Through its investigation of the underlying political economy of gender, caste and class in India, this book shows how changing historical geographies are shaping the subjectivities of Dalits across India in ways that are neither fixed nor predictable. It brings together ethnographies from across India to explore caste politics, Dalit feminism and patriarchy, religion, economics and the continued socio-economic and political marginalisation of Dalits. With contributions from major academics this is an indispensable book for researchers, teachers and students working on new political expressions, gender identities, social inequalities and the continuing use of the notion of 'caste' identity in the oppression of subalterns in contemporary India. It will be essential reading in the disciplines of politics, gender, social exclusion studies, sociology and social anthropology.

This book examines two subordinated groups??untouchables? and women?in a village in Tamilnadu, South India. The lives and work of ?untouchable? women in this village provide a unique analytical focus that clarifies the ways in which three axes of identity?gender, caste, and class?are constructed in South India. Karin Kapadia argues that subordinate

This volume is about the emerging development trajectories of rural labour relations in India, based on studies from its regions and states. its overarching theme is the rural class conflict and the results of such conflict, and the link between this and the nature and impact of state intervention. Vigorous emancipatory processes are identified, and the limitations of and contradictions inherent in such processes are examined. Both powerful general trends and significant regional variations are distinguished.

This book examines two subordinated groups--"untouchables" and women--in a village in Tamilnadu, South India. The lives and work of "untouchable" women in this village provide a unique analytical focus that clarifies the ways in which three axes of identity--gender, caste, and class--are constructed in South India. Karin Kapadia argues that subordinated groups do not internalize the values of their masters but instead reject them in innumerable subtle ways.Kapadia contends that elites who hold economic power do not dominate the symbolic means of production. Looking at the everyday practices, rituals, and cultural discourses of Tamil low castes, she shows how their cultural values repudiate the norms of Brahminical elites. She also demonstrates that caste and class processes cannot be fully addressed without considering their interrelationship with gender.

Through its investigation of the underlying political economy of gender, caste and class in India, this book shows how changing historical geographies are shaping the subjectivities of Dalits across India in ways that are neither fixed nor predictable. It brings together ethnographies from across India to explore caste politics, Dalit feminism and patriarchy, religion, economics and the continued socio-economic and political marginalisation of Dalits. With contributions from major academics this is an indispensable book for researchers, teachers and students working on new political expressions, gender identities, social inequalities and the continuing use of the notion of 'caste' identity in the oppression of subalterns in contemporary India. It will be essential reading in the disciplines of politics, gender, social exclusion studies, sociology and social anthropology.

This book investigates the contemporary situation of women in India by focusing on four broad domains: the cultural, the social, the political and the economic. The writers argue that despite apparently positive indicators of progress, particularly in education and paid employment, little has changed in the position of women. Steadily falling sex ratios, they suggest show a growing - and in some parts of India an institutionalized - bias against the female child. They trace the complex way in which this is connected with the nature of development processes, and assert that in recent years, simultaneously with economic development, there seems to have been a strengthening of male biases, patriarchal norms and values across all castes and classes in India. Can these two processes be seen as entirely separate, they ask, or are they organically linked? Together, these essays provide a fresh perspective on the situation of women's lives in India and bring out interesting contrasts and comparisons between the North and the South.