Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader

Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader radically redefines feminism by introducing the category of Dalit into the core of feminist thought. It supplements feminism by adding caste to its study and praxis; it also re-examines and rethinks Indian feminism by replacing it with a new paradigm, namely, that caste-based feminist inquiry offers the only theoretical vantage point for comprehensively addressing gender-based injustices. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, the chapters in the volume discuss key themes such as Indian feminism versus Dalit feminism; the emerging concept of Dalit patriarchy; the predecessors of Dalit feminism, such as Phule and Ambedkar; the meaning and value of lived experience; the concept of Difference; the analogical relationship between Black feminism and Dalit feminism; the intersectionality debate; and the theory-versus-experience debate. They also provide a conceptual, historical, empirical and philosophical understanding of feminism in India today. Accessible, essential and ingenious in its approach, this book is for students, teachers and specialist scholars, as well as activists and the interested general reader. It will be indispensable for those engaged in gender studies, women’s studies, sociology of caste, political science and political theory, philosophy and feminism, Ambedkar studies, and for anyone working in the areas of caste, class or gender-based discrimination, exclusion and inequality.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Theorizing Dalit Feminism Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore PART I. Indian Feminism vs Dalit Feminism 1. A Critical View on Intersectionality Nivedita Menon 2. Problems for a Contemporary Theory of Gender Susie Tharu and Tejaswini Niranjana 3. Indian Feminism and ‘Dalit Patriarchy’ Gopal Guru; V. Geetha; Uma Chakravarti PART II. Predecessors of Dalit Feminism 4. Dalit Women’s Agency and Phule-Ambedkarite Feminism Shailaja Paik 5. Ambedkarite Women Wandana Sonalkar 6. Ramabai and Ambedkar Sharmila Rege PART III. Lived Experience as 'Difference' 7. Brahmanical Nature of Violence Against Women Sharmila Rege 8. Vilifying Dalit Women: Epics and Aesthetics Vizia Bharati; Y.S. Alone 9. Dalit Women's Autobiographies Sharmila Rege PART IV. What Difference does 'Difference' Make? 10. 'Difference' through Intersectionality Kimberlé Crenshaw 11. Dalit Women Talk Differently Gopal Guru 12. Debating Dalit Difference Sharmila Rege PART V. Intersectionality in India 13. Why Intersectionality is Necessary S.J. Aloysius, J.P. Mangubhai and J.G. Lee 14. The Dalit Woman Question Susie Tharu 15. Responses to Indian Feminists’ Objections Mary E. John; Meena Gopal PART VI. Toward a Dalit Feminist Theory 16. Feminist Fictions: A Critique of Indian Feminism Julie Stephens 17. Revitalising Dalit Feminism Smita M. Patil 18. Dalit Women’s Experience: Toward a Dalit Feminist Theory Kanchana Mahadevan