Dhobis of Delhi

Dhobis of Delhi

Author: Subhadra Mitra Channa

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-09-12

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0198926219

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Dhobis of Delhi: An Urban Ethnography from the Margins, 1974–2023 is a saga covering more than four decades of interactions with an 'untouchable' caste--the Dhobis (washermen and washerwomen), who are among Delhi's oldest inhabitants. It describes their ways of life, economy, livelihood, struggles, and adaptation to the city's changing demographic, cultural, and politico-economic profile. Utilizing an experiential perspective and a gendered and feminist approach, the author elaborates on the Dhobi identity, which is focused on their community (biradari), and discusses their struggles to be identified as skilled professionals at par with others, rejecting at the same time the political identity of being Dalit. Discarding their earlier subjugated sense of the self, the Dhobis are developing an emerging consciousness as democratic citizens, nurturing ambitions of a future where they will find acceptance as a community. To that end, the book also analyses how their marginalized caste-based occupation and skills ensure for them a livelihood and viability within the market economy. Highlighting the community's strategies and tactics of survival and resilience against all odds, Dhobis of Delhi is thus the story of a city viewed through the eyes of those who live on the lowest rung of its social hierarchy but whose contribution to the life of the city is essential, albeit invisible.


Caste, Communication and Power

Caste, Communication and Power

Author: Biswajit Das

Publisher: SAGE Publishing India

Published: 2021-07-12

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 939137090X

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Caste, Communication and Power explores communication and the constitution of caste in Indian society. Intimately connected, both communication and caste are determined by historical developments. The book looks at communication as a lens to study caste and power relations, with its immense potential to shape perception and affect ground reality. It also studies the evolution of the conceptual and theoretical foundations of caste and power relations, and maps their emergence from communicative resources and practices. These communication practices are inevitably linked to the social structure, with their reliance on symbolic forms of self-expression, often revealing the underlying ideological attitudes. The book studies this interface of culture and media, evaluating the caste question and the associated power relations in terms of modes of communication practised in the society.


Report

Report

Author: India. Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development

Publisher:

Published: 1965

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13:

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Caste Matters in Public Policy

Caste Matters in Public Policy

Author: Rahul Choragudi

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-08-19

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1000631974

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Caste in India, despite its historical resilience, has been undergoing transformation since independence. If caste as a system of rigid stratification has been on the decline, castes as autonomous interest-serving groups have been on ascendance. This book critically engages with the changing notions of caste and its intersection with public policy in India. It discusses key issues such as social security, internal reservation, the idea of Most Backward Classes, caste issues among non-Hindu religious communities, caste in census, caste in market, and service castes and urban planning. Drawing on in-depth case studies from states including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal, the volume explores the cyclical process of how caste drives policies, and how policies in turn shape the reality of caste in India. It looks at the impact of factors like protective discrimination, adult franchise and democratic decentralisation, horizontal and vertical mobilisation, land reforms, and religious conversion on social mobility, and traditional hierarchy in India. Empirically rich and analytically rigorous, this book will be an excellent reference for scholars and researchers of public policy, public administration, sociology, exclusion studies, social work, law, history, economics, political science, development studies, social anthropology, and political sociology. It will also be of interest to public policy and development practitioners.


Sustainability in the Global City

Sustainability in the Global City

Author: Cindy Isenhour

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-03-05

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1316195341

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Cities play a pivotal but paradoxical role in the future of our planet. As world leaders and citizens grapple with the consequences of growth, pollution, climate change, and waste, urban sustainability has become a ubiquitous catchphrase and a beacon of hope. Yet we know little about how the concept is implemented in daily life, particularly with regard to questions of social justice and equity. This volume provides a unique and vital contribution to ongoing conversations about urban sustainability by looking beyond the promises, propaganda, and policies associated with the concept in order to explore both its mythic meanings and the practical implications in a variety of everyday contexts. The authors present ethnographic studies from cities in eleven countries and six continents. Each chapter highlights the universalized assumptions underlying interpretations of sustainability while elucidating the diverse and contradictory ways in which people understand, incorporate, advocate for, and reject sustainability in the course of their daily lives.


Finding Delhi

Finding Delhi

Author: Bharati Chaturvedi

Publisher: Penguin Books India

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0670084832

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About the Book : - About a city that has many hearts and many peripheries Delhi is a magnet for migrant workers, students, highly qualified professionals, businessmen, politicians. The capital since 1911, it has now, finally, started looking and acting like India s No. 1 city. In the national imagination, it is a city of wide roads, flyovers, the Metro, markets and multiple opportunities. But all this progress and the quest to become a world-class city have also had an unsettling effect. People have been pushed out of public spaces, lakhs of slum dwellers have been banished and the Yamuna has been overwhelmed by sewage and industrial effluents. Finding Delhi: Loss and Renewal in the Megacity brings together many voices, offering a kaleidoscopic view of Delhi. It has essays on subjects such as the demolition of slums, the factories that deal with the city s waste, the campaigns for clean air and BRT corridors, and the difficulties faced by women. Also included are first-hand accounts that reveal the travails of being a dhobi, a garbage collector, a fruit vendor and a maid in the megacity. About the Author : - Bharati Chaturvedi is an environmentalist and writer based in Delhi. She is a co-founder of an NGO, Chintan, which works to increase environmental justice and reduce ecological footprints. She writes a column for the Hindustan Times, Earthwatch, and blogs with the Huffington Post. Bharati has a Master s degree in History from Delhi University and a Masters in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. She is a writer and critic on contemporary art practice in India.


The Journey of Caste in India

The Journey of Caste in India

Author: Paul D'Souza

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-31

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1000895734

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This book provides a comprehensive overview of caste in contemporary India. With contributions from scholars like Valerian Rodrigues, B.B. Mohanty, Surinder Jodhka, and Anand Teltumbde, it discusses wide-ranging themes like the trajectory of caste in post-independence India; Dalits and cultural identity; the paradox of being a Dalit woman; caste violence and social mobility; Ambedkar’s quest for the right of social equality; social security for the inclusive development of Dalits; discrimination and exclusion of Dalits in education; and Dalit merit and institutional injustice, and presents an overview of the struggles for distributive justice in India. This volume will be of importance to scholars and researchers of Dalit studies, social justice, exclusion studies, caste studies, affirmative action, political studies, sociology, social anthropology, and South Asian politics.