This book focuses on the theme of Dalit struggles for dignity in India. It begins by documenting the role of India’s Dalits in ensuring inclusion of the term “dignity” in the Indian Constitution of 1950. Introducing Ambedkar’s concept of “moral stamina”, which emphasised the role of ethical ideas in democracy, the Introduction pairs this idea with the notion of dignity and demonstrates the foundational influence of these two concepts in Dalit activism and writings.

Six essays explore the distinct trajectories of Dalit groups in search of religious alternatives. They reveal an ethical understanding of religion in which conversion to Christianity as well as the appropriation of indigenous religious traditions – such as Buddhism and the Sant religion (associated with the poet-saints Kabir and Raidas) – are shown as initiatives to reconstitute untouchable selfhood by challenging the discourse of caste orthodoxy.

Three of the essays show the struggle against caste-Hinduism by analysing changes in the sartorial, spatial, and occupational arenas. These essays take Dalit Studies into under-explored territories and suggest ideas for further research.

By focusing on the theme of dignity, this volume highlights shifts in the study of Hinduism, caste inequality, and Dalit Studies over the past decade. It will be seen as indispensable by all students of caste, religion, politics, and history.

Ramnarayan S. Rawat is Associate Professor of History at the University of Delaware, USA. He is the author of Reconsidering Untouchability (2011) and co-editor of Dalit Studies (2016).

K. Satyanarayana is Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, EFL University, Hyderabad. He has co-edited No Alphabet in Sight (2011), Steel Nibs Are Sprouting (2013), Dalit Studies (2016), Dalit Text (2020), and Concealing Caste (2023).

P. Sanal Mohan is Professor Emeritus at the Mahatma Gandhi University and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Inter-University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.

“This book shows us certain vital contours of a new dimension – the Dalit Social. It argues successfully for the Dalit Social as both the defining condition for candid public discussions of caste, as well as the necessary normative condition for the sustenance of a democratic India” – Gopal Guru

“The Dalit Studies project addresses two subtle but crucial distinctions: between research on Dalits and research from a Dalit standpoint; and between the social-economic and the political-cultural dimensions of material history. Sharpening and straddling these, the project makes a unique contribution to the study of contemporary Indian society through its focus on dignity, recognition, faith, and belonging within a larger horizon of contests for equal citizenship” – Satish Deshpande

“This book expands the remit of Dalit Studies in significant and exciting ways by its focus on the relationship between caste, space, embodiment, and religious belonging. It also reconfigures older knowledge about caste, land, and labour through a feminist lens, enabling a productive critique of caste conjugality, family, and kin” – V. Geetha

“In this richly textured volume, each essay focuses on different aspects of the striving for dignity and ethical life among Dalit communities. This is a decisive and timely contribution to the flourishing body of scholarship on Dalit life, aspiration, and horizons that have emerged in the past decades”  – Thomas Blom Hansen