Ghanshyam Shah

A Review of the Literature

Social Movements in India

Dialogue between retired judge of Supreme Court, Justice D.A. Desai and social scientists, lawyers, social activists and bureaucrats; with reference to India.

Social Justice, a Dialogue

Some articles presented at the Seminar on Status of Dalits in Contemporary India, held in Mussoorie in March 1994 and others written for this book. .

Dalits and the State

Caste and Democratic Politics in India

Sukhadeo Thorat

Amita Baviskar

Satish Deshpande

Harsh Mander

This book is focused and systematic documentation of the incidence and extent of the practice of untouchability in contemporary India. Based on the results of a large survey covering 565 villages in 11 states, it reveals that untouchability continues to be widely prevalent and is practiced in one form or another in almost 80 per cent of the villages. Field data is supplemented by information about the forms of discrimination which Dalits face in everyday life, such as: – The ‘unclean’ occupations open to them – The double burden of Dalit women, who suffer both gender and caste discrimination – The upper-caste violence with which any Dalit self-assertion is met The authors also describe Dalit efforts to overcome deeply entrenched caste hierarchies and assert their right to live with dignity. While the evidence presented here suggests that the more blatant and extreme forms of untouchability appear to have declined, discrimination continues and is most prevalent in the religious and personal spheres. The authors show that the notion of untouchability continues to pervade the public sphere, including a host of state institutions and the interactions that occur within them.

Untouchability in Rural India

Argues that no understanding of Indian politics is possible without a thorough understanding of the complexities of the caste system.

Ghanshyam Shah

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