Mahar-dalit-buddhist: The history and politics of naming in maharashtra

Abstract

By examining practices of naming, especially the recent adoption of a 'Buddhist' identity by middle-class Dalits in contemporary Maharashtra, this article analyses the multiple, shifting, and contested meanings of being Dalit. Examining the politics of this plurality shows the varied concerns at work in applying and contesting different names, especially the social and psychological challenges inherent in such acts of self-identification. By in-vestigating the ambiguities and ambivalences of being Dalit and Buddhist, the article demonstrates that the strategies of naming struggle against the burdens of a stigmatised past as well as the challenge of exclusion and inclusion vis-à-vis different Dalit castes.