The Routledge Handbook of the Other Backward Classes in India: Thought, Movements and Development

This handbook provides an authoritative account of the development of movements, thoughts, and policies of OBCs in India, despite the adoption of egalitarian principles in the Indian Constitution. It discusses the life, ideologies, and pioneering contributions by OBC leaders and social reform movements, examines OBC issues with case studies, critiques public policies, and reviews the status of Muslim OBCs and nomadic communities. It is essential reading for scholars and researchers of exclusion and discrimination studies, diversity and inclusion studies, Global South studies, affirmative action, sociology, Indian political history, Dalit studies, political sociology, public policy, development studies, and political studies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 608 pages
Publication date: 03 February 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Despite the adoption of egalitarian principles in the Indian Constitution, caste inequalities, discrimination, and exclusionary practices against people from backward classes and other lower castes continue to haunt them in contemporary India. A comprehensive work on the politics of identity and plurality of experiences of OBCs in India, this handbook: — Features in-depth research by eminent scholars on the Other Backward Classes (OBC) social and political thought, OBC movements, and OBC development and policy-making. — Discusses the life, ideologies, and pioneering contributions by Gautam Buddha, Sant Kabir, Jotirao Phule, Savitribai Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Narayana Guru, B.R. Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohia, and E. V. Ramasamy Periyar, as well as leading social reform movements. — Examines OBC issues with case studies from various Indian states to look at issues of pre- and post-Mandal India; backward caste movements; and reclamation of the Bahujan legacy. — Critiques public policies and programs for the development of OBCs in India. — Reviews the status of Muslim OBCs in India and of the invisibilized nomadic communities. — Reviews the impact of globalization on the economically backward lower castes and the impact of development initiatives for the excluded people. The first of its kind, this handbook will be essential reading for scholars and researchers of exclusion and discrimination studies, diversity and inclusion studies, Global South studies, affirmative action, sociology, Indian political history, Dalit studies, political sociology, public policy, development studies, and political studies.

Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367610548