Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India (Contemporary Indian Studies) - Softcover

Rawat, Ramnarayan S.

 
9780253222626: Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India (Contemporary Indian Studies)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0253222621 ISBN 13: 9780253222626
Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Often identified as leatherworkers or characterized as a criminal caste, Chamars of North India have long been stigmatized as untouchables. In this pathbreaking study, Ramnarayan S. Rawat shows that in fact the majority of Chamars have always been agriculturalists, and their association with the ritually impure occupation of leatherworking has largely been constructed through Hindu, colonial, and postcolonial representations of untouchability. Rawat undertakes a comprehensive reconsideration of the history, identity, and politics of this important Dalit group. Using Dalit vernacular literature, local-level archival sources, and interviews in Dalit neighborhoods, he reveals a previously unrecognized Dalit movement which has flourished in North India from the earliest decades of the 20th century and which has recently achieved major political successes.

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About the Author

Ramnarayan S. Rawat is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Delaware.

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Publisher
Indiana University Press
Publication date
2011
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0253222621
ISBN 13 
9780253222626
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
298

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780253355584: Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India (Contemporary Indian Studies)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0253355583 ISBN 13:  9780253355584
Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2011
Hardcover