Karamchedu and the Dalit subject in Andhra Pradesh

Bibliographic Data

ID4966375
AuthorsDag-Erik Berg (0000-0003-4919-3774, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume48
Issue3
Pages383-408
Publication date2014-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContributions to Indian Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0069-9659 • E-ISSN: 0069-9667
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0069966714540242
OpenAlexW1982847543
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited10

The modern history of the Dalit movement in Andhra Pradesh involves significant experiences relevant to the sociology of caste and Dalit studies than is often reflected in existing scholarship. At the centre of this history is the massacre of six Dalits in Karamchedu village, coastal Andhra, in 1985. The article focuses on the Karamchedu massacre and how this event was decisive for the emergence of an independent Dalit movement, fully engaged in a struggle against untouchability, violence and caste-based discrimination. The Dalit Mahasabha was created, representing a collective, emancipatory project in opposition to the dominant Naxalite movement. The initial struggle started from a camp that was established to support the victims who had fled the attack in Karamchedu. Ambedkar, moreover, became the summarising symbol for the new Dalit movement, providing the basis for a Dalit approach and relations to other movements. Overall, the history of Karamchedu involves significant theoretical lessons concerning caste and class, Dalit discourse and ontology. The article concludes by sketching a hypothesis of how caste may be intensified in its social and political situation in India's modernity

Caste · Modernity · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

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