Dalits in the frame of Exclusion and Inclusion

Senri Ethnological Studies, 2017

Gujarat is one of the fastest growing states of India in terms of economic growth paving the way for the grand idea of what is called as 'Vibrant Gujarat'. Rising foreign investment, robust electricity generation and subsidized infrastructural facilities have placed this state on the priority list of businessmen and investment visionaries both from India and the world. But is this vibrant story same in terms of social development as well? Is social equality in consonance with economic growth or is it still different and dark? This article attempts to highlight some such issues in the backdrop of 'Vibrant Gujarat'. It attempts to answer that the practice of discrimination in the area under study has serious implications in terms of violation of human rights in the vibrant Gujarat. It deals with the vacuum that exists between modern advancement, development and social exclusion in contemporary Gujarat. An attempt is made in the article to examine various nuances of social exclusion primarily based on the foundations of caste system in the context of economic development in this techno advance state of India. The districts selected for the purpose of study were Surendernagar, Gandhinagar and Patan. The time period for the study was 24 days and the numbers of villages visited were 32.

Shodha Prabha, 2023

India is a country with rich cultural tradition and racial and ethnic diversity. In many countries of the world, even when people were living in a primitive state, there was a developed urban lifestyle like the Harappa-Indus Valley Civilization. Over time, due to various religious, cultural and political reasons, a large section of the society was marginalized or forced to live in that situation due to caste and work based reasons, as well as women, who form half the population of the society. By limiting their rights and duties, they were given second class status. Various types of changes took place in the socio-cultural status of the excluded and neglected sections of the society amidst the socio-religious systems imposed by the various invaders who came to the country. In the modern era in India, mainly since independence till now, as mentioned under the Directive Principles of Policy in the Indian Constitution, the state will make appropriate efforts to raise the social status of the persons belonging to the deprived community through the efforts of the excluded and subordinate groups etc. There were changes in the situation. The commitment to the upliftment of marginalized groups is central to the concept of welfare state. In the presented article, an attempt has been made to understand from the sociological point of view what kind of changes have taken place over time in the situation of discrimination, social inequality and their exclusion against the marginalized classes and what is the current direction of change.

Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 2017

This study is primarily based on intensive fieldwork. The focus of the paper is to seek an understanding about the perceptions of Dalits namely Bauris and Hadis. They are not very active in terms of participation and responding to the problems of health and illness. Collecting information on experiences of illnesses needs very close interaction with the people (Banerjee, 1980). Sociologists often perceive that Illness as something experienced, represented, negotiated by individuals which is reflected in the narratives and in-depth interviews of people. Perception on illness and health invariably depends on the socio-cultural conditions of the people. In this context, it becomes essential to understand the socio-cultural milieu of SCs in the field. The various and myriad form of expression about illness exist not only from one individual to another but also from one group to another. Therefore a close interaction with the group undertaken and elaborated in this study paper to understand the socio-cultural, economic as well as health perceptive. Introduction:

2017

India is a caste base social system, therefore, Indian society suffers from substantial inequalities in education, employment, and income based on caste and ethnicity that means caste as a system of exclusion and exploitation. In the identification of the poor, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes and in some cases the other backwards castes are considered as socially disadvantaged groups and such groups have a higher probability of living under adverse conditions and poverty. So this study generally points out that socioeconomic status of exclusion social groups in India. This ground reality raises a number of questions. What is the impact of the policy of positive discrimination in terms of employment, education and political empowerment of excluded social groups in India? Do positive discriminations help in the elimination of social stigma? The Constitution of India has taken special care for exclusion and uplifts certain marginalised communities in India.

Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences, 2013

Untouchability and caste discrimination are the fundamentals of Dalit Human Rights violations. This paper investigates the institutional shift in Human Rights violations from untouchability - the most powerful operational institution until the pre-independence period - to the new emergent institution of exclusion in post-independence era. Despite the constitutional safeguards and affirmative action under reservation, it emerged as an unavoidable institution, which is further aggravated by globalisation. The connecting link of denial of land rights and social power in itself is a classical study of the same.

It is said that that India is at the threshold of a Dalit Revolution, dalits being the most marginalised people in India. This paper opens a debate on participation and poverty of dalits in India's social and economic spheres by introducing the lens of 'inclusion' to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the issue. It highlights and discusses the present conditions and challenges of India's 167 million of oppressed and marginalised sections of society who – by and large – have for thousands of years – remained neglected and ignored in the social milieu. The dalits have suffered cumulative domination, protested several sources of deprivation, political powerlessness, exploitation and poverty. These protests and movements have no doubt given organisational shape and resulted in social awareness and political consciousness to develop self-respect and feelings of power-sharing. Economic and social " welfare measures " , along with political reforms have tried to address vital issues in dalit resurgence. There is some transformation in this sense. The revival of 'Ambedkarism' and dalit movement should be assessed in this context. Despite political empowerment dalits live in situations of social discrimination, physical violence and abject poverty. Around 50 per cent of the quantum of welfare measures is still unfulfilled. We need to explore social, cultural, political and economic factors (e.g. caste, class, gender, education, state, etc) in the context of dalit people's access to rights, resources, employment and security. The focus now needs to be on dalit emancipation, rights and inclusive growth, both within 'dalitology' and the new pedagogy of inclusive growth. Political reality – whether in case of agitations or administration – must admit social equality within caste dynamics. This indeed is a challenge.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 2016

Dalit social exclusion emanates from structures of cultural differentiation and spatial demarcation. The structures of cultural differentiation are entrenched in the oppressive social system of caste hierarchy. They are further fortified with the seamless social boundaries of segregated Dalit neighbourhoods. If graded caste hierarchy reduced Dalits to the lowest rung on the scale of social status, their segregated neighbourhoods ghettoized them within the socio-spatial boundaries of oppressive territorial demarcations. Until recently, segregated Dalit space used to be a submissive site of despair, dependence and helplessness. All public amenities and sacred domains of mainstream religions were/are housed within the well-guarded neighbourhoods of the upper/dominant castes. Dalit neighbourhoods were/are deprived of all such essential facilities and access to the sanctum sanctorum of the mainstream religious centres. However, embolden by the presence of a large number of Ravidass Deras...

2011

Caste has remained a subject of intense academic inquiry. Lately, new discourses have emerged under the thematic of ‘social exclusion’ that simply extend the scope of academic discussion on caste. This paper assumes that such discourses are relatively less applied to understanding the caste system and for the same attempts to juxtapose thinking on social exclusion to understanding caste in India. Thematically, these methodological issues are dealt with by firstly, presenting a brief background to the concept of social exclusion. Secondly, the paper presents select empirical evidence on caste based discrimination to demonstrate marred ‘access’ and ‘participation’; and finally, it explains the inferences drawn from these (empirical) studies with clarificatory remarks from the theory of social exclusion. The purposes of inquiry, therefore, are to accentuate on the ‘relational’ and ‘constitutive’ dynamics of caste-based discrimination; to bring out the ‘instrumental’ importance of caste...

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 2016

Social exclusion has been identified as an obstacle for Dalits in every sphere of society, which deprives them of access to resources. It has multiple forms which exclude Dalits from labour market and which creates adverse impact on their means of living. This article provides a theoretical and empirical perspective on the study of caste-based discrimination in the sphere of resource accessibility and consumer market discrimination. It sets the stage for addressing some of the key questions surrounding discrimination in consumer market and labour market, by highlighting the ways in which the caste system persists through various forms of discrimination. It specifically looks into the plight of discrimination in various labour markets in terms of access to employment, wages and employer behaviour at workplace. It also examines the consequences of discrimination in labour market on Dalits, that is, labouring class and caste relation in the local market. The article, in its essence, co...