Dalit-black thought: an intellectual history of caste & race

Thesis

This thesis is a study of two interrelated but usually separated concepts – caste and race. Studying both together may suggest new methods of confronting prejudice and substantially advance the work of anti-caste and anti-race movements. Their combined study will perhaps offer new ways of thinking about how the ideas of race and caste that are responsible for shaping the social, cultural and economic relations of our societies can best be combated. I am concerned with the burgeoning debates about race and caste from the nineteenth century to our own, and will examine how these categories were understood, analysed, experienced, and critiqued by the leaders of the black and Dalit movements: W.E.B. Du Bois, B R Ambedkar, Frantz Fanon, and Steve Biko. I further suggest that the twenty-first century may see caste becoming a unifying force in the politics of anti-discrimination in many parts of the world.

Authors: Yengde, SM

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-kozn4dkav
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: Marathi, Hindi, and English
• Keywords: Theory of global castes; Steve Biko; B R Ambedkar; Buddha and Kabir as an anti-caste Dalit thought; W.E.B. Du Bois; Dalit-black Thought; Dalit and black consciousness; Comparative study of hierarchical systems in India and the US; Frantz Fanon
• Subjects: Intellectual history; Marathi literature--Dalit authors--History and criticism; Global Intellectual History; Anti-caste movements; Decolonization; Dalit and Black Consciousness; Ambedkar movement; Buddha (The concept); Middle Ages; Caste and Race; Global Castes