Paper short abstract:

The mechanisms of power and oppression still governing Indian society can be deciphered by analyzing and confronting the testimonies of both Dalits and non-Dalits. This paper endeavours to present the outcome of an oral history enquiry among both groups in rural Tamil Nadu.

Paper long abstract:

Caste needs to be considered as a relational category. Decontextualizing it or taking it as a separate entity disconnected from others, would not be representative of the way(s) caste is experienced on a day-to-day basis. The mechanisms of power and oppression governing Indian society can thus only be understood by analyzing and confronting the testimonies of both Dalits, the main victims of the system, and non-Dalits, the main perpetrators of these mechanisms.

I conducted interviews with Dalits of the Cakkiliyar caste and non-Dalits in various areas of rural Tamil Nadu over the course of several months (during my doctoral and postdoctoral research). During fieldwork, the line of enquiry centered on understanding the perceptions and memories that dalit and non-dalit witnesses had of the (ongoing) process of Dalit emancipation. Particular importance was given to the diversity of perceptions existing within each group, and to their divergence. Having them engage with their past through oral history and orality generated interesting insights regarding contemporary practices of caste and their justification (or rejection), as well as highlighting emerging challenges both for the present and the future in Dalit and non-Dalit minds.

In a sense therefore, Dalits and non-Dalits were invited to take part in an indirect face-to-face that involved confronting the memories and perceptions of each group regarding the changes taking place in the villages and dalit colonies with those of the other. If not organized artificially, such a dialogue between these two sections of the population would never occur. My role, as mediator, was to reflect each one's idea, like a mirror.