Read an excerpt from S. Viswanathan’s Dalits in Dravidian Land: dalit activist-theoretician Ravikumar offers a framework to understand  violence against dalits and suggests that more than being a consequence of the accumulation of power in the hands of the intermediary castes, such violence would be better understood as an attempt by ‘backward’ caste Hindus to test their newfound authority on those below them. (Links to a PDF file, right-click and ‘Save As’ to download)

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