Dalits in Neoliberal India: Mobility or Marginalisation?

293 Pages·2015·7.769 MB·English

by  Clarinda Still

Dalits in Neoliberal India
Exploring the Political in South Asia
Series Editor: Mukulika Banerjee
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, London
School of Economics and Political Science
Exploring the Political in South Asia is devoted to the publication of research
on the political cultures of the region. The books in this Series will present
qualitative and quantitative analyses grounded in fi eld research, and will explore
the cultures of democracies in their everyday local settings, specifi cally the
workings of modern political institutions, practices of political mobilisation,
manoeuvres of high politics, structures of popular beliefs, content of political
ideologies and styles of political leadership, amongst others. Through fi ne-
grained descriptions of particular settings in South Asia, the studies presented
in this Series will inform, and have implications for, general discussions of
democracy and politics elsewhere in the world.
Also in this Series
The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India
Lucia Michelutti
978-0-415-46732-2
Rise of the Plebeians? The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies
Editors: Christophe Jaffrelot and Sanjay Kumar
978-0-415-46092-7
Broadening and Deepening Democracy: Political Innovation in Karnataka
E. Raghavan and James Manor
978-0-415-54454-2
Retro-modern India: Forging the Low-caste Self
Manuela Ciotti
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Power and Infl uence in India: Bosses, Lords and Captains
Editors: Pamela Price and Arild Engelsen Ruud
978-0-415-58595-8
Why India Votes?
Mukulika Banerjee
978-1-138-01971-3
Dalits in Neoliberal India
Mobility or Marginalisation?
Editor
Clarinda Still
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON NEW YORK NEW DELHI
First published 2014 in India
by Routledge
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© 2014 Clarinda Still
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-138-02024-5
To David, Hazel and Gaby, with thanks
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Contents
Maps, Figures and Plates ix
Tables xi
Abbreviations xiii
Foreword by Mukulika Banerjee xv
Acknowledgements xix
Dalits in Neoliberal India: An Overview 1
Clarinda Still
1. Dalit Entrepreneurs, Globalisation and the
Supplier Diversity Experiment in Madhya Pradesh 44
Sudha Pai
2. Trajectories of Dalits’ Incorporation into the
Indian Neoliberal Business Economy 70
Kaushal K. Vidyarthee
3. Locating Caste in a Globalising Indian City:
A Study of Dalit Ex-millworkers’ Occupational
Choices in Post-industrial Mumbai 107
Sumeet Mhaskar
4. Legislating for Liberation? Dalit Electoral
Politics and Social Change in Tamil Nadu 133
Hugo Gorringe
5. A Book Also Travels: Circulating Small
Booklets in Dalit Poorva 162
Badri Narayan
6. Low Caste Elites and Re-traditionalised Responses:
Status and Security in an Economically Uncertain Time 184
Jordan C. R. Mullard
viii (cid:2) Contents
7. Dalit Women Becoming ‘Housewives’: Lessons from
the Tiruppur Region, 1981 –82 to 2008–09 208
Judith Heyer
8. Finding One’s Place among the Elite: How Dalits
Experiencing Sharp Upward Social Mobility Adjust
to their New Social Status 236
Jules Naudet
About the Editor 259
Notes on Contributors 260
Index 263
Maps, Figures and Plates
Maps
2.1 Proportion of SC Population, 2001 Census 83
2.2 Proportion of SC Enterprises, 2005 Census 83
2.3 Enterprise Growth, 1990–98 84
2.4 Enterprise Growth, 1998–2005 84
2.5 Enterprise Growth, 1990–2005 85
2.6 PI for 1990 86
2.7 PI for 1998 86
2.8 PI for 2005 87
2.9 PI (Agriculture and Livestock) for 1990 89
2.10 PI (Agriculture and Livestock) for 1998 89
2.11 PI (Agriculture and Livestock) for 2005 90
2.12 PI (Non-agricultural Business) for 1990 90
2.13 PI (Non-agricultural Business) for 1998 91
2.14 PI (Non-agricultural Business) for 2005 91
2.15 PI (Manufacturing) for 1990 92
2.16 PI (Manufacturing) for 1998 93
2.17 PI (Manufacturing) for 2005 93
2.18 PI (Trade, Hotel & Restaurants) for 1990 94
2.19 PI (Wholesale Trade) for 1998 94
2.20 PI (Trade — Wholesale and Retail) for 2005 95
2.21 PI (Education) for 1990 96
2.22 PI (Education) for 1998 96
2.23 PI (Education) for 2005 97
Figures
2.1 Enterprise Growth in India, 1990–2005 79