Book Review: Castes Cannot be Annihilated by Dalits Alone

by Dr. Joseph D’souza
Originally published on Dr. D’souza’s blog, on June 13, 2006.

A great book review. Have a look.

Castes Cannot be Annihilated by Dalits Alone

book review by Balmurli Natrajan

Review of “Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Castes” by Anand Teltumbde, Ramai Prakashan, Thane; 2005.

In the spirit of Marx’s praxis, which requires us to understand the world in order to change it, Dr. Teltumbde highlights the major reason to study caste and imperialism – to eradicate both! Ambitious in scope, yet moving easily between the desirable and the possible, this book provides both intellectuals and activists with a roadmap (albeit a rough one) to attempt this task.

The book starts by interrogating a problem – the lack of a strong and widespread anti-imperialist consciousness in India. The answer advanced is that this problem is largely due to the acceptance of the caste system, which makes the “average Indian’s social consciousness” his or her caste consciousness (87). This is not left to remain as a question of false consciousness of Indians. Instead, Teltumbde offers a complex argument for how caste is an imperialist institution working internally in India sharing similarities with the more conventionally accepted external imperialism of the multinational corporations. Both these forms of imperialism work through comprador elites in political, economic and social lives of India. Consequently, he argues for viewing the anti-caste consciousness expressed by Dalit proletarians (who form the bulk of all Dalits and the largest single social group among India’s proletariat) as an expression of anti-imperialist consciousness. Throughout, Teltumbde locates his analysis of the current situation in India within historical and global contexts. The statistical evidence and analytical arguments that he marshals for this book make it invaluable for any serious discussion of the impacts of colonialism and imperialist globalization today.

Teltumbde speaks about the need for the annihilation of caste as an integral (not secondary) part of the anti-imperialist struggle. This means that the anti-imperialist struggle, which is the struggle for democracy and freedom of all people, must be worked through addressing the problem of caste in India – intellectually (to gain understanding of the context for imperialism in India) and organizationally (to unite all victims of imperialism in the struggle against it). Annihilation of caste then means the struggle against an economic structure and its attendant sociocultural superstructure (205) which primarily manifests itself through caste atrocities, caste discrimination and caste deprivation.

There is every likelihood that the ideological Left will dismiss Teltumbde’s call to acknowledge caste as a part of class and consequently caste struggle as an integral part of class struggle. They may also be uncomfortable with the idea of taking caste as an imperialist institution. On the other hand, Dalit organizations too may dismiss him primarily because his entire analysis is very much Marxist, although a pleasantly heterodox and non-dogmatic one, and hence not appeal to them, and secondarily, since he characterizes much of their leadership as pursuing petty-bourgeois politics. Arguing that the Left movement and the Dalit movement have made historical errors in understanding Indian history, economy and society, Teltumbde is nevertheless able to foreground the need for their convergence, since in his analysis the Left and Dalit movement are both against imperialism – external and internal to the nation.

This is a carefully argued book. For example, Teltumbde does not simply view castes as mere vestiges of feudalism as Eurocentric Left analyses commonly make it out to be. Instead, he notes how Indian feudalism differs from classic accounts and how caste played a determining role within it. Here he echoes recent Marxist writers who argue that castes are a self-regulating exploitative system which operate as part of both, the base (infrastructure) and superstructure of society (40). Further, he shows how castes do change but still continue to organize production and politics in India today. It is especially noteworthy to see how Teltumbde shows how the Indian economy is embedded within society, a path that has a tradition in the scholarly literature deriving from Karl Polanyi in economic sociology and anthropology. This understanding is important to get away from an economistic reading of class in India. Arguing that India is primarily a semi-feudal and semi-colonial economy with different classes being positioned in different (and mixed) modes of production, Teltumbde asks us to view Dalit struggles against the caste system as indeed class struggles corresponding to the pre-capitalist modes (107).

The brief discussion on reservations is very sharp and usefully identifies the flaw in the anti-reservation argument that bases itself on “economic needs.” Instead, as Teltumbde painfully points out, reservations are primarily a countervailing measure against societal disability or socially-produced disability, and not any intrinsic Dalit disability. This is a salutary move that prevents a naturalization of the social on the Dalit body. Put simply, Teltumbde argues that it is because of casteism in society that caste based reservations are needed. His book draws attention to how caste-based humiliation and discrimination does not go away with class mobility for Dalits (242).

Teltumbde is most provocative when he argues that the primary caste contradiction is between Dalits and all non-Dalits or savarnas (111) and not between dwija and not-dwija. He also shows how one can and needs to perform a class analysis to show contradictions between castes (215). For example he boldly highlights Dalit and OBC class contradictions by showing how the dwija vs. non-dwija categories which place the large population of OBCs as allies of all Dalits, hide the real class contradictions between them. Thus, Teltumbde is not satisfied with opportunistic attempts to put together electoral formations of “bahujan” since these do not represent the “ground reality” of Dalits (218). Nonetheless, he is also careful to argue that each of these legalistic caste categories itself contains a heterogeneous class population. As OBC groups emerge as new economically powerful classes in the countryside, and also enter positions of power in the state machinery in urban centers (as bureaucrats and politicians), the caste-class analysis too must reflect this. This means that we also need theories to show how forms of alliance and collusion are built between intermediary powerful castes (OBCs) and upper castes who are now increasingly in charge of more urban, private and modern machineries of coercion, capital and ideology. In this context, Teltumbde’s reminder that “class analysis should embed caste realities not in a salutary terms but in order to make caste struggle as an integral part of the class struggle-for the latter, taking principle contradiction as between dalits vs non-dalits” is timely and crucial.

Perhaps the most underdeveloped area in the book is an engagement with the question of caste-based identities and the question of how to annihilate caste identities that have acquired a real basis in Indian politics and social struggles. While three material manifestations of caste are addressed in the book – caste atrocities, caste discrimination, and caste deprivation, these are only the most visible and strong manifestations of caste and need to be surely annihilated. Yet, caste also exists in non-dramatic ways for creating caste-based identities through caste-based marriage alliances, in celebrations of caste as cultural difference, and in creations of social or network capital that is caste-based (e.g., old boys network). We are not given any indication how to engage with these manifestations of caste and whether this needs to happen at all. Perhaps Teltumbde thinks that class struggle (involving dalits and non-dalits as a class) against the hegemonic caste manifestations will go a long way in dampening caste identities, so that whatever remains of them would be inconsequential for a class struggle like many other identities such as those based on region and language.

Nevertheless, it will be useful to note that these non-dramatic signs of caste are key for reproducing caste as patriarchy because arranged marriage inevitably means control over women’s sexuality, cultural displays always operate through control over women’s bodies and actions which are supposed to maintain “caste traditions,” and caste networks typically means women’s exclusion. Here Teltumbde’s insistence on keeping caste distinct from other non-class forces while salutary for caste does not do justice to the growing literature on how gender and patriarchy are at the heart of caste.

This silence also extends to the possibility of inter-caste marriages as having the potential to annihilate caste consciousness. Of course, entering such a marriage does not automatically lead to the end of caste consciousness. This is made possible only through constant vigilance against casteism and caste-based thinking by those who enter such marriages. Are such marriages not seen anymore as a powerful ally of anti-caste struggles as Ambedkar himself viewed it not too long ago? Not engaging with this issue prevents the book from raising a more interesting question: Can there be castes (social groups of identity, i.e., communities) without casteism (atrocity, discrimination, deprivation)? It seems highly unlikely given that castes usually enter into a relationship of hierarchy via difference. Caste identities therefore also need to be annihilated in addition to caste discrimination and atrocity (sociopolitical) and deprivation (economic).

Raising the question of the annihilation of caste identities will however surely produce the most vitriolic objections from all castes and their so-called leadership – all of whom are invested in continuation of caste as identity-marker (in hierarchical and non-hierarchical ways). The phrase “annihilation of caste” has gone out of fashion nowadays, either suspected of being an upper-caste response to caste (seeking to wish it away rather than address its roots which lie in the economy as much as in the sociocultural relations of everyday life) or of being an impossibility (presumably by those who know what is possible and what is not). It remains unclear how to best address this issue since community consciousness is also used by those fighting oppression.

Teltumbde’s book is a useful intervention that needs to be defended by all progressives. He is very clear that ”...castes cannot be annihilated by Dalits alone” and calls for the active participation of all castes, especially upper castes (213). In this context, the critique of Dange (and the problems of the social consciousness, more than the social origins) of upper castes in the anti-imperialist/anti-caste struggles is very useful to foreground for progressive Left anti-imperialists. To speak of the annihilation of race in the USA is today not viewed as progressive, since the current consciousness and political-economy of race has made it possible to fight against racism but not against racial identity. I believe, however, that the possibility of annihilating caste still exists in India. This book shows us how to think of annihilation without making familiar mistakes. Every once in a while we see a work of intellectual power that pushes debates forward with clarity and courage. This is a book of that kind.

Click here to go to Joseph D’souza’s blog site

Posted on: June 14, 2006

 


Survey Says... India's 'National' Media Lacks Social Diversity

by Joseph D’souza
Originally published on Dr. D’souza’s blog, on June 11, 2006.

No wonder that in the case of reservations/affirmative action for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Dalits there has been this major media bias. Pro-reservation rallies and gatherings have not been carried by the media. Audiences in the TV talk show rooms are heavily biased toward the upper castes and even when an interview is taken from Bihar or some interior part of India, the person interviewed more often than not is an upper caste representative.

I have maintained that the Indian reality has been interpreted to the West by the upper caste media and spokespersons. This is the reality the West knows and understands. The Indian reality according to the majority oppressed and downtrodden is not known in the West.

Now here is an important piece of actual research of the heavy upper caste domination of the media in New Delhi carried by some serious researchers. Read it for yourself and look at the tabulations and come to your own conclusions as to the reality of who holds power and influence in India. Is it wrong therefore for the majority to ask for proportional representation in all walks of Indian life?

India’s ‘national’ media lacks social diversity, it does not reflect the country’s social profile.

Survey designed and executed by Anil Chamadia, Feelance Journalist; Jitendra Kumar, Independent Researcher from Media Study Group; and Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow, CSDS.