Historical Dalit Social Mobilization

Abstract

To explore the sequenced process of Dalit mobilization, this chapter presents the historical account of Dalit social mobilization. It explains how Dalit social movements emerged and gained strength in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra but remained relatively weak in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It identifies the variety of factors responsible for the difference in the strength, influence, and goals of Dalit social movements in the two pairings of states. In its conclusion, it explores the impact that Dalit social mobilization’s adoption of a decidedly anticaste character had in the movement states, as the anticaste movements influenced social attitudes even among non-Dalits by challenging some of the foundational beliefs on which the caste system rests.