Exclusion, Discrimination and Stratification: Tribes in Contemporary India

Discourses on social exclusion, discrimination, and inequality have emerged as defining characteristics of the social sciences in the 21st century. In India, tribes are subjected to various forms of exclusion and discrimination. Tribal groups that live in the midst of the stratified social class of castes encounter even more deeply embedded exclusion and deprivation. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book contains in-depth essays that elucidate these tribal issues in terms of the collapse of livelihood opportunities, as well as the multiple practices of discrimination and denial rooted in economic, social, and ritual spheres. Various tribes are studied in numerous locations in rural India. The book explains how tribal people have steadily resisted the persistent repression and have adopted strategies to defy ill-treatment. Affirmative action programs, the strengthening of statutory councils and electoral politics, the diffusion of secular values, and the democratization process have all facilitated India’s tribes to show determination and to fight for their rights. Tribes are no longer silent spectators of coercion, and thus, the book offers an insightful understanding of tribal survival strategies, social exclusion, discrimination, and inequality.