Centre for the Study of Social Systems
School of Social Sciences
CSSS Colloquium
Bidhan Chandra Dash
(Assistant Professor, AmbedkarUniversity Delhi)
Will be presenting a paper on
The Metaphor of 'Village' and the Predicament of Dalit Discourse
Date & Time: April 6th, 2017 (Thursday), 3.00 pm
Venue: CSSS Committee Room (Room No: 13), SSS-II
Abstract: While the collective conscience in India has always been nostalgic about the "Indian village" life as natural, innocent and therefore authentic, the Dalit leadership has shunned the village as 'a sink of localism, den of ignorance, narrow mindedness and communalism'. Although, Ambedkar supported movements and policies against landlordism, he was less optimistic about any transformative potential of Indian villages. He viewed the Dalit labour in rural India as essentially a "problem of exit". However, contrary to Ambedkar's wishes the Dalits, even today, are overwhelmingly located in rural areas, predominantly work as agricultural labourers, dwell a wretched life; and face socio-economic and political suppression, as well as, cultural mutilation. Examining some of the major incidences of violence against Dalits in contemporary rural India, this article advocates for a discursive engagement with metaphor of village itself as a site for potential emancipatory politics. Such engagement within the 'Dalit Discourse' is not only urgent but also emergent, particularly in the context of globalization, in which, the metaphor of village returns as an ultimate antidote to the evils of modernity.
Bio: Bidhan Chandra Dash is Assistant Professor at the School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi. He completed his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, on Dalit Movement and Globalization, focusing on the role of media and information flows across organizations and networks. His research interests are in the areas of new social movements, Dalit discourse in the new media networks, Cultural globalization, identity assertions and conflict in contemporary India. Dr. Dash has been associated with several government-assigned projects on community studies with special focus on Scheduled Castes. His recent area of focus is violence on Dalits and the modern judiciary of India.