Gender and Caste

Most of the essays in this collection have emerged in the context of a renewed national debate about the politics of caste inaugurated by the Mandal decision in 1989--a decision that has renewed demands for social justice by dalits and lower-castes. Dalit-bahujan feminists go beyond arguing that Indian feminism is incomplete and exclusive and suggest that we rethink the genealogy of Indian feminism in order to engage meaningfully with dalit women's "difference" from the ideal subjects of feminist politics.