The Monster in Your Path is an original and provocative look at why the global Left stumbles when dealing with historical structures of subordination like caste or race. Sharika Thiranagama examines rural communities in the South Indian state of Kerala, where decades of Communist Party rule has transformed life through land reform and social reorganization. Despite Marxist ideals, new forms of caste disparities have moved from “public” space to private spaces and private lives. Through an exquisitely crafted ethnography that centers Dalit women, the book explains how historical economies of humiliation and subordination continue to influence modern spaces like the private home. From histories of enslavement to an exploration of the houses and neighborhoods through which Dalit communities build dignity and self-worth, Thiranagama sets a new agenda for caste studies in India and beyond.
Sharika Thiranagama is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University and author of In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka.
ContentsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: The Monster in Your PathPart One. The Work of Inheritance1. Enslaved Occupations2. A Working Woman: Strong Bodies and Soft Hands3. The Cultural Life of Communism: The Party and Its DowntroddenPart Two. The Rural Modern4. The Houses of the Past: Aesthetic Economies of Caste5. Concrete Futures: New Houses and New Neighborhoods6. Self-Improvement: Marriage and Inheriting a FutureCodaAcknowledgmentsNotesReferencesIndex
