Decline of the Caste Question: Jogendranath Mandal and the Defeat of Dalit Politics in Bengal

This revisionist history of caste politics in twentieth-century Bengal argues that the decline of this form of political mobilization was as much the result of coercion as of consent, tracing the process through the political career of Jogendranath Mandal. It reveals the strength and achievements of his movement for Dalit recognition, as well as the major challenges and constraints he encountered.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 317 pages
Publication date: 12 November 2020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This reinterpretation of Bengal's caste politics in the 20th century contends that the decline of this form of political mobilization in the region was as much the product of coercion as of consent. It traces this process through the political career of Jogendranath Mandal, the leader of the Dalit movement in eastern India and a prominent figure in the history of India and Pakistan, over the transition of Partition and Independence. Utilizing Mandal's private papers, this study reveals both the strength and achievements of his movement for Dalit recognition, as well as the major challenges and constraints he encountered. Departing from analyses that have stressed the role of integration, Dwaipayan Sen demonstrates how a wide range of coercions shaped the eventual defeat of Dalit politics in Bengal. The region's acclaimed castelessness was born of the historical refusal of Mandal's struggle to pose the caste question.

This reinterpretation of Bengal's caste politics in the 20th century contends that the decline of this form of political mobilization in the region was as much the product of coercion as of consent. It traces this process through the political career of Jogendranath Mandal, the leader of the Dalit movement in eastern India and a prominent figure in the history of India and Pakistan, over the transition of Partition and Independence. Utilizing Mandal's private papers, this study reveals both the strength and achievements of his movement for Dalit recognition, as well as the major challenges and constraints he encountered. Departing from analyses that have stressed the role of integration, Dwaipayan Sen demonstrates how a wide range of coercions shaped the eventual defeat of Dalit politics in Bengal. The region's acclaimed castelessness was born of the historical refusal of Mandal's struggle to pose the caste question.

Weight: 464g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108405706