Caste

'Caste: A Global Story is not just a book about caste; it is a challenge to how caste is seen, known, and resisted. While the book's tone may unsettle some readers, its urgency is precisely what makes it indispensable.' * <b><I>LSE Review of Books</I></b> * 'A call for deeper studies of caste in other countries and in comparative contexts exploring what discrimination of all kinds can learn from each other.' * <b><I>Asian Review of Books</I></b> * 'Essential reading.'  * <b><I>Countercurrents</I></b> * 'A remarkably helpful contribution to understanding and confronting the challenges of hardened inequalities worldwide. We have reason to be grateful to Suraj Milind Yengde for this distinguished work.' * <b>Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics</b> * ‘Boldly written, sharply argued and sweeping in scope, this is a unique and important global analysis of caste. Yengde succeeds brilliantly at offering a fresh and incisive analysis. Interdisciplinary scholarship at its most impressive!’ -- <b>Nico Slate, Professor of History, Carnegie Mellon University, and author of <i>The Art of Freedom: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Making of Modern India</i></b> ‘Suraj Yengde traces the past and present of a confusing/confused but enduring category, and of the experiences of difference and oppression it has produced. Honest and thought-provoking, and with fantastic original research, this is a significant contribution.’ -- <b>Shobana Shankar, Professor of History, Stony Brook University, and author of <i>An Uneasy Embrace: Africa, India and the Spectre of Race</i></b> ‘An ambitious book that will be of wide interest for those wishing to know more about the history of Dalit politics in India and the Indian diaspora, and its relation to Black politics in the US and elsewhere. A laudable and much-needed project; and a thought-provoking read.’ -- <b>Kamala Visweswaran, Professor of Anthropology, Rice University</b> ‘An unflinching long regard, a movement across geographies, diasporas and temporalities, that sutures caste to a global history of dispossession, violence and displacement. Yet, this is not a simple story of global connections, past and present; rather it is a rousing invitation to model a Dalit world, suffused with dignity, courage and lasting knowledge. At once a labour of critical inquiry and a juxtaposition of observations and polemics across histories of race and caste, Yengde proffers a stirring vision of Dalit universalism for life and liberation.’ -- <b>Anjali Arondekar, Professor of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of <i>For the Record: On Sexuality and the Colonial Archive in India</i></b> 'An ambitious book which grapples with the history of the entrenched Indian caste system. Foregrounding Dalit (or ‘untouchable’) subjectivity and agency, Yengde explores the effects of colonialism, the legacies of the indenture system, and the links between Dalit and Black activism. Using a range of historical sources and contemporary fieldwork, Yengde poses an important question: what is the place of caste within today’s global Indian diaspora?' * <b><i> History Today</i>, 'Books of the Year'</b> *