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Caste and Everyday University Life: Psycho-emotional Experiences of Dalit Students

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Caste in Everyday Life

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Abstract

This study is based on the everyday social experiences of Dalits, which is overloaded with the complex painful feelings and mental injury caused by the caste-based experiences at higher education level. It examines the psychological and emotional harm a Dalit undergoes at their educational premises of the university space. The chapter also investigated the dynamics of the social process in higher education which engaged the social perception, connotation and caste experiences into a ‘self-harm’ process in contextualising the Dalit students in India, while theoretically engaging with ‘humiliation’, ‘lived experience’ and ‘everyday social’ (Guru, Humiliation: Claims and contexts. Oxford University Press, 2009; Guru & Sarukkai, The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on Experience and Theory Oxford University Press, 2012, Experience, Caste, and the Everyday Social. Oxford, 2019). This is exploratory research, drawing on empirical evidence collected from 250 Dalit students for quantitative data. Subsequently, ten case studies and five focused group discussions were conducted for qualitative data with Dalit students in one university of India. The study arrived at the findings by analysing the data through triangulation methods. The study finds, due to the social perceptions, prejudices, stigma and connotation in everyday life, Dalit students face discrimination, untouchability and un-see-ability that create another level of experiences. Consequently, they suffer mental conflict, mental block, discouragement, loss of concentration, inferiority and frustration. At their most extreme, these experiences lead them to the feelings of suicidal tendencies or undergo ‘self-harm’ situations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The resistance fuelled by his death have led scholars such as Khora (2022) to argue that Vemula’s ‘Sacrifice was Not in Vain’. Deepa P Mohanan, a scholar from Kerala’s Mahatma Gandhi University, was one young scholar inspired by the protests. She began a hunger strike to protest the caste discrimination that kept her from accessing facilities and resources to complete her research. Mohanan alleged that Nandakumar Kalarickal, Director of the International and Inter-University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IIUCNN), blocked her efforts to secure a PhD. She finally succeeded after raising her voice against the higher education authority (see Naraharisetty, 2021).

  2. 2.

    Reservation facilities are Constitutional provisions made available to students from marginal sections (Scheduled Castes/Dalits and Other Backward Castes) including university places, financial support, hostel facilities, fee exemptions and age relaxations.

  3. 3.

    Upper-caste students, teachers and non-academic staff called the Dalit students Quota-Bala to demean them, adding the words that you are the quota-bala taking all the facilities in the education setting (interpretation by author).

  4. 4.

    The upper castes coined the word for the Dalits to identify those who received assistance from the government for old-age or any disability. Treating the Dalits as disabled and only able to live with government support (Interpretation by author).

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Acknowledgements

I am very thankful to each respondent for their active participation and narration of everyday painful-personal struggles that they underwent in the university spaces, which allowed me to draw conclusions for this study. My special thanks to my mentor, Dr Hugo Gorringe, for his valuable comments and suggestions over the drafts. His support and encouragement let me to concentrate on my research and writing that has brought me to the completion of this work. Also, my thanks to the University of Edinburgh, especially to the Centre for South Asian Studies and the School of Social and Political Science for providing me with all resources and infrastructural support to remain focused on research despite the pandemic challenges. I am also indebted to Neelima, for her constant support, academic feedback and suggestions on my drafts, and supporting me by questioning my discourses, both pro- and anti-caste inquiries. I am also immensely indebted to Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India for their immense support in my research journey. Also, my special thanks to each one of my friends and associates at the University of Edinburgh who are not named here individually due to the constraints of space but have stood by me in this journey. Thank you to each one of you, for being with me in everything.

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  1. Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Dhaneswar Bhoi

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  1. Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Dhaneswar Bhoi

  2. University of Edinburgh, Edinbrugh, UK

    Hugo Gorringe

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Bhoi, D. (2023). Caste and Everyday University Life: Psycho-emotional Experiences of Dalit Students. In: Bhoi, D., Gorringe, H. (eds) Caste in Everyday Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6_3

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