From stigma to assertion : untouchability, identity and politics in early and modern India

Untouchability was historically a set of discriminative practices that bound the lowest castes to low-status jobs and restricted their social mobility. Formally the practice was abolished with the constitution of independent India. In order to compensate for the social and economic setback caused by centuries? 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 essays in this book engage in critical discussions of the Hindu caste system and put the colonial and post-colonial notion of Untouchability in a wider temporal perspective, covering pre-colonial textual material as well as present-day debates over Dalit rights and identity. Contributors: Mikael Aktor, Simon Charsley, Jocelyn Clarke, Robert Deliège Kathinka Frøystad, Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky, Andrew Wyatt, Eleanor Zelliot. 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 set-back 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 Frontpage 1 Titlepage 4 Colophone 5 Table of contents 6 Preface 8 1. Robert Deliège: INTRODUCTION. Is There Still Untouchability in India? 14 2. Mikael Aktor: UNTOUCHABILITY INBRAHMINICAL LAW BOOKS. Ritual and Economic Control 32 3. Eleanor Zelliot: THE EARLY VOICES OF UNTOUCHABLES. The Bhakti Saints 65 4. Jocelyn Clarke: UNTOUCHABILITY AND THE INDIAN NATIONALIST MOVEMENT 98 5. Andrew Wyatt: DALIT THEOLOGY AND THE POLITICS OF UNTOUCHABILITY AMONG THE INDIAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 120 6. Simon Charsley: UNTOUCHABLE IDENTITY AND ITS RECONSTRUCTION 148 7. Kathinka Frøystad: RELEGITIMIZING CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN UTTAR PRADESH. Towards a Post-Mandal Untouchability? 179 8. Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky: CASTE AS A POLITICAL TOOL.The Case of the Carmakars of Dharavi(Mumbai) 202 Contributors 233 Back cover 234 Introduction : Is There Still Untouchability In India? / Robert Deliège -- Untouchability In Brahminical Law Books : Ritual And Economic Control / Mikael Aktor -- The Early Voices Of Untouchables : The Bhakti Saints / Eleanor Zelliot -- Untouchability And The Indian Nationalist Movement / Jocelyn Clarke -- Dalit Theology And The Politics Of Untouchability Among The Indian Christian Churches / Andrew Wyatt -- Untouchable Identity And Its Reconstruction / Simon Charsley -- Relegitimizing Caste Discrimination In Uttar Pradesh : Towards A Post-mandal Untouchability? / Kathinka Frøystad -- Caste As A Political Tool : The Case Of The Carmakars Of Dharavi (mumbai) / Marie-caroline Saglio-yatzimirsky. Edited By Mikael Aktor And Robert Deliège. Includes Bibliographical References. 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. --Book Jacket Explores the Indian phenomenon known as 'un-touchability'. This book explores pre- and late-colonial material, while the introduction is a critical discussion of the combination of caste rhetoric and confrontation strategy in the Dalit movement.