Description
There is a growing resistance from Dalits against the ongoing caste discrimination in the Nepali society (Dahal et al 2002; Jha 2004). In this process Dalits are both assertively deploying and redefining their “traditional” identities. Despite the constitutional ban on caste discrimination, there persists an upper caste monopoly on education, jobs, and political power. This research studies the complex and changing dynamics of Dalit identity in Nepal, within a context of growing resistance and organized social movement against caste discrimination and exclusion. More specifically, this paper examines differentiation and variation in the reproduction of Dalit identities during a period of political mobilization and (presumably) heightened consciousness across (i) sociospatial boundaries, (ii) intersections of caste, class and gender, and (iii) dimensions of social consciousness and response/agency.
Class, gender and generation: mediating factors in Dalit identities in Kathmandu, Nepal
There is a growing resistance from Dalits against the ongoing caste discrimination in the Nepali society (Dahal et al 2002; Jha 2004). In this process Dalits are both assertively deploying and redefining their “traditional” identities. Despite the constitutional ban on caste discrimination, there persists an upper caste monopoly on education, jobs, and political power. This research studies the complex and changing dynamics of Dalit identity in Nepal, within a context of growing resistance and organized social movement against caste discrimination and exclusion. More specifically, this paper examines differentiation and variation in the reproduction of Dalit identities during a period of political mobilization and (presumably) heightened consciousness across (i) sociospatial boundaries, (ii) intersections of caste, class and gender, and (iii) dimensions of social consciousness and response/agency.