The Untouchables Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India

In a compelling account of the lives of those at the bottom of Indian society, the authors explore the construction of the Untouchables as a social and political category, the historical background that led to such a definition, and their position in India today. The authors argue that, despite efforts to ameliorate their condition, a considerable edifice of discrimination persists.

In a sensitive and compelling account of the lives of those at the very bottom of Indian society, Oliver Mendelsohn and Marika Vicziany explore the construction of the Untouchables as a social and political category, the historical background which led to such a definition, and their position in India today. The authors argue that, despite efforts to ameliorate their condition on the part of the state, a considerable edifice of discrimination persists on the basis of a tradition of ritual subordination. Even now, therefore, it still makes sense to categorise these people as 'Untouchables'. The book promises to make a major contribution to the social and economic debates on poverty, while its wide-ranging perspectives will ensure an interdisciplinary readership from historians of South Asia, to students of politics, economics, religion and sociology.

Glossary; 1. Who are the Untouchables?; 2. The question of the 'Harijan atrocity'; 3. Religion, politics and the Untouchables from the nineteenth century to 1956; 4. Public policy I: adverse discrimination and compensatory discrimination; 5. Public policy II: the anti-poverty programs; 6. The new Untouchable proletariat: a case study of the Faridabad stone quarries; 7. Untouchable politics and Untouchable politicians since 1956; 8. The question of reservation: lives and careers of some scheduled castes MPs and MLAs; 9. Subordination, poverty and the state in modern India; Bibliography; Index.

In a compelling account of the lives of those at the bottom of Indian society, the authors explore the construction of the Untouchables as a social and political category, the historical background which led to such a definition, and their position in India today. The authors argue that, despite efforts to ameliorate their condition, a considerable edifice of discrimination persists.