Post-colonial caste, Ambedkar, and the politics of counter-narrative

This article examines the way caste is captured within the dominant and popular scholarly tradition of post-colonialism. It will also explore how Ambedkar’s anthropological emphasis on the centrality of sociocultural relations for understanding caste dynamics opens up the limitation of a post-colonial understanding of caste. In doing so, the paper is oriented to advance a Dalit-centric historical anthropology of caste. The focus on the relationship between competing discourses on the histories of caste will provide critical insights into how Dalit movements negotiate with various politics of knowledge to develop varied pathways of progress for Dalits and other marginalized communities.