During the colonial encounter between India and Britain, Britons ended up mapping and constructing discourse regarding natives and their social order. However, other parts of this encounter, that is, how colonized Indians perceived Britons and their social order, have been hardly explored in academic discourse. This proposed work explores the other part of this discourse, of how colonized Indians saw Britons and their social order. This work argues that when travellers from India started visiting Britain, they employed the colonial masters’ gaze of seeing social order, as Britons have done, while identifying the social order of colonized subjects as caste. Colonized Indians implemented the master’s gaze on the same scale of seeing and identified the class social order of Britain as hierarchical, exploitative and oppressive in function, the same as the caste of India, and at some point worse. However, this gaze on Britons’ social order was not independent in nature but a reciprocating lens of elite Indians on Britons’ allegations about Indians being exploitative and backward in nature due to caste structure, which is supposedly opposed to Britons’ equality ideals. Why this was a reciprocated lens and how its historical trajectories unfolded in the colonial space of India and Britain lies at the core of this proposal.
Land and forest conflicts in Karbi Anglong reveal the limits of Sixth Schedule 1 autonomy in Northeast India. This article examines how the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, despite formal authority over land governance, struggles to resolve disputes over grazing reserves and forest lands. Drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews, legal records, archival material and documentary analysis, the article argues that governance failures stem from the interplay of three structural constraints: uncertain land records, weak enforcement capacity and contested legitimacy. These problems are compounded by interstate boundary disputes, demographic anxieties and insurgent territorial claims. Rather than isolated administrative failures, the article shows that land and forest disputes are embedded in a self-reinforcing governance trap , a cycle in which documentary ambiguity, enforcement incapacity and legitimacy deficits reproduce persistent conflict. The study advances debates on legal pluralism, state legibility and autonomy in Northeast India by demonstrating how overlapping legal and political authorities generate this governance trap in constitutionally exceptional regions.
This article examines the living experiences of Dalit colonies in Kerala, with a particular focus on Scheduled Caste (SC) colonies. According to the 2011 Census, the SC population in Kerala was 3,039,573. Among these, 2,376,489 individuals, representing 564,329 SC families, have been living in various colonies for long years. These colonies are situated in ghetto-like marginalized spaces of the mainland, including isolated hill slopes, farm fields, rocky outcrops and steep mountain ranges. This study employs an ethnographic method, conducting in-depth interviews and field observations in selected SC colonies in Kerala. This article attempts to answer three questions: (a) Why are these colonies located on uninhabitable land such as hill slopes, rocky outcrops, steep mountain ranges and farm fields, thereby constraining access to resources and opportunities for mobility? (b) How is the social stigmatization of SC colonies is evident in terms such as colony people, caste colony and colony culture , which frame them as a discredited social category within public discourse. (c) What factors contribute to the socioeconomic disadvantages experienced by SC families living in colonies? Through this analysis, the article aims to enhance the conceptual framework defining ‘colony life’ as a ‘distinct socio-spatial life experience’, highlighting the socioeconomic disparities of SC colonies in comparison to SC families living outside the colonies.
In contemporary India, food has emerged as a central arena in which hierarchy is enacted through the monitoring and policing of everyday food practices. Dietary choices, particularly those concerning beef, have shifted from matters of personal or community consumption to sites of institutional regulation, moral scrutiny and, in some instances, coercive enforcement. Drawing on historical scholarship on cattle and meat consumption, B. R. Ambedkar’s analysis of untouchability, sociological theories of purity and distinction, and contemporary media and policy materials, this article traces how bovine symbolism has been reconfigured within caste-inflected and majoritarian political frameworks. It argues that the regulation of food operates as a technology of stratified citizenship: vegetarianism accrues social value as a form of symbolic capital, while beef consumption becomes stigmatized, surveilled and at times criminalized. Moving from the historical sacralization of the cow to the institutionalization of dietary hierarchy in housing and education, the escalation to vigilantism and punitive state action, and the amplification of dietary polarization through cultural production, the analysis demonstrates how everyday acts of eating become subject to governance.
Dalit literature in India is often critiqued for being overwhelmingly dominated by poetry, with other genres such as autobiographies, short stories, plays and novels comparatively underrepresented. Dalit novel, a literary genre that emerged alongside the Indian novelistic tradition following the rise of Dalit literature in the 1970s, has been a particularly late and under-experimented form within this literary tradition. The post-2000 Dalit literary anthologies and critical works trace the growth and development of Dalit novels in most of the scheduled languages of India, but fail to incorporate the presence of Dalit novels in non-scheduled languages such as Tulu. There are two Dalit novels that have been published in the Tulu language. Madhava Peraje’s Nile , published in 1997, lays the foundation for the Tulu Dalit novel. However, it took 22 years for another Dalit novel in Tulu to be published. Shwetha Kaje’s Satyoda Maime , published in 2019, is the second Tulu Dalit novel, marking a renewed engagement with the form after a long literary gap. This commentary attempts to critique the history of Dalit literary anthologies in terms of their canon of Dalit novels, examine the constitutive features that distinguish the Dalit novel from the mainstream novel in language and structure, and foreground the reasons for the absence and marginalization of Tulu Dalit novels in their literary historiography and study the need for their inclusion. It argues that the exclusion of Tulu Dalit novels is structural, resulting from hegemonic language frameworks that work against regionally specific Dalit narration in India.
This article attempts to scrutinize the contemporary shift in marital ritual(s) of Bengal, particularly the application of vermilion on the groom’s forehead by the bride. This act is being held as the epitome of gender equality, with women having equal privileges as men. While it appears that the act embodies equality, a deeper engagement reveals that it strengthens the existence of Brahminical patriarchy and its penetration into different layers of society. The article examines its failure to challenge either patrilocality or patriliny, which ensures the continuation of Brahminical patriarchy and the sanctity of home. Further, I dissect the relation between patrilineality and patrilocality through the act of marriage. My short article dissects this superficial change to show how the contemporary middle-class bhadralok society of Bengal, which claims to reject the patriarchal structure, is trapped by the same nineteenth-century Brahminical patriarchy in a refined fashion.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to conduct a thorough bibliometric analysis and systematic review of the existing literature on socio-economic status and psychological well-being among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Through the use of Scopus and Web of Science databases, the research aims to identify key authors, examine the current trends in the literature and provide guidance for future research on the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and mental health problems in PVTGs. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were carefully retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, resulting in a total of 182 records from Scopus and 58 records from Web of Science, giving a cumulative total of 240 records retrieved from database searching. After the removal of duplicates and irrelevant literature, a total of 190 records were screened, and 175 full-text articles were reviewed for eligibility. Ultimately, 169 studies were included in the systematic review. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using dedicated software, namely Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. The current study assessed publication performance, authorship, institutional productivity and thematic networks using performance analysis and scientific mapping. Findings: The findings from the results reveal that PVTGs are still facing serious socio-economic challenges such as poverty, low levels of educational attainment and poor healthcare facilities, which altogether contribute to their marginalized position. The results also reveal a higher prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression in the PVTG population compared to the general population, which altogether indicates serious concerns about their psychological well-being. India leads as the top contributor in this research area in terms of institutional and author productivity. Despite increasing research focus, a research gap is still apparent, especially in terms of focused research studies on the mental health aspects of PVTGs. The themes emerging from the literature include education, food security and community development. Practical Implications: Through the integration of bibliometric analysis and systematic review, the current study establishes the need for focused and culturally sensitive interventions to improve the socio-economic and psychological well-being of PVTGs. The results of the study provide relevant inputs to social scientists, health professionals and development practitioners working in the area of tribal welfare and inclusive development. Originality/Value: The current study makes a contribution to the existing knowledge base by systematically mapping and reviewing the literature on the socio-economic conditions and psychological well-being of PVTGs. The study also identifies important scholarly contributions, collaboration patterns and the dominant themes of research. Additionally, the study provides a conceptual framework for future research endeavours related to the multidimensional challenges faced by PVTGs.
This article talks about how signs, icons and symbols have become an epitome in the Dalits’ fight for democracy. Dalits, who are often considered one of the most oppressed communities in the Indian system, unfortunately bear the stigma of negative connotations even today, in some parts of India. The term Dalit refers to those belonging to the lower castes in the traditional Hindu caste system. The primary objective of this study is to analyse the importance of symbolic expression in emancipating Dalit identity and the efforts Ambedkar made to bring radical and effective change to society. Without his constant efforts, the edifice of Dalit society would lose its identity, dignity and willpower. Key to his approach was the strategic use of signs, symbols, statues and iconography to challenge the powerful and dominant forces. This article also attempts to enter the human rights discourse, highlighting the crucial role of symbolic expression in facing caste discrimination. The Dalits’ creation of statues and monumental structures enabled them to assert their presence and effectively challenge the dominance of the public masses of that time. Furthermore, this article will also discuss how Ambedkar utilized religious symbols, language, rituals and ideas to resist the hegemonic forces of caste oppression. Moreover, Ambedkar’s adoption of Buddhism and the conversion ritual, which reshaped and redefined Dalit identity and facilitated collective emancipation, will also be discussed.
This commentary investigates the student dropouts and suicides in higher education institutes (HEIs) with a socio-psychological perspective. It builds upon the data on dropouts revealed by the Ministry of Higher Education, and it uses psychological safety as a concept to argue that student suicides and increased dropout rates for Dalit students are due to low psychological safety and institutional bias. It traces the structural continuation of caste and emotional violence in HEIs. The commentary uses critical realism as a perspective, noting the caste in its social and psychological domain causes real effects in the form of dropouts and suicides. Lastly, the article suggests a positive reconstruction of individual identities utilizing Buddhism.
Sabri is one of the most excluded Dalit myths. This article examines the reasons for her exclusion and why writers do not choose her as a theme. It also explores how writers have neglected the myth, while singers have made it one of the most frequently used myths. The myth becomes stronger in Santmata Sabri by Dayachand Mayna. The article analyses Sabri’s temple entry and Matang Rishi becoming her Guru, defining the master–disciple relationship. It concludes by showing how the salvation of the lower caste is presented as coming through the upper caste, as Sabri receives salvation from Rama.
