DIVIDING DALITS: Writings on Sub-Categorisation of Scheduled Castes

Caste as a category has played an important role in the analysis of Indian politics. While in the socio-political realm it has remained for long a very crucial source of collective identity, in the contemporary discourse, when India is transforming itself into a modern society, it is the sub-caste that has acquired supremacy over the broader category of caste in Indian politics. This volume is the first-ever attempt to trace this turning-point that marks a shift in the collective consciousness of Dalits in India. It provides a comprehensive overview of issues regarding the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes that have emerged and widely debated in popular media and academic discourses over a decade or so. Recognising the complexity and sensitivity of the issues, the book departs from conventional academic and institutionalised writing and is designed to strike a balance between guarded political commentary and critical analysis of the heterogeneous voices that have surfaced. Orientation of individual authors may vary but the coherence that emerged from different viewpoints presents a reasonable understanding of an important topic.

Yagati Chinna Rao is Associate Professor, Programme for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Earlier, he has held many important positions including faculty member at Dr. K.R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Visiting Fellow at the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and Member-Secretary, Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. His published works include “Dalits’ Struggle for Identity” (2003), ” Dalit Studies: A Bibliographical Handbook” (2003), ” Writing Dalit History and Other Essays” (2007) and “Perspectives on Economic Development” and “Social Change” (2009).