Mapping Social Exclusion in India
Caste, Religion and Borderlands

This book studies the concept of social exclusion in India and provides strategies for overcoming it.

Paramjit S. Judge (Edited by)

9781107056091, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 March 2014

298 pages
23.7 x 16 x 1.4 cm, 0.59 kg

This book assesses the problem of defining exclusion, highlights the need for its contextualisation and establishes a relationship between social exclusion, deprivation and discrimination. It studies the complex mosaic of Indian systems and society, marked with exclusionary practices and structures on the basis of caste. It presents grassroots level information through empirical investigations and studies how physical spaces become sites of exclusion when borders become volatile. Scholars put together their diverse research, studies, perceptions and ideas and, most importantly, their years of expertise to focus on a central theme of social exclusion in Indian society. They study the role of the state as an interventionist force and look into the political mobilisation strategy as a reaction to exclusion. The book also takes a critical look at the reservation policy and argues that state intervention creates certain new forms of exclusion.

List of contributors
List of tables and figures
Preface
Introduction
Part I. Social Exclusion in India: Theoretical Perspectives and Issues: 1. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion in India Harish K. Puri
2. Social exclusion, globalization and marginalized groups B. K. Nagla
3. Situating social exclusion in the context of caste: a case of Dalits in India Vivek Kumar
4. Reservation policy in India: exclusion in inclusion Satish K. Verma
5. Coping with exclusions the non-political way Meeta Rajivlochan and M. Rajivlochan
Part II. Empirical Studies: Caste and Religious Exclusions: 6. Egalitarian religion and caste-based exclusion in rural Punjab Paramjit S. Judge
7. 'Rajput', local deities and discrimination: tracing caste formation in Jammu Toru Takahashi
8. Excluded and marginalized: patterns of deprivation of the scavengers Vishav Raksha
9. Looking beyond generalities: caste, social exclusion and Deras in Punjab Ronki Ram
10. Caste and dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in local governance S. R. Ahlawat
Part III. Case Studies: Borderlands and Social Exclusion: 11. 'No man's land?': Exclusion in the borderbelt of Punjab Harpreet Kaur
12. Farmers at the borderbelt of Punjab: fencing and forced deprivation Jagrup S. Sekhon
13. Barbed wire fencing and exclusion of border communities Sapna K. Sangra
Conclusion: combating exclusion: paradoxes and challenges
Index.

Subject Areas: Sociology [JHB], Ethnic studies [JFSL], Social groups [JFS], Asian history [HBJF]