ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

marginalised communitiesSubscribe to marginalised communities

Not ‘Sailing in the Same Boat’: Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Been Worse for LGBTQI+ Persons in India

While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives across the world, there can be no argument that the worst-affected are individuals and communities that were already vulnerable before the pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated and made visible existing structural inequities. Like other crises, the pandemic is not neutral to gender, caste, ethnicity, class, sexuality or any other determinant of one’s social location. It is more than clear now that people already marginalised and stigmatised, are the worst hit by the pandemic lockdowns. The hit is marked on several axes —psychological, economic...

COVID-19 and Tribal Communities: How State Neglect Increased Marginalisation during the Pandemic

In the absence of state support and social security, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns created short- and long-term hardships for already marginalised tribal communities in India.

Beyond Telangana Sentiment

The return of patronage culture in Telangana calls for a re-examination of democratic claims made on behalf of “Telangana’s cultural turn.” This turn to the centrality of sentiment, emotion, even death, in political mobilisation sought to break culture’s links with the Telugu language and its dominant caste speakers and resituate it as an expression of the region’s democratic demands. Cultural resources of the Adivasi, Dalit and backward castes, such as dialect, songs and performances were deemed “authentic” sites of regional identity even as these were widely disseminated through audiovisual media such as posters, newspapers, and internet between 2001 and 2014. Post-separation marginalised groups are unable to reclaim these cultural resources to further their demands of political representation, as political culture is now mediated by institutions of a postcolonial state and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi party’s welfare–patronage policies. Marginalised castes are also unable to move towards a common ethical and moral standard as culture is seen from the restricted logic of politics of representation.

 

Paatal Lok

Paatal Lok is a ruthless deconstruction of contemporary India with its disturbing social stratification.

Tribal Migrant Women as Domestic Workers in Mumbai

Focusing on female migrant domestic workers from Jharkhand, this article looks at their lives before and after migration. Jharkhand witnesses heavy migration and mobility to cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, especially female migration. Girls and young women coming from marginalised communities migrate through different means and organisations like placement agencies, religious institutions or with the help of friends or relatives. Most of them get into the unorganised sector such as domestic work. Lack of social security measures continues to be a major challenge and a source of distress for these workers.

Back to Top