Table Of Content“A philosophically, theoretically and empirically well organized book which
tracestheuntoldnarrativesofsufferingsofstudentsofcasteslocatedatthelowest
ebb of the hierarchically structured Indian societyfrom an evolutionary perspec-
tive. Methodologically, it substantiates its findings with the collection of com-
prehensive primary and secondary data about representation of various social
groups in the India university system. On the one hand, the book successfully
deconstructs the myth of merit prevailing in the Indian academia. On the other
hand, it reveals the creativity and reflexivity of the students belonging to ‘lower
castes’withnewmetaphors.Onthewholethebooktakesustonewhorizonsof
imagination about India’s higher education and reminds us about Frere’s pro-
phetic word, ‘pedagogy of the oppressed will be written by the oppressed which
will emancipate the oppressor and the oppressed both’. I am confident it will be
welcomedwithopenarmsbybothgeneralistsandspecialists.”
Vivek Kumar,Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Social Systems,Schoolof
Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Visiting Professor at
Columbia University, New York, USA
“Rigorouslyresearchedandpersuasivelyargued,‘CasteDiscriminationandExclu-
sion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection’ by Narayana Sukumar opens us
forscrutinythelegaciesofinjusticethatpervadeourinstitutionsofhigherlearning.
Narayana Sukumar unravels the ‘university’ as a system of non-discriminatory
publicaccesstoeducationtorevealthecontinuingpervasionofcaste-hierarchiesin
the institutional and social space of the university. Taking recourse to empirical
data pertaining to enrolment and employment of Dalit students and teachers in
universities, and personal narratives of ‘betrayal’ and incremental ‘exclusions’,
NarayanaSukumar,weavestogetherascathingcritiqueofwhathecallsthesocial
cosmology of ‘merit’ and the pervasiveness of structural inequalities. While the
meritdiscoursehasassumedvariousforms,thepandemichasexacerbatedthefault-
lines along which caste, class, and gender have played out shaping Dalit experi-
ences.Indeed,structuralinequalitieshavebecomemanifestinquotidianexperiences
ofhumiliationandoftenalsoinspectaclesof‘death’–socialandmaterial.Policies,
including those of affirmative action and grievance redressal in universities, and
participatory channels in universities, e.g., in the recruitment process, become
symbolic and not emphatic. This is an important and relevant book – an indis-
pensable reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the social, political and
materialbasisofuniversitiesinIndia.”
Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Professor of Political Science, Delhi University, India
Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in
Indian Universities
ThisbookstudiestheexclusionanddiscriminationthatismetedouttoScheduled
Caste (SC) students in the Indian Higher Education system, and the psychosocial
consequences of such practices. It foregrounds the conceptual debates around
caste, exclusion, and reservations in Indian academia, discussing the social
dominanceandtherootsofprejudicesintheuniversityspaces.
The volume reflects upon the fragile social world in which students from the
margins struggle for survival in the academic space. It reveals that these students
navigatethevariousfacetsofacademia–likeclassrooms,pedagogy,scholarships,
hostels, peer groups, and teachers – only to find the academic space a dystopian
universe.Thebookalsoshedslightonsuicidecasescommittedbythemarginalized
groupsasatestimonyofprotest.
Based on in-depth ethnographic research, this book will be of interest to
teachers, students and researchers of education, sociology, political science,
psychology,andexclusion studies. Itwillalsobeusefulforpolicymakers, social
activists, NGOs, research centers, and those working in higher education,
reservations, public policy, caste, and exclusion studies.
N. Sukumar teaches Political Science at Delhi University, India. His area of
interest includes Indian Political Thought, Ambedkar and Dalit Bahujan Stu-
dies, Human Rights and Social Exclusion. Currently, he is engaged on Dalit
Citizenship and Anti-Caste Utopias. He is also member/advisor for many pro-
fessional bodies in many Central Universities and other institutions. He has
published widely in research journals, blogs etc. and has been involved in both
national and international research studies on poverty and public institutions,
caste-based atrocities, and discrimination. Apart from the classroom, he is also
actively involved in grassroots peoples’ struggles.
Caste Discrimination and
Exclusion in Indian Universities
fl
A Critical Re ection
N. Sukumar
Firstpublished2023
byRoutledge
4ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2023N.Sukumar
TherightofN.Sukumartobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen
assertedinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,Designsand
PatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany
informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfrom
thepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation
withoutintenttoinfringe.
Theviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisbookarethoseofauthoranddonot
necessarilyreflecttheviewsandopinionsofRoutledge.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Acatalogrecordhasbeenrequestedforthisbook
ISBN:978-0-367-55689-1(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-032-29051-5(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-003-09529-3(ebk)
DOI:10.4324/9781003095293
TypesetinSabon
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
To my grandmother (Boosamma), who was my first teacher
Contents
List of tables x
Foreword xii
Acknowledgements xv
Abbreviations xviii
1 Caste and the Academia 1
2 Dalits and Higher Education in India: A Fact Sheet 42
3 Unequal Spaces: Mapping Caste Discrimination in Indian
Universities 64
4 A Social History of Indian Academia 113
5 “My Birth is My Fatal Accident”: Social Semantics of Dalit
Students’ Suicides 146
6 Conclusion: Social Cosmology of Merit and Pervasive Injustices 168
Appendix: RTI Table 180
Index 185
