Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Understanding untouchability: a historical perspective. 3. Dalit education: the role of agencies. 4. Political participation. 5. Dalit movement. 6. Protest literature. 7. Conclusion. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

This work deals with the familiar story of Dalits with a new perspective. Often social scientists in general and historians in particular interpret Dalit consciousness as false consciousness undermining their radical political self assertion. This work mainly deals with the Dalits political consciousness, their struggle for identity and the manner in which they rose from a stage being of a political non entities to a stage when they could develop their own self definition and roles within the dialectics of the nationalist anti-colonial struggle. The strength of this work lies in drawing upon vernacular sources and in presenting an insiders perspective. (jacket)