• ISBN13: 9788189013011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: English Literature
• Publisher: Zubaan
• Publisher Imprint: Zubaan
• Publication Date: October 16, 2006
• Pages: 548
• Original Price: 995.0 INR
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 438 grams

The last decade saw the emergence andassertion of separate Dalitbahajun women's organizations both at the nationaland regional levels. This assertion against their exclusion from political andcultural spheres sought to transform Dalit and feminist politics in India. Inthe same decade, anti-Madal protests saw upper caste youth mourning the 'deathof merit' and publicly endorsing endogamy. The reproduction of caste in modernspaces like universities, bureaucracies and women's movements and studies wasthus apparent. The assumptions about caste identities being private and personalwere called into question and serious challenges posed for understanding casteand gender in contemporary India. Located within this context, Women Writing Castebrings together extracts from KumudPawade's Anta Sphot (Thoughtful Outburst), Babytai Kamble's Jeene Amuche (Ourlives), Shantabai Kamble's Mazhya Jalmachi Chitarkatha, (The Picturesque Storyof My Life), Mukta Sarvagod's Mitleli Kawade (Closed Doors), Shantabai Dan'sRatraandin Amba (For Us...these Days and Nights), Vimal More's Teen DagadanchiChul (The Hearth of Three Stones) and Janabai Girhe's Marankala (Deadly Pains).

Sharmila Rege is a Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Pune. She has worked for several years with the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women s Studies Centre, University of Pune. She has written and published on sociology of gender, Dalit feminism and Dalitbahajun public culture in Maharashtra. Her present work concerns the documentation of music and print cultures of the Ambedkarite counterpublics in contemporary Maharashtra.