PLEASE READ THESE POINTS BEFORE YOU PROCEED
Hi everyone, this toolkit contains introductory to advanced anti-caste resources (in South Asia and globally). Additionally, mentions of South Asian politics, history, South Asian Indigenous & tribal history and sources, Indian/Hindu nationalism (their money trails in US), Hindutva, racism, anti-Blackness, different leftist perspectives, etc.
CW: Casteism, Racism, mentions of murder, death, BRUTAL physical assault, violence, graphic descriptions/ videos/ images, sexual assault, rape, etc.
❖ Although managed by two of us, the info found here is the result of the labor of many, most notably South Asian caste-oppressed and Indigenous creators and activists, both on social media platforms and on the ground spreading awareness. Please DO NOT be reactionary and take the time to properly examine these sources.Put in the work and thoroughly educate yourself.
❖ We would suggest that in addition to reading books by these authors, you also research the authors and their life as well!
❖ Many of these works are from authors who are caste oppressed and belong to marginalized communities. If you are able to – please support these authors and buy their works. ESPECIALLY if you are caste privileged, do your part. We’re also working on including more video and audio resources 🙂
❖ Note that not all of the resources included in this doc are from caste oppressed folks, be critical while viewing works that come from caste privileged & other individuals
❖ Note that one should not ‘worship’ or ‘idolize’ any individual (authors, activists, etc.) A lot of the people mentioned below have different ideologies and talked about casteism from different perspectives. Read this entire doc critically, put in the labor to engage and do research!
CASTE 101 – WHAT IS CASTE?
➢ WHAT IS CASTE? Caste in the U.S. by Equality Labs
➢ Caste Privilege 101: A Primer for the Privileged
➢ Unlearning Caste Supremacy, Caste Abolition Reading List by Equality Labs
MOVIES, DOCUMENTARIES, & OTHER VIDEOS/INTERVIEWS
➢ India untouched 2013 – Documentary on Caste in India
➢ “[Dalits] Are Considered Unpure” | Caste in America
➢ Even in the U.S. he couldn’t escape the label ‘untouchable’
➢ Canadian academics speak out about harassment for criticizing Hindu nationalism
➢ Coming Out As a Dalit: A Conversation with Yashica Dutt
➢ Jai Bhim Comrade by Ananad Patwardhan
WEBSITES/ARTICLES
➢ Busted: Four Myths on Caste-Based Reservation Policies
➢ Basis and Significance of Reservation
➢ Why Caste-based reservation is a logical social-justice measure
➢ Casteism In Our Words: 10 Casteist Slurs And Why We Need To Stop Throwing Them Around
➢ How three generations of Dalit women writers saw their identities and struggle?
➢ “Root to Rise?: Hindutva and the Propaganda of Yoga’s Origins”
➢ How Appropriation of Yoga Masks Violence
➢ How Appropriation of Yoga Masks Violence
➢Ghosts of Yogas Past and Present
➢Cultivating a Yogic Theology of Collective Healing: A Yogini’s Journey Disrupting White Supremacy, Hindu Fundamentalism, and Casteism
➢More important info about Yoga (such as African and other Indigenous South Asian origins/perspectives, books, articles, etc.) can be found here
➢ Adivasis are not Hindus. Lazy Colonial census gave them the label
➢Why white supremacists and Hindu nationalists are so alike
➢ When Will Caste-Oppressed and Queer and Trans Folks Find Liberation in Sikh Spaces?
➢ Was Ambedkar Really Anti-Muslim, as the Sangh Parivar Claims?
➢ Hate speech and death threats: Canadian academics harassed after criticizing Hindu nationalism in India
➢ Caste Nutrition and Public Health by Dr. Sylvia Karpagam
➢ Checkout Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, a public health doctor’s work On Caste (Health and its social determinants) and more related articles
➢ Even After a Century, Water Is Still the Marker of India’s Caste Society (CW: Physical violence, death)
➢Invisibility of Caste in Environmental studies
➢Caste, racialization, and the making of environmental unfreedoms in urban India
➢Check out other works by Malini Ranganathan
➢The Time-Honored History of Caste Oppressed People in Canada
➢Caste Question, Marxism and the Political Legacy of B.R. Ambedkar (for video & audio version click here)
BOOKS
➢ Annihilation of Caste by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
➢ CASTES IN INDIA: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development by Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
➢ Beef, Brahmins, and Broken Men: An Annotated Critical Section from the Untouchables by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Intro by Dr. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
➢ Why Were the Women Enslaved by Periyar
➢ Gulamgiri (Slavery) by Jyotirao Phule
➢ 93 page report on the money trail of Hindu Nationalist groups, individuals, and family foundations in the U.S. by Jasa Macher
➢ Persistence of Caste by Anand Teltumbde
➢ Why I am Not a Hindu: A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy by Dr. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
➢ Buffalo Nationalism: A Critique of Spiritual Fascism by Dr. Kanchia Ilaiah Shepherd
➢ More by Dr. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
➢ Debrahmanising History: Dominance and Resistance in Indian Society by Braj Ranjan Mani
➢ Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva by Anand Teltumbde (includes info about Reservations)
➢ Caste Matters by Dr. Suraj Milind Yengde
➢ Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
➢ Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement (mentions of Casteism) by Anuradha Ghandy
➢ Scripting the Change: Selected Writings of Anuradha Ghandy (Section 1: Caste, plus mentions of casteism in other sections)
➢ More by Anuradha Ghandy
➢ Fearless Freedom by Kavita Krishnan
➢ Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, Class and Inequality in Twenty-First-Century India by Alpa Shah, Jens Lerche, Richard Axelby, Dalel Benbabaali, Brendan Donegan, Jayaseelan Raj and Vikramaditya Thakur
➢ Dalits and the Making of Modern India by Dr. Chinnaiah Jangam
➢ The Prisons we Broke by Baby Kamble, Translated by Maya Pandit
➢ Coming Out as Dalit: A Memoir by Yashica Dutt
➢ Joothan: A Dalit’s Life by Omprakash Valmiki
➢ Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family & the Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla
- Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader by Sunaina Arya, Aakash Singh Rathore
➢ The Weave of my Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs by Urmila Pawar (Foreward), Maya Pandit (Translator), Wandana Sonalkar (Intro)
➢ Baluta by Daya Pawar
➢ When I Hid My Caste: Stories by Baburao Bagul, Jerry Pinto
➢ The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print (Global South Asia) by Charu Gupta
➢ Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India by Ramnarayan Rawat
➢ Austric Civilization of India: Pre-Vedic Kherwal-Santal Civilization : an Interpretation and Analysis of Pre-Vedic History of India Through Austric Culture and on the Basis of Austric Language by N.Hembram
➢ AntiGods Own Country: A Short History of Brahmanical Colonisation of Kerala by A.V. Sakthidharan
➢ Hindutva as Political Monotheism by Anustup Basu
➢ Empire’s Garden: Assam and the Making of India by Jayeeta Sharma
➢ Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India by M.N. Srinivas
➢ Gendering Caste: through a Feminist Lens by Uma Chakravarti
➢ Haunted by Fire: Essays on Caste, Class, Exploitation, and Emancipation by Mythili Sivaraman
➢ Caste, Widow-Remarriage, and the Reform of Popular Culture in Colonial Bengal by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
➢ More about Caste by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
➢ Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion by Brian K. Pennington
➢ Caste and Nature: Dalits and Indian Environmental Politics by Mukul Sharma (also check Anti-Caste Ecological Politics above under movie/video, authors in the yt video)
➢ The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition by Thenmozhi Soundararajan
PODCASTS
➢ Yoga + Hindu Nationalist Politics & more, interview with Sheena Sood, Listen from 1:01:10 ish
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS TO CHECK OUT
• dalitjournal • dalit_history • equalitylabs • behanbox • dalitdesk • dalitwomenfight • adivasidastak • adivasi_bhil • inquilabseries • chetnacanada • sylviakarpagam • theruralproletarian • helpdeprived • dalitqueerinframes • aidingallies • dalitdiva • yogeshmaitreya • buffalo.intellectual • ambedkar_dhamma • bahujanlivesmatter • bahujan_renaissance • dalitcamera
PUBLICATIONS TO FOLLOW/SUPPORT
➢ Round Table India
➢ Panther’s Paw Publication
➢ Navayana Publishing
➢ Drbrambedkarbooks.com
➢ Velivada.com
➢ Dalitcamera.com