Dividing Dalits : Writings on Sub-Categorisation of Scheduled Castes

Contents: Preface. Contributors. Introduction. 1. Initiating sub-classification of Scheduled Castes: the Punjab story of Quotas within quotas/Surinder S. Jodhka and Avinash Kumar. 2. Educational development as a new horizon for reservations: Neo-social movement of Andhra/Y. Chinna Rao. 3. The fragmented assertion: emergence of intra-caste differentiation among Dalits in India/K.S. Chalam. 4. Sub-caste consciousness: challenges before Dalit intellectuals/Jangam Chinnaiah. 5. Madiga Dandora: a social movement for rationalization of Dalit reservations/Gundimeda Sambaiah. 6. Competition and conflict among Dalits: the Madiga Dandora Movement/G. Venkata Siva Reddy. 7. Dialectic of social justice: the struggle of the Madigas/K.C. Suri. 8. A tangled web: subdivision of SC Reservations in Andhra Pradesh/K. Balagopal. 9. Classification of Scheduled Castes: a study in public policy making/C.V. Ranga Rao. 10. Dalit empowerment: an internal classification of Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh/B. Rama Rao. 11. Politics of SC Reservations and the MRPS Movement/G. Venkata Siva Reddy and B. Padmanabha Reddy. 12. Justice for Dalits among Dalits: all the ghosts resurface/K. Balagopal. 13. Sub-classification of SC Reservation: a critical evaluation of the Apex Court's View/Avinash Kumar. Appendices: Documents on sub-categorisation. Index. 

"Caste as a category has played an important role in the analysis of Indian politics. While in the socio-political realm it has remained for long a very crucial source of collective identity, in the contemporary discourse, when India is transforming itself into a modern society, it is the sub-caste that has acquired supremacy over the broader category of caste in Indian politics. This volume is the first-ever attempt to trace this turning-point that marks a shift in the collective consciousness of Dalits in India. It provides a comprehensive overview of issues regarding the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes that have emerged and widely debated in popular media and academic discourses over a decade or so. Recognising the complexity and sensitivity of the issues, the book departs from conventional academic and institutionalised writing and is designed to strike a balance between guarded political commentary and critical analysis of the heterogeneous voices that have surfaced. Orientation of individual authors may vary but the coherence that emerged from different viewpoints presents a reasonable understanding of an important topic." (jacket)