Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that political subjectivities are fostered by institutional as well as extra-institutional forces. In turn, these subjectivies shape how institutions are imagined and constructed.

Paper long abstract:

If politics represents the struggle over the construction of the subject, the attempts by India's dalits to contest existing identities and foster new ones represent a highly political project. In my paper, I explore the multiple ways through which these identities are sought to be fostered, and claims and counter-claims around these processes are asserted. In particular, I draw attention to how the 'dissenting subject' is forged through 'middle-ground activism' of poor households of the Musahar castes, making claims on organizations in civil society as well as the state. The focus of the paper is on the processes through which such subjectivities are forged outside of, and sometimes autonomous of, formal organizations. The gamut of such subjectivizations is made up by the experience of solidarity forged through struggle, of changing social norms and economic dynamics, and of differential experiences with institutional mechanisms of governance.

In addition, I also examine institutional aspects of the subjectivization process. I do examine the role of the state (which has recently, in the State of Bihar, where this study is based, categorized the Musahar caste as 'mahadalit- the dalits among the dalits), of political parties such as the CPI(ML) (which counts several Musahar villagers in its ranks) and of so-called cultural organizations such as the Musahar Sevak Sangh (which seeks to provide an organizational basis for Musahar collective action as well as provide leadership to other 'mahadalit' castes).

The paper is based on the qualitative analysis of ethnographic data from villages in north-eastern Bihar, India.