My research work aims to clarify the transformation of social relationship between the discriminated and discriminating in contemporary India from an anthropological perspective. My focus is on Dalits, who have been historically located at the botto
...MoreMy research work aims to clarify the transformation of social relationship between the discriminated and discriminating in contemporary India from an anthropological perspective. My focus is on Dalits, who have been historically located at the bottom of the caste hierarchy system. Among them, the sweeper-caste people who had engaged in manual scavenging of every households’ dry latrines were discriminated against because of their “impurity”. I focus on one Indian NGO that promotes vocational training for these people in Rajasthan, northwest part of India, while installing water-flush toilets so that the sweeper-caste will not have to scavenge. My work requires a long-term fieldwork in the local community in Rajasthan, to clarify the process of the transformation of social relationship. My main discipline is cultural anthropology, but I am also interested in the field of development anthropology, public health and civil society, which is strongly connected with my work.
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New Directions in the Humanities
