Dalit Assertion : Oxford India Short Introductions

This particular title analyses the phenomenon of Dalit assertion that India has experienced in recent decades. Arguing that it is a part of the larger process of democratization since Independence and an upsurge from below that has constructed a new identity of the Dalit, alternative ideology of Ambedkarism and questioned the hierarchical caste structure, which has historically oppressed the former untouchables. It discusses three forms that Dalit assertion has taken: grassroots assertions, political parties, and more recently, middle-class activism. Assertion has raised political consciousness, enabled greater political participation, but not unity, and often led to violent caste atrocities against Dalits, particularly by the backward castes, in many states/regions.