Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Dalit feminism indicates the position of Dalit women at the both the intersections of gender and caste, the feminist movement and the Dalit movement, the marginalization of Dalit women within the mainstream feminists organisations, and the male dominance in the main stream society. The Dalit movement resulted in the Dalit women’s need to formulate Dalit feminism. Dalit feminism not only addresses the intersectionalities of caste and patriarchy but also critiques the position of Dalit women in both the feminist and Dalit organisation. Dalit women, being positioned at the bottom of India’s caste and gender hierarchies, are the most vulnerable in the socio-economic sphere. They struggle under the twin frameworks of the caste system as well as the gender hierarchy and are the most vulnerable in the social hierarchy, where cultural factors subject her to be inferior to the men and above it she is subject to various forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence. In the backdrop of such positioning the emergence of Dalit literature marks a shift from existing literature and provides understanding of the hidden narratives of the problems of the Dalit, as well as how Dalit women are juxtaposed with non-Dalit women. Dalit feminism can be understood through three major streams, inclduing the struggle of Dalit women activists who voice caste and gender intersectionalities and critique main-stream feminism for being blind to caste, Dalit women’s autobiographies and writers who articulate their authentic experiences of caste and patriarchy, and the theoretical formulation of Dalit feminism which has been dominated by a few non-Dalit feminists. This paper explores the different phases within the feminist struggle that raised the question of Dalit women and analyses the theoretical formulation of Dalit feminism using the idea of Dalit women autobiographies, activists, and writers.