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Caste: A Global Story | A Powerful Account of Dalit Rights, Caste Discrimination, and Social Justice Movements Around the World
Caste, and caste-based discrimination, are not just Indian issues. They are experienced throughout the world, from Britain to Bahrain, Canada to South Africa. This is a global phenomenon, demanding global solutions.
Leading scholar Suraj Milind Yengde shines a light on the Dalit experience internationally, from indentured labourers in the nineteenth-century Caribbean to present-day migrant workers in the Middle East. Combining history, ethnography and archival research, he offers a compelling, comparative approach to caste and race from ancient times to today. What have been the impacts of colonialism, religion and nationalism on caste-based hierarchies worldwide? What can we learn from caste-related movements in India and internationally? Why hasn’t the South Asian diaspora embraced the anti-caste struggles of the homeland? And what are the limits of Dalit–Black solidarity?
Exploring the global footprint of the anti-caste struggle—from its links with Black Lives Matter to the work of international Ambedkarite organisations—this is a powerful analysis of world politics from the perspective of one of the most oppressed communities on Earth. Asking probing questions about the nature of inequality, Yengde issues an energetic call for a cosmopolitan Dalit universalism, as a vital part of today’s fight for social justice and equality.
Leading scholar Suraj Milind Yengde shines a light on the Dalit experience internationally, from indentured labourers in the nineteenth-century Caribbean to present-day migrant workers in the Middle East. Combining history, ethnography and archival research, he offers a compelling, comparative approach to caste and race from ancient times to today. What have been the impacts of colonialism, religion and nationalism on caste-based hierarchies worldwide? What can we learn from caste-related movements in India and internationally? Why hasn’t the South Asian diaspora embraced the anti-caste struggles of the homeland? And what are the limits of Dalit–Black solidarity?
Exploring the global footprint of the anti-caste struggle—from its links with Black Lives Matter to the work of international Ambedkarite organisations—this is a powerful analysis of world politics from the perspective of one of the most oppressed communities on Earth. Asking probing questions about the nature of inequality, Yengde issues an energetic call for a cosmopolitan Dalit universalism, as a vital part of today’s fight for social justice and equality.
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 30, 2025
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August 10, 2025
An insightful study into the Dalit Diaspora and the evolving nature of Caste around different parts of the world.
Interlaced with affinities between Dalit Art/Identity & Black literature, we also see the many possible solidarities between the anti-caste & anti-racism struggles that have or can take place, keeping in mind the nuances of the immigrant experience. Accounts of caste in Trinidadian society & the influence of Ambedkarite groups on helping Dalit communities in India adds multiple layers to an understanding of how anti-caste resistance is culturally & socially growing - as a response to the rise of the fascist Hindu identity worldwide. This shows us how an Ambedkarite consciousness is a Universal Philosophy of human dignity that's taking roots globally to counter caste as an institution of oppression embedding itself within dominant host societies abroad.
Interlaced with affinities between Dalit Art/Identity & Black literature, we also see the many possible solidarities between the anti-caste & anti-racism struggles that have or can take place, keeping in mind the nuances of the immigrant experience. Accounts of caste in Trinidadian society & the influence of Ambedkarite groups on helping Dalit communities in India adds multiple layers to an understanding of how anti-caste resistance is culturally & socially growing - as a response to the rise of the fascist Hindu identity worldwide. This shows us how an Ambedkarite consciousness is a Universal Philosophy of human dignity that's taking roots globally to counter caste as an institution of oppression embedding itself within dominant host societies abroad.
Displaying 1 of 1 review