Thirunavukkarasu R. (ed.) Social Hegemony in Contemporary India

Sage Publications, 2021. — 423 p.This edited book offers insights into the social inequalities that plague India and are often hidden behind terms like ‘law and order’ and ‘constitutional democracy’. Though the market-driven economy was once expected to radically transform the heavily hierarchical Indian society into a more egalitarian order, the society remains unequal despite almost three decades of liberalization. Therefore, the liberal rhetoric of a democratic order and the free market guaranteeing social justice needs to be reappraised.Social Hegemony in Contemporary India demonstrates how socially privileged sections after acquiring and consolidating power at an alarming rate are now even more dominant over the lives of common Indians than at any time after 1947. Consequently, many communities―like Dalits and other neglected minorities―have been disempowered and pushed to the margins. Any resistance to the dominant social order and its status quo is punished through ostracization and violence. The mission for social justice, therefore, needs a fresh approach and actionable change from those who aspire for a truly liberated India, unshackled from inequity and bias.ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction—Caste and Inequality: Mapping the New Normalcy
by R. ThirunavukkarasuChapter I Societal Complexity and Sources of Inequality:
Situating India by T. K. Oommen
Section A. Social Hegemony and the Market
Chapter II Interrogating Dalit Capitalism in the Neoliberal
Era: Illusion or Reality by Amiya Kumar Das
Chapter III ‘Migrant’, ‘Home’ and Politics: Bihari Labour in
the Metropolis by Tanweer Fazal
Section B. Social Hegemony and Politics
Chapter IV Illiberal State and the Myth of a Civil Society by
R. Thirunavukkarasu
Chapter V Deconstructing the Practice of Manual
Scavenging: Critical Insights by Shaileshkumar Darokar
Section C. Social Hegemony, Media and Culture
Chapter VI Understanding the Ideological Nature of Caste
Violence in Tamil Nadu: Particularism and Universalism by
Karthick Ram Manoharan
Chapter VII Deconstructing the Language of Hegemony by
Archana Singh
Chapter VIII Revitalizing Caste Hierarchies through State,
Law and Order, and Judiciary by C. Jerome Samraj
Chapter IX Identity, Representation and Reservation:
Dravidian Politics towards Muslims by P. Ramajayam
Chapter X Caste, Ideology and Hegemony in Indian
Media: A Critical Inquiry by Manoj Kumar JenaAbout the Editor and Contributors
Index