Reading Caste in India: Prejudice, Discrimination and Exclusion

The volume offers a rigorous exploration of caste as a persistent structure of social exclusion in India. Blending personal narratives with academic inquiry, the book situates Dalit experiences within global frameworks of marginalization, drawing parallels with race-based discrimination and systemic oppression worldwide. It critically interrogates the Gandhi–Ambedkar discourse, examines intersectionality—particularly caste and gender—and addresses contemporary movements such as 'Dalit Lives Matter' , 'Black Lives Matter.' Moreover, the volume describes the Bhim Army and Balmikis' struggles against manual scavenging. Through comparative and transnational perspectives, the work engages foundational theorists, including Max Weber and Louis Dumont, alongside global thinkers like W.E.B. Du Bois, Frantz Fanon and Martin Luther King Jr., to position caste is aligned with race. It incorporates legal developments, such as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act (1989), and explores affirmative action debates, media representation, and diaspora dynamics.

The volume brings together research and real-life experiences to make complex ideas accessible and relevant. By documenting resilience and resistance, the volume is articulating global conversations on equality and the pursuit of dignity . It reveals that prisons are hell for Dalits, as the author has spent a few months in Prison because of casteism. Moreover, the volume also reveals that the question of the “colonizer” is different for Dalits from the entire world. It is an essential resource for scholars, researchers, and policymakers concerned with caste, race, social justice, and inclusion.