Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection PDF
Preview Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection
“A philosophically, theoretically and empirically well organized book which tracestheuntoldnarrativesofsufferingsofstudentsofcasteslocatedatthelowest ebb of the hierarchically structured Indian societyfrom an evolutionary perspec- tive. Methodologically, it substantiates its findings with the collection of com- prehensive primary and secondary data about representation of various social groups in the India university system. On the one hand, the book successfully deconstructs the myth of merit prevailing in the Indian academia. On the other hand, it reveals the creativity and reflexivity of the students belonging to ‘lower castes’withnewmetaphors.Onthewholethebooktakesustonewhorizonsof imagination about India’s higher education and reminds us about Frere’s pro- phetic word, ‘pedagogy of the oppressed will be written by the oppressed which will emancipate the oppressor and the oppressed both’. I am confident it will be welcomedwithopenarmsbybothgeneralistsandspecialists.” Vivek Kumar,Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Social Systems,Schoolof Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, USA “Rigorouslyresearchedandpersuasivelyargued,‘CasteDiscriminationandExclu- sion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection’ by Narayana Sukumar opens us forscrutinythelegaciesofinjusticethatpervadeourinstitutionsofhigherlearning. Narayana Sukumar unravels the ‘university’ as a system of non-discriminatory publicaccesstoeducationtorevealthecontinuingpervasionofcaste-hierarchiesin the institutional and social space of the university. Taking recourse to empirical data pertaining to enrolment and employment of Dalit students and teachers in universities, and personal narratives of ‘betrayal’ and incremental ‘exclusions’, NarayanaSukumar,weavestogetherascathingcritiqueofwhathecallsthesocial cosmology of ‘merit’ and the pervasiveness of structural inequalities. While the meritdiscoursehasassumedvariousforms,thepandemichasexacerbatedthefault- lines along which caste, class, and gender have played out shaping Dalit experi- ences.Indeed,structuralinequalitieshavebecomemanifestinquotidianexperiences ofhumiliationandoftenalsoinspectaclesof‘death’–socialandmaterial.Policies, including those of affirmative action and grievance redressal in universities, and participatory channels in universities, e.g., in the recruitment process, become symbolic and not emphatic. This is an important and relevant book – an indis- pensable reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the social, political and materialbasisofuniversitiesinIndia.” Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Professor of Political Science, Delhi University, India Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities ThisbookstudiestheexclusionanddiscriminationthatismetedouttoScheduled Caste (SC) students in the Indian Higher Education system, and the psychosocial consequences of such practices. It foregrounds the conceptual debates around caste, exclusion, and reservations in Indian academia, discussing the social dominanceandtherootsofprejudicesintheuniversityspaces. The volume reflects upon the fragile social world in which students from the margins struggle for survival in the academic space. It reveals that these students navigatethevariousfacetsofacademia–likeclassrooms,pedagogy,scholarships, hostels, peer groups, and teachers – only to find the academic space a dystopian universe.Thebookalsoshedslightonsuicidecasescommittedbythemarginalized groupsasatestimonyofprotest. Based on in-depth ethnographic research, this book will be of interest to teachers, students and researchers of education, sociology, political science, psychology,andexclusion studies. Itwillalsobeusefulforpolicymakers, social activists, NGOs, research centers, and those working in higher education, reservations, public policy, caste, and exclusion studies. N. Sukumar teaches Political Science at Delhi University, India. His area of interest includes Indian Political Thought, Ambedkar and Dalit Bahujan Stu- dies, Human Rights and Social Exclusion. Currently, he is engaged on Dalit Citizenship and Anti-Caste Utopias. He is also member/advisor for many pro- fessional bodies in many Central Universities and other institutions. He has published widely in research journals, blogs etc. and has been involved in both national and international research studies on poverty and public institutions, caste-based atrocities, and discrimination. Apart from the classroom, he is also actively involved in grassroots peoples’ struggles. Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities fl A Critical Re ection N. Sukumar Firstpublished2023 byRoutledge 4ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2023N.Sukumar TherightofN.Sukumartobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen assertedinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,Designsand PatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfrom thepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation withoutintenttoinfringe. Theviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisbookarethoseofauthoranddonot necessarilyreflecttheviewsandopinionsofRoutledge. BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Acatalogrecordhasbeenrequestedforthisbook ISBN:978-0-367-55689-1(hbk) ISBN:978-1-032-29051-5(pbk) ISBN:978-1-003-09529-3(ebk) DOI:10.4324/9781003095293 TypesetinSabon byTaylor&FrancisBooks To my grandmother (Boosamma), who was my first teacher Contents List of tables x Foreword xii Acknowledgements xv Abbreviations xviii 1 Caste and the Academia 1 2 Dalits and Higher Education in India: A Fact Sheet 42 3 Unequal Spaces: Mapping Caste Discrimination in Indian Universities 64 4 A Social History of Indian Academia 113 5 “My Birth is My Fatal Accident”: Social Semantics of Dalit Students’ Suicides 146 6 Conclusion: Social Cosmology of Merit and Pervasive Injustices 168 Appendix: RTI Table 180 Index 185
The list of books you might like
