Ted Svensson
Search for other papers by Ted Svensson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Pollution and purity
Caste-based discrimination and the mobilisation of Dalit sameness
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

Since the late 1990s, Dalit (‘Untouchable’) activists have sought to respond to and contest caste-based discrimination by significantly expanding the scope of Dalit sameness. The idea of a shared, expansive Dalit identity beyond local or national contexts has allowed both for a global layer of activism to develop and for formerly disparate groups or communities to affiliate themselves with the cause against casteist perceptions of pollution, hierarchy and status. Consequently, Dalit identity to some—especially Indian activists long committed to its realisation and relevance—turns into an increasingly ambiguous and evasive subject position, while others relate to it is a novel, enabling nodal point for communal belonging and for contesting entrenched forms of marginalisation. In sum, these developments, nonetheless, equal acts of opposition and resistance. Drawing on interviews with Dalit activists in India, Nepal and the UK, the chapter explores how the above reformulation of Dalit sameness, on the one hand, affects the possibility to speak of a singular envisioning of transcending casteism and, on the other, destabilises established certainties regarding what pollution and purity signify.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

The politics of identity

Place, space and discourse

Editors: and

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 382 73 3
Full Text Views 61 33 0
PDF Downloads 49 19 0