robert Deiege ; consultant, Tabish Khair.

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Contributor:

Aktor, Mikael, editor, contributor.

Deliège, Robert, editor.

Khair, Tabish, consultant.

Conference Name:

European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (15th : 1998 : Prague, Czech Republic)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dalits--Government policy--India--Congresses.

Dalits.

Dalits--Legal status, laws, etc--India--Congresses.

Caste--India--Congresses.

Caste.

India--Social conditions--Congresses.

India.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 p.)

Place of Publication:

Copenhagen, Denmark : Museum Tusculanum Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When the constitution of independent India took effect in 1950 this meant a break with a more than two thousand year legacy of Untouchability - a set of discriminative practices that bound the lowest castes to low-status jobs and restricted their social mobility. For centuries large sections of Indian society had lived under the many forms of discrimination connected with this stigma. In order to compensate for the social and economic setback caused by discrimination, a reservation policy that guaranteed the former Untouchables access to education and jobs was introduced. These measures have changed the life conditions of the targeted groups, but they have also created tensions in a society where many other groups experience economic stress. The preservation of caste itself as something that matters in the competition for economic benefits thus creates today's paradox: that caste assertiveness has become a means to counter inequalities. This collection of articles, written by distinguished scholars in the field, addresses these and other important pre- and post-independence developments impinging on the notion of Untouchability and the Hindu caste system. By putting these developments in a wider temporal perspective - covering pre-colonial textual material as well as recent debates over the rights and identity of the Untouchables - this volume can be seen as a significant contribution to an understanding of why caste continues to play an important role in contemporary India. Mikael Aktor is Associate Professor of History of Religion at the University of Southern Denmark. Robert Deli ge is Professor at ACLA Unit d'anthropologie culturelle et du langage, Universit catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Contributors: Mikael Aktor, Simon Charsley, Jocelyn Clarke, Robert Deli ge, Kathinka Fr ystad, Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky, Andrew Wyatt, Eleanor Zelliot.

Contents:

""Frontpage""; ""Titlepage""; ""Colophone ""; ""Table of contents""; ""Preface""; ""1. Robert Deliège: INTRODUCTION. Is There Still Untouchability in India?""; ""2. Mikael Aktor: UNTOUCHABILITY INBRAHMINICAL LAW BOOKS. Ritual and Economic Control""; ""3. Eleanor Zelliot: THE EARLY VOICES OF UNTOUCHABLES. The Bhakti Saints""; ""4. Jocelyn Clarke: UNTOUCHABILITY AND THE INDIAN NATIONALIST MOVEMENT""; ""5. Andrew Wyatt: DALIT THEOLOGY AND THE POLITICS OF UNTOUCHABILITY AMONG THE INDIAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES""; ""6. Simon Charsley: UNTOUCHABLE IDENTITY AND ITS RECONSTRUCTION""

""7. Kathinka Frøystad: RELEGITIMIZING CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN UTTAR PRADESH. Towards a Post-Mandal Untouchability?""""8. Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky: CASTE AS A POLITICAL TOOL.The Case of the Carmakars of Dharavi(Mumbai)""; ""Contributors""; ""Back cover ""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

87-635-3635-8

OCLC:

932310779