Dalit Feminist Theory

Sunaina Arya is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, where she is completing a dissertation on feminist philosophy from a Dalit perspective. She earned her MPhil and MA from the same centre. She received an Honourable Mention in the Blue Stone Rising Scholar Prize (2019) by The Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA, and is founding member of Global Dalit Change Makers, an initiative of the India China Institute, The New School, New York City, USA. She has been a resource person for lectures, public talks, workshops, podcasts and webinars in India and abroad. Her area of research includes social and political philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, philosophy and psychology, and the philosophy of social sciences. Her recent publications include ‘Dalit or Brahmanical Patriarchy? Rethinking Indian Feminism’ (2020), ‘Theorising Gender in South Asia: Dalit Feminist Perspective’ (2020) and ‘Ambedkar as a Feminist Philosopher’ (forthcoming). She has edited (with Ashok Gurung) the Gender special issue of CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion.Aakash Singh Rathore is a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and an International Fellow of the Centre for Ethics and Global Politics-LUISS, Rome, Italy. He has taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University and other universities, including Delhi, Toronto, Berlin, Rutgers and Pennsylvania. He is the author of eight books, including Indian Political Theory (2017), Plato’s Labyrinth (2018), A Philosophy of Autobiography (2019), and Ambedkar's Preamble: A Secret History of the Constitution of India (2020), and is chief editor of B. R. Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice (5 volumes). He is the series editor of Rethinking India (14 volumes, forthcoming) and editor of its first volume, Vision for a Nation (with Ashis Nandy). Among his other forthcoming works are B. R. Ambedkar: A Biography and Mind and Muscle. He is also an Ironman triathlete, and has finished five Ironman triathlons.

• Introduction: Theorizing Dalit Feminism Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore PART I. Indian Feminism vs Dalit Feminism 1. A Critical View on Intersectionality Nivedita Menon 2. Problems for a Contemporary Theory of Gender Susie Tharu and Tejaswini Niranjana 3. Indian Feminism and ‘Dalit Patriarchy’ Gopal Guru; V. Geetha; Uma Chakravarti PART II. Predecessors of Dalit Feminism 4. Dalit Women’s Agency and Phule-Ambedkarite Feminism Shailaja Paik 5. Ambedkarite Women Wandana Sonalkar 6. Ramabai and Ambedkar Sharmila Rege PART III. Lived Experience as 'Difference' 7. Brahmanical Nature of Violence Against Women Sharmila Rege 8. Vilifying Dalit Women: Epics and Aesthetics Vizia Bharati; Y.S. Alone 9. Dalit Women's Autobiographies Sharmila Rege PART IV. What Difference does 'Difference' Make? 10. 'Difference' through Intersectionality Kimberlé Crenshaw 11. Dalit Women Talk Differently Gopal Guru 12. Debating Dalit Difference Sharmila Rege PART V. Intersectionality in India 13. Why Intersectionality is Necessary S.J. Aloysius, J.P. Mangubhai and J.G. Lee 14. The Dalit Woman Question Susie Tharu 15. Responses to Indian Feminists’ Objections Mary E. John; Meena Gopal PART VI. Toward a Dalit Feminist Theory 16. Feminist Fictions: A Critique of Indian Feminism Julie Stephens 17. Revitalising Dalit Feminism Smita M. Patil 18. Dalit Women’s Experience: Toward a Dalit Feminist Theory Kanchana Mahadevan

'This book is a study of Indian feminist thought with caste at its centre. It looks at the places where Dalit feminism has diverged from dominant-caste feminism and considers analogies drawn between Dalit- and black-feminist activism and movements. It also examines at length what the legacies of Jotirao Phule, Pandita Ramabai and BR Ambedkar did for Dalit feminist thinking.'- The Caravan'Bringing Indian and Hispanic feminists together.'- Tejano Tribune