EXCLUSION, DISCRIMINATION AND STRATIFICATION : Tribes in Contemporary India

Discourses on social exclusion, discrimination and inequality have emerged as defining characteristics of the 21st century social sciences. Tribes of India are subjected to various forms of exclusion and discrimination. Tribes living in the midst of castes encounter even more deeply embedded exclusion and deprivation. Based on fieldwork, 24 in-depth village studies elucidate these issues in terms of collapse of livelihood opportunities and multiple practices of discrimination and denial rooted in economic, social and ritual spheres in this volume. In order to clarify concurrently intra-tribe, inter-tribe as also tribe-caste discrepancy, tribes are studied in numerous locations in rural India, including plains, hills and islands. Articles in this volume explain how the tribespeople have steadily resisted the persistent repression and adopted strategies to defy ill-treatment. Affirmative action programmes, strengthening of statutory councils and electoral politics, diffusion of secular values and democratization processes have all facilitated tribespeople to show determination and fight for their rights. The rising trend of Adivasi awakening is a defining characteristic of contemporary India. Tribespeople are no longer silent spectators of coercion. The book thus offers an insightful understanding of tribal survival strategies, social exclusion, discrimination and inequality. Scholars of Indian Sociology, Anthropology, History, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Indigenous/Adivasi Studies will immensely benefit from this book.