There is much in Vasant Moon's story of his vasti, his childhood neighborhood in India, that would probably be true of any ghetto anywhere in the world. There is hunger and deprivation, to be sure, but also a sense of community, an easy acceptance of petty crime and violence, the saving grace of sports and organized activities led by caring adults, the off-again on-again aid from relatives, the inexplicable cruelty and unexpected generosity, and escape through education. But there is much here that is peculiarly and vividly Indian as well. Primary among these is the factor of caste, a hierarchical system unrelated to race but based on ancient principles of hereditary pollution and purity, with Brahmans the purest and Untouchables the most polluted. Second is the presence of a hero so important he is described as a "wave," and surely no despised group has ever had a leader as meaningful as Dr. B. R. (Babasaheb) Ambedkar was and remains for India's awakened and ambitious Dalits. Third is nature, with Moon's compelling descriptions of Nagpur's heat and the vivid joy brought by the monsoon. Indeed, every tree, every fruit, every nook and cranny of the world in and around the vasti plays an important part in his story. Dalit literature, poetry, plays, and autobiographies have been one of the most important developments in the culture of India in the past thirty years, yet little has been translated for a Western audience. Vasant Moon's Growing Up Untouchable, the first Dalit autobiography to be published in English, is a moving and eloquent testament to a uniquely Indian life as well as to the universal human spirit.

Growing up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography (Asian Voices)

Biographies & Memoirs

Moon, Vasant

Omvedt, Gail

Zelliot, Eleanor

Community & Culture

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

In this English translation, Moon's story is usefully framed by apparatus necessary to bring its message to even those taking their first look at South Asian culture. . .The result is an easy to digest short-course on what it means to be a Dalit, in the words of one notable Dalit'. -Journal of Asian Studies

This book is an historical survey of Buddhism in India and shows how over a period of 2500 years, Buddhism has been engaged in a struggle against caste-hierarchy. It has challenged Brahmanism, the main exploitative system of traditional Indian society, and instead endeavored to build religious egalitarianism.

Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd

Anthropology

Sage.

An AltaMira Press Book This important volume traces the history of the Dalit movement form its origins to the death of its most famous leader, B.R. Ambedkar, in 1956. Focusing on three states-Andhra, Maharashtra, and Karnataka-the author skillfully analyzes the ideology and organization of the movement and its interaction both wiht the freedom struggle and the class struggles of the workers and peasants.

Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India

History

Asia

This important book traces the history of the Dalit movement from its beginning in the 19th century to the death of its most famous leader, B.R. Ambedkar, in 1956. Focusing on three states--Andhra,Maharashtra and Karnataka--Dr Omvedt analyses the ideology and organization of the movement and its interaction both with the freedom struggle(particularly with Gandhi and Gandhism) and the `class` struggles of the workers and peasants (and their dominant ideology-Marxism). She also provides a historical account of the origin and development of the caste system.

Sage Publishing

This study describes and analyses the new social movements that have arisen in India over the past two decades, in particular the anti-caste movement (of both the untouchables and the lower-middle castes), the women's liberation movement, the farmers' movement (centred on struggles arising out of their integration into a state-controlled capitalist market), and the environmental movements (opposition to destructive development, including resistance to big dam projects and the search for alternatives). Rooted in participant observation, it focuses on the ideologies and self-understanding of the movements themselves. The central themes of this book are the origin of movements in the socio-economic contradictions of post-independence India; their effect on political developments, in particular the disintegration of Congress hegemony; their relation to "traditional Marxist" theory and Communist practice; and their groping toward a synthesis of theory and practice that constitutes a new social vision distinct from traditional Marxism.

Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India (Socialism and Social Movements)

Business & Money

Economics

Routledge

We Will Smash This Prison!: Indian Women in Struggle

We will smash this prison!: Indian women in struggle

Zed Press

Zed Books

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Books by Omvedt, Gail