Articles by Vivek Kumar

Even after completing a hundred years Indian sociology is practised in the milieu of domination. British, European and American domination has been well documented while the domination of the so-called twice-born castes has not been analysed. This article highlights the domination of the twice-born castes at four levels--as members practising sociology in universities, institutions and colleges, in the sphere of production of knowledge while writing chapters of books, producing knowledge with the help of scriptural sources, or producing data from the field and while teaching sociology in the classrooms.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) glosses over issues of caste, which is inextricably linked to sanitation work across the country, and the rights of sanitation workers. It incorrectly tries to draw legitimacy from Gandhi’s thoughts on hygiene and cleanliness.

We mourn the passing away of C Parvathamma (1927-2006), the first dalit woman sociologist of India. She passed away on August 1, 2006 at the age of 79 in Mysore.

Today dalit assertion has transcended the national boundary and has reached international levels. The dalit diaspora that has remained invisible all these years has joined the fight with Indian dalits. Here an attempt is made to understand their presence in different parts of the world and the identities and symbols used for their assertion.

The dalit movement now presents an even greater diversity than before and dalit women, who remain triply exploited on the basis of caste, class and gender, largely remain outside the movement's fold.