"This book shows us certain vital contours of a new dimensionthe Dalit Social. It argues successfully for the Dalit Social as both the defining condition for candid public discussions of caste, as well as the necessary normative condition for the sustenance of a democratic India." Gopal Guru, coauthor of Experience, Caste, and the Everyday
"The Dalit Studies project addresses two subtle but crucial distinctions: between research on Dalits and research from a Dalit standpoint; and between the social-economic and the political-cultural dimensions of material history. Sharpening and straddling these, the project makes a unique contribution to the study of contemporary Indian society through its focus on dignity, recognition, faith, and belonging within a larger horizon of contests for equal citizenship." Satish Deshpande, editor of The Problem of Caste
"This book expands the remit of Dalit Studies in significant and exciting ways by its focus on the relationship between caste, space, embodiment, and religious belonging. It also reconfigures older knowledge about caste, land, and labour through a feminist lens, enabling a productive critique of caste conjugality, family, and kin." V. Geetha, author of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Question of Socialism in India
"In this richly textured volume, each essay focuses on different aspects of the striving for dignity and ethical life among Dalit communities. This is a decisive and timely contribution to the flourishing body of scholarship on Dalit life, aspiration, and horizons that have emerged in the past decades." Thomas Blom Hansen, author of Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay
