Recasting Caste: Histories of Dalit Transnationalism and the Internationalization of Caste Discrimination by Purvi Mehta A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and History) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Farina Mir, Chair Professor Pamela Ballinger Emeritus Professor David W. Cohen Associate Professor Matthew Hull Professor Mrinalini Sinha Dedication For my sister, Prapti Mehta ii Acknowledgements I thank the dalit activists that generously shared their work with me. These activists – including those at the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, Navsarjan Trust, and the National Federation of Dalit Women – gave time and energy to support me and my research in India. Thank you. The research for this dissertation was conducting with funding from Rackham Graduate School, the Eisenberg Center for Historical Studies, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the Center for Comparative and International Studies, and the Nonprofit and Public Management Center. I thank these institutions for their support. I thank my dissertation committee at the University of Michigan for their years of guidance. My adviser, Farina Mir, supported every step of the process leading up to and including this dissertation. I thank her for her years of dedication and mentorship. Pamela Ballinger, David Cohen, Fernando Coronil, Matthew Hull, and Mrinalini Sinha posed challenging questions, offered analytical and conceptual clarity, and encouraged me to find my voice. I thank them for their intellectual generosity and commitment to me and my project. Diana Denney, Kathleen King, and Lorna Altstetter helped me navigate through graduate training. I thank them for their patience and assistance. Parts of this dissertation were presented at the Kitabmandal and the Anthro- History Workshop. I thank the participants of these workshops for their comments on Chapters 3 and 6. iii Friends in London, New York, and Ann Arbor sustained me through this process. They gave me laughter and joy, provided nourishment and comfort, and supported me through the ups and downs of graduate training. I thank Chandra Bhimull, Jennifer Bowles, Sofia Carlsson, Sherina Feliciano-Santos, Rebecca Grapevine, Anneeth Hundle, Parvez Khan, Jennifer Dorothy Lee, Michael Lempert, Lynette Lisk, Michelle Martinez, Janam Mukherjee, and Andrea Wright. I thank my parents, Pallavi and Prakash Mehta, and my aunt, Suhangi Vaishnav, for the countless sacrifices that enabled me to pursue my education. They nurtured intellectual curiosity and their love has carried me through this process. I thank my brother-in-law, Himayat Khan, and my sister, Prapti Mehta, for their uncompromised support and faith in my endeavors. My niece and nephew, Asha Mehta-Khan and Jayin Mehta-Khan, tolerated my work on the dissertation, even when it took away from our play-time. I thank them for illuminating new perspectives and bring inexpressible happiness into my life. iv Table of Contents Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Ambedkar’s Buddhism: A Theology for Modernity ........................................................22 Ambedkar Studies ..................................................................................................24 Jotirao Phule and E.V. Ramaswamy ......................................................................29 Dalit Difference as Political Strategy ....................................................................32 The Political as Insufficient ...................................................................................35 A New Past for a Future without Caste .................................................................38 A Buddhist Modernity ...........................................................................................44 Chapter 2 National Minority, Global Majority: Episodes in Dalit Transnationalism ........................52 Episode 1: Ambedkar and DuBois .........................................................................54 Episode 2: Dalit Panthers .......................................................................................61 Episode 3: Activism by the Dalit Diaspora ............................................................70 Episode 4: Caste Becomes a Global Problem ........................................................81 Episode 5: The Dalit Majority ...............................................................................89 Chapter 3 Generalizing Caste: Histories of Caste as Inherited Inequality .........................................94 Caste in the History and Anthropology of India ....................................................96 Caste as Slavery and Racism ...............................................................................103 Ethnographies of Caste in the American South ...................................................113 Caste in Typologies of Inequality ........................................................................126 Chapter 4 The NCDHR’s Black Paper: Countering State Neglect with Dalit Human Rights .........136 The Promise of the Constitution and the “Caste-minded” State ..........................137 The Founding of the NCDHR and the “Ambedkar Yuga” ..................................141 Dalit Human Rights: A Critique of State Neglect ...............................................147 A Critique of Human Rights ................................................................................152 Chapter 5 Dalit Activism at WCAR, 2001 .......................................................................................165 v WCAR: Background and Framing Documents ...................................................167 Statements by the Government of India and CERD ............................................169 WCAR Preparatory Meetings ..............................................................................173 Debates in the Media ...........................................................................................178 Discussions at WCAR..........................................................................................184 Chapter 6 The NFDW and Transnational Dalit Feminist Activism .................................................192 Establishing the NFDW, and Dalit Women .........................................................195 Difference as Critique and Possibility .................................................................208 “Will You Be Our Sisters” ...................................................................................223 Chapter 7 Ambedkar on the Women’s Question ..............................................................................240 Historiography .....................................................................................................242 An Instrumentalist Critique of the Past ................................................................250 A Strategic Patriarchy ..........................................................................................258 A New Template for a Humanistic Universalism ................................................266 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................275 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................281 vi Abstract This dissertation analyzes one strand of post-independence anti-caste activism, that of transnational dalit activism. As an interdisciplinary work of anthropology and history, it draws from multi-site archival and ethnographic research. Each chapter focuses on a particular moment or aspect of transnational dalit activism and its translation of caste- based discrimination into an internationally recognized wrong. Through an exploration of the affective and political bonds activists have developed with communities outside of India, and the simultaneous use and critique of human rights in dalit activism, this dissertation demonstrates how the global field has become critical to the conceptualization and articulation of social justice. Engagements in the global field also set this activism apart from the dominant anti-caste movement of modern India – that of B.R. Ambedkar’s movement for dalit rights. Specifically, in terms of its political strategy, identity politics, and conceptualization of caste, transnational dalit activism departs from Ambedkar’s movement. First, in terms of political strategy, this activism uses human rights discourse to communicate the problems and aspirations of dalits. It seeks support from institutions beyond the nation-state, and it internationalizes caste-based discrimination, ostensibly to connect with social justice movements outside of India and to generate international pressure on the Indian state to act in the interests of dalits. Second, regarding identity politics, this activism emphasizes a similarity in political identity