Dalit Women’s Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination

Inspired by egalitarian doctrines, the Dalit communities in India have been fighting for basic human and civic rights since the middle of the nineteenth century. In her book Dalit Women's Education in Modern India, Paik focuses   on the struggle of Dalit women in one arena - the realm of formal education – and examines significantly interconnected social, cultural and political questions. What did education mean to women? How did changes in women’s education affect their views of themselves and their domestic work, public employment, marriage, sexuality, and childbearing and rearing? To deal with these questions, Paik challenges the triumphant narrative of modern secular education and analyses the constellation of social, economic, political, and historical circumstances that precluded and at the same time provided opportunities to many Dalits. By focusing on marginalized Dalit women in modern Maharashtra, who have rarely been at the center of systematic historical enquiry, Paik breathes life into their ideas, expectations, potentials, fear, and frustrations. Working upon two major blind spots in the historiography of India and women’s movement, she centers on the experiences of Dalit women and constructs them as agents. The book combines archival research with historical fieldwork to dwell upon themes including slum life, urban middle classes, social and sexual labor, and family, marriage and children to provide a penetrating portrait of the experiences of Dalit women.