The Anti-Feminist Brigade: Women Who Hire Domestic Workers

The Anti-Feminist Brigade: Women Who Hire Domestic Workers

by Sushila Patil and Moses Seenarine
(Published by Saxakali.com on July 1, 1996)

Historical Development of Domestic Work

The job of a domestic worker is an old one.

All “civilizations” were built on the backs of domestic laborers, who more often than not, were enslaved or indentured, for example, the female Dasi, or slave, in South Asia. Radical feminists like Gerda Lerner have argued that the capture, enslavement and domestication of women preceded the domestication of animals, and were the first commodity exchanged by men. Over time, the exploitation of domestic workers contributed to class formation and class stratification which continues into the modern era. As societies became more hierarchical, there even developed a hierarchy of domestic workers, from housewife, butler, and nanny, to maid, cook, baby-sitter, cleaning ‘lady’ and servant.

There is also a historical link between the development of patriarchy and domestic work, related to the social construction of gender roles. The sexual division of labor grew out of an essentialist view of both women and men, based on physical characteristics and reproductive roles. As domestic labor came to be solely defined as “women’s work,” the unequal division of labor led to freeing men from household production and reproduction of family labor, and by the same token, to reinforcement of male control, for example over female sexuality and mobility by confining women to the home.

The subordination of women and their labor then became institutionalized through marriage and domestic work. Ironically, women with class privileges have always used domestic workers to empower and free themselves from their social burden.

Empowerment on the Backs of Other Women

The 90s woman is celebrated by the modern feminist movement as having finally “arrived” as they go off to compete with “the boys” and support upwardly mobile lifestyles. However, beneath their success stories are multiple levels of oppression of poor women, primarily minority and women of color.

Their unbridled accumulation of wealth are concealed behind sanctified goals of having a career, family and raising children, which are all used to justify the internal colonization of poor women.

Behind these middle class women’s perpetual “problem” of finding “good help” lies their complicity in perpetuating the unequal gender division of labor, the feminization of household work, and the reproduction of unegalitarian societies based on patriarchal norms and values. These issues go for the most part unexamined, even by many so-called “feminists” who employ domestic workers themselves.

Unquestioned also are the many benefits career track women have gained which they then deny to domestic workers. Middle class women who are engaged in non-traditional forms of employment can take for granted paid vacations, holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, healthcare, and additional benefits. While these gains came as the result of important struggles, and are to be applauded, it is seldom acknowledged that they accrue only to a minority of women, mainly those with existing class privileges.

Exploiting Immigrant Workers

Many middle class women chose to bring overseas workers to countries such as the US, on tourist visas with the false promise of sponsoring them and allowing them to become legal residents. When the visa expires, the worker becomes more vulnerable to their control and exploitation and are unable to freely leave and return. Sometimes, not seeing their families ever again, only in pictures. These women in essence become indentured workers who are forced to provide free labor until the alleged cost of travel or other expenses are remunerated. Immigrant and non-immigrant women alike, often find themselves working in isolation and their safety is constantly threatened due to lack of privacy and possession of their own space. Many scarcely know what is outside the lair of the employer’s home and are controlled completely by being forbidden to make and receive phone calls or letters.

Corrupting Children

By treating poor women as expendable or becoming increasingly controlling and exploitative, employers create unhealthy conditions for the growth of their children. Girls are especially vulnerable to this form of negative socialization, learning at an early stage that being female implies being subservient. Further, as a consequence of regulating childcare to other women, employers often grow resentful over the attachment that develops between worker and child, and punish them both for their own shortcomings.

For example, one domestic worker relates that her employer actually encourage his four-year old son to beat and kick her, which the child refused to do. Often, the children are the first to protest because they are the ones who suffer the most, as their parents seldom have any time for them and they are treated with care and affection by domestic workers. Also, parents put their children at risk in order to have additional household tasks done, even when they are informed by domestic workers that it may not be in the best interests of the child to leave them unattended.

Perpetuating Sexual Abuse

Ironically, privileged women create widespread opportunities for the sexual exploitation of poor women by husbands, sons and male relatives, and then stigmatize them as being promiscuous home-breakers. In an attempt to save their marriage and relationship, these women typically demonize sexually abused workers for betraying “their trust,” thereby allowing men to escape blame despite the fact that they are the ones engaging in forms of sexual harassment, assault, abuse, or rape, with women who are forced to negotiate their own survival given the circumstances. This issue presents a major dilemma for middle class women seeking “good” female help, when instead they should be seeking “good” male help, or husbands willing to share domestic production.

To illustrate, domestic workers often say, “we’re either too young (for the female boss) or too old (for the male boss).” While a young woman or child may be more easily exploited, they are not preferred by the women who hire them as they pose a risk to their own sexuality, the security of their marriage and their husbands’ fidelity. Alternatively, a domestic worker who is older and more experienced may be preferred by female employers, but is undesirable to husbands who will constantly find fault with them as part of a strategy to force their wives to hire more sexually attractive workers.

Finding Good Solutions

The main goal of feminism ought to be the liberation of all women. As long as women’s empowerment is individualized and limited to the middle and upper classes, patriarchy will prevail and the vast majority of women will continue to remain oppressed. Women, and men, need to critically examine the social construction of gender roles in their families to ensure fairness and equality for themselves and daughters. Domestic production have to be shared by men and boys, for as long as domestic work is feminized, women will always be devalued.

There must also be a critique of the dominant feminist paradigm which revolves around individualism and self-empowerment, since these are the very foundations of patriarchal capitalism and conservatism. Rather than aiming to become “honorable men,” women need to create new models which are community-based, non-hierarchical and non-patriarchal. The care of children, the elderly and infirm, is a societal problem which demands social solutions, and as long as women are obsessed with individualized solutions by seeking out “good help,” they will continue to fuel the oppression of all women.

Conclusion

Although they may have the lowest status, female domestic workers are arguably the most powerful group of women on earth. Consider what would happen to our class-based societies if there were no domestic workers. The rich would have to wash, cook, serve, and clean themselves, and take care of their own children, leaving them less time for accumulation of wealth. The world’s economy would come to a screeching halt as the main movers and shakers scramble to take care of daily survival tasks. No doubt, upper and middle class women would once again be regulated to domestic production, however their resistance to patriarchy may then be so powerful as to dismantle it. The world as we know it would be drastically changed, becoming more egalitarian and less oppressive.

Conflict between East-Indian and Blacks in Trinidad and Guyana Socially, Economically and Politically

Conflict between East-Indian and Blacks in Trinidad and Guyana Socially, Economically and Politically by Gabrielle Hookumchand and Moses Seenarine

May 18, 2000 (Published by Saxakali.com on August 1st 2000)

Caribbean history comprises of a long and tumultuous colonial past. Guyana and Trinidad both have a rich cultural past, however, it is a history tat has been marred by it’s own people its adopted natives. Much of both countries’ history has been soiled: First by the race issues created by the Europeans ten secondly by petty jealousies each race, East Indian and African, had towards each other. But let my point about the ethnic dividebe put with more focus: the two races are the two main groups in these two countries are East Indian and Blacks. My country Guyana’s motto is "One People, One Nation, One Destiny" and likewise Trinidad’s motto is "Together we Aspire Together we Achieve" it is indeed ironic that this is far from true.

Trinidad’s makeup is 39.6% African and 40.3% East Indian vis-A-vis Guyana’s ethnic make-up 51% East Indian and 43% AfroGuyanese.’ While Guyana and Trinidad are not located in the similar geographic location sharing a similar ethnic makeup has resulted in a similar past and most likely a future where racial conflict will continue undoubtedly to affect their society. This racial divide has detrimentally affected both countries; the effects can be noticed socially, economically and politically. It will continue unless there is more regard for this fragile coexistence between East Indian and African.

One might ask how are these two countries are easily comparable since they are not located in similar geographic settings, one an island the other a mainland country, however there are many characteristics common to both countries. Guyana and Trinidad have experienced major similarities in development of their societies. Both were British colonies. Africans were enslaved in both countries and Indians brought to be indentured to replace them. Both Indian and African are the two major ethnic groups. Both are characterized by a high degree of conflict between the two major ethic groups, and the organization of their political system along virtually rigid ethnic lines.

The need for cheap labor landed both groups, Indian and African by chance in the Caribbean. Africans were brought to these two countries and were enslaved on sugar and cotton plantations from the 17th century until the early 19th century when the slave trade ended. Slavery was abolished in both colonies in 1833. (Hintzen 1989) East Indians were imported into the two colonies as indentured laborers to replace Africans on the plantations. Racial stereotypes developed early in the two colonies. British planters characterized Africans as physically strong but lazy and irresponsible. East Indians were stereotyped as industrious but clannish and greedy. Views that are still present today. To feel sleepy after eating is referred to in and around the Caribbean as having "niggeritis", a direct allusion to the lazinessof Africans. To some extent, these stereotypes were accepted by the immigrant groups themselves, each giving truths to positive stereotypes of itself and negative stereotypes of other groups. They believed what was said of the other group but none of what was said of them.

The stereotypes provided a useable explanation of behavior and justified competition among groups. Africanswere described as indolent when they refused to work for low wages or make long-term contracts with the plantations as the Indians had. East Indians were considered selfish when they minimized their expenses to acquire wealth.

In modem Guyana, the connection of behavior with ethnicity is less rigid than it was in colonial days. Where once there was a sharp and uniform distinction between behavior considered "British" and behavior considered "coolie,’ now there is a range of situations that can receive different ethnic labels in different situations. Acting "coolie" in a situation would be something as simple as wearing an uncoordinated colorful outfit. Or typifying "British" behavior would be refusing from using the local Creole and speaking the Queens English. What is considered ‘British" in a rural village might be considered "coolie" in the towns. In addition to stereotyping, the colonial value system that favored European beliefs, specifically British, ideals, has been encouraged. Euro centric beliefs were promoted by the colonial education system, which idealized British customs. The ex-slaves, who perceived their Christianity, as proof that they too were as civilized as the British 

accepted the superiority of British culture. Since the late 19th century, the emerging middle class of urban AfroGuyanese and Indo-Guyanese developed a nationalist ideology based largely on British values. They claimed a place in society because they met standards that had been set by the British.

Ethnic perception among these separate groups has emerged from the divisions of color, religion, place of residence, and occupation. Problems started with the white colonists and were further perpetuated by early leaders. In these two countries the policies of ethnic rule changed from politics based on ethnic preference to politics based on ethnic dominance. Both groups became envious of each other’s successes. In both countries there existed a high degree of racial exclusivity in residential concentration of the population in villages, communities, and in villages, communities, and in broader geographic areas. (Hintzen, 1989) [A phenomenonwhich emphasized economic separation.] Simply put, the two groups hardly mingled. Communities are either solely African or solely Indian; it is only in the more urban areas that they are more integrated communities. This is a problem that still affects these countries, the lack of intermingling.

Politics in Trinidad followed a similar pattern with Guyana where there was a period of brief cooperation followed by an increased separation along racial lines. In Trinidad before the Second World War a small white elite dominated politics, in the absence of class mobilization, political leaders used race to mobilize the support of large, voting blocs. As independence from British colonial rale seemed to becoming to an end in Trinidad, the white population was centered on a single party the Political Progress Group (PPG). After the Second War, adult voting was introduced to the colony. Blacks formed the West Indian National Party (WINP), succeeded by the Caribbean Socialist Party. An African Urial Butler formed the Butler Party, which in the first elections in 1950 carried a huge Indian vote. It was here racial issues first played a role in the political circle. Butler was unable to retain his familiarity with his East Indian supporters and they broke away and formed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Prior to this event there was no unified black political organization. The African intellectuals of Trinidad fearful of what could result from the formation of the PDP and thus reacted defensively at the impending threat of a unified Indian party. (Hintzen, 1989) In 1956, a former history professor Eric Williams formed the People’s National Movement (PNM), the AfroTrinidadian Party. By independence in 1962, Eric Williams headed the country. The Trinidadian PNM regime that came to power in 1956 lasted until 1986, continuing even after Eric William’s death in 1981.

Racial issues had destroyed any possibility of lower class solidarity, where ideological viewpoints would replace racial identification. Ideological appeals to class during the early phase of the nationalist movement served more as an adhesive holding these racially diversified groups together, rather than as a basis for thecompression of a confederated mass movement. Race became the preeminent ingredient in the organization of popular political participation. (Hintzen 1989)

The shift to racial politics first became noticeable in Trinidad upon the introduction of adult voting rights. In Trinidad, "The 1956 elections established the pattern of politics for some three decades: ethnic affiliation determined party preference, and a bifurcated Creole-Indian policy thus emerged, lacking unity and surviving on sectional legitimacy." (Hintzen, 1989) To galn support of the masses, one of the tactics used in developing racial politics was that leaders made use of patterns of social groups which was worthwhile considering the existing racial make-up.

The 1957 elections in Guyana held under a new constitution gave light to the growing ethnic division within the Guyanese electorate. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had two wings, one headed by Linden Forbes Sampson Buniham, the other by Jagan. The 1957 elections were won by Japan’s PPP faction. The party’s main supporters were increasingly identified as Indo-Guyanese: more rice land improved union representation in the sugar industry, and improved business opportunities and more government jobs for lndo-Guyanese. The PPP soon stopped being a multiracial party; it was an Indo-Guyanese party. Another important element was soon added to the developing tension.

Burnham had not forgotten the lesson he learned from the 1957 elections. He could not win if supported only by the lower class, urban Afro-Guyanese . He needed middle-class allies, especially those AfroGuyanese who backed the moderate United Democratic Party (a party sympathetic with Jagan) Burnham began to work to create a balance between maintaining the support of the more radical Afro-Guyanese lower classes and gaining the support of the more capitalist middle class. He would now need a common uniting force to keep these two groups together and himself in power. The answer was something very simple to manipulate--race.

Burnham’s appeals to race proved highly successful in bridging the rift that divided the Afro-Guyanese along class lines. This strategy convinced the powerful Afro-Guyanese middle class to accept a leader who was more of a radical than they would have preferred to support. Burnham’s and Jagan’ s conflicting economic policy views led to their split in the PPP. Burnham snatched the United Democratic Party from under Jagan’s feet and broke away from the PPP altogether and formed the People’s National Congress (PNC). Burnham was a socialist. He saw the immediate goal to be the gaining of political independence after which the country would sustain itself by producing everything it would need. Jagan on the other hand was a Marxist; he saw economic exploitation as the main problem. This made Jagan disliked by the United States and thus he lost his position as leader. British troops landed and suspended the constitution of Guyana and threw the PPP out of office. This was the obvious action; what wasn’t known was the covert operation being sponsored by the United States. The United States had supported this intervention. Most Guyanese were not aware of was taking place which was a maj or anti- communist offensive by the United States in Guyana and the Caribbean and to me, it was worse that the United States had significant local support.

After this, Jagan strengthened his hold on the Indo-Guyanese Community. Though he openly expressed his admiration for Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, and, later, Fidel Castro Ruz. Jagan felt that his Marxist ideals could be applied uniquely to Guyana. In the late 1 950s, the British Caribbean colonies had been actively negotiating establishment of a West Indies Federation. There was a growing agreement among nonIndian politicians that federation with the rest of the British West Indies offered the best post-colonial political solution for the colonies. The issue, however, inflamed the passions of the East Indian population and its political representatives who were already worried of the possibility of black political domination. The Indo-Guyanese, were apprehensive of becoming part of a federation in which they felt people of African descent would outnumber them.

Even more so than in Trinidad, the East Indian population in Guyana were strongly opposed to any such political union on the grounds that it was a plot to deprive them of their electoral majority. East Indian leaders were strong in the belief that it’s ratification would have had the effect of decreasing the East Indian population to an insignificant minority by initiating mass migration of Africans into the two colonies from other lesser developed West Indian countries. East Indians in Trinidad leaders and their supporters felt that "Indians had worked to build the country, and blacks wanted to get the better of Indians." (Hintzen, 1989) The East Indian population was led by its leaders to believe that a West Indian federation would erase any possibility Indians had of any representation in future governments. Jagan was the chief voice of East Indian opposition to Federation, in Guyana. By contrast Burnham, the Afro- Guyanese leader fully supported the federation. Jagan’s 

veto of the federation caused his party to lose all significant Afro-Guyanese support.

In the early 1900’s Garveyism and other black intellectuals began to preach "Africa for Africans" which spurred a great resurgence in Afro-centricity and black pride, which furthered the divide between Indian and black. Almost simultaneously there was resurgence in regaining ties with India. Indo Guyanese and Indo Trinidadian women began wearing Indian garb. These factors all compounded to widening the divide between these two races. In Trinidad, the black pride resurgence led to the February Revolt, which at first was a labor dispute then incorporated racial overtones. An IndoTrinidadian said this in regards to the resurgence of Black Pride and power:

The Black Power leaders underestimated the importance of these divisions, and failed to provide the necessary groundwork within the Indian community. The term "black" moreover, generally referred to persons of predominantly African descent. Most Indians did not regard themselves as being black. In a letter to the editor, for example an Indian writer responded negatively to having been categorized as such by the Black Power Movement:

"I object to being black.. Indian belong to the Caucasian or "white" race... why then call Indians black?"... You the Black Power members are asking us to join you in your march for power.. Your sudden interest in the East Indian sugar worker is viewed with suspicion... We are not prepared to support you."

A statement only proving that there ill feelings towards each other are still present. Black Power or even Indian Power has no place in Guyana and Trinidad, although it advances both peoples, it ignores the existence, of each other. A concept that will only destroy the slow integration process that already exists here: an integration, which is anxiously anticipated by both groups.

Since independence in 1963, two characteristics have dominated Guyanese society and politics; the presence of strong political personalities (Cheddi Jagan, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and Desmond Hoyte) and ethnic and racial divisions based on mutual suspicion and manipulation by these strong personalities. At the same time, the struggle for political ascendancy between Burnham, the "Man on horseback" the hero of the Afro-Guyanese, and Jagan, the hero of the Indo-Guyanese masses, left a legacy of racially polarized politics that remained in place in the 1990’s. (Merrill, 1993) The race politics practiced in Guyana, where political majoritanism aligned one group against another was extremely harmful to the country.

The result of the enactment policy in Guyana caused an almost civil war, where blacks burnt the businesses of Indo-Guyanese, and during the ensuing melee, hundreds of Africans and East Indians lost their lives. More recently in Guyana, there was an increase in racial tensions, where they were looting and ransacking of homes and businesses by both sides. Many similarities as can be found between these two countries there is one difference. Racial conflicts in Trinidad had never reached the serious levels it did in Guyana where Guyana was almost propelled into Civil War. However, ethnic conflicts have in fact been increasing in recent years, and have tended to increase as greater contact and communication is made between the two groups as it is in Guyana and Trinidad.

Socially, taboos regarding intermarrying led to the preferences for straight hair vs. what is considered "nappy" hair. The cultural development of the East Indian populations in Guyana and Trinidad took on a character that was quite distinctive. Unlike the rest of the racial groups in both colonies, East Indians have remained attached to their religion. Hinduism and Islam and to the broader cultural tapping associated with these religions.

However, some things have changed:

The traditional caste relationship among the East Indians has lost most of its religious Sanction and the Brabmin, who is not a religious leader, is not given any special deference. Money, position and education are the new cultural values which the East Indian now use or social ranking within the ethnic group. Marriage does not often take place between the East Indian and other groups, not so much on account of that group’s status but because of the persistence of a marriage patterns from India. The marriage patterns of this group are changing with acculturation, and increasing incidence of marriage results. (Horowitz, 1971)

I can recall while at school watching children both Afro- and Indo playing in the schoolyard and at the same time would say things like:

Coolie Water Rice, Pork and Spice

Wash yuh baffle with dal and rice

Or

Coolie Man Eat Rhaggi fit get scrawly

Black Man Eat Flour fit get Power

And

Black Man black man Neva Lie

Wid broad face and Chinee Eyes

Wid turn up nose and jigga toes

On his bead black pepper grows.

In Trinidad, according to a friend of mine school aged children, would say:

Coolie man come 6 roti,

Roti Dun, Mash potato, Mash potato

Half past One.

Black come fi Roti,

Roti Dun, Mash Potato, Mash potato

Half past One.

 And

When di nigga pull di trigger

Ole’ man coolie run.

Where does this all this come from, viewpoints such as this one given by an AfroTrinidadian as to why the East Indians are more socially mobile are reasons why little children think up of these cruel songs to sing to each 

other:

"Black man is falling. When the Black Man used to wear feathers in his cap, the coolie was eating water-rice. Black man used to say, "Go way, you water-rice coolie!" Today the coolie think they are big people. After one time will be a next. Today is time for coolie. I don’t mind cause the Lord say, "In the last days, race will rise against race, and nation will rise against nation, and there will be wars and rumors of wars." (Horowitz 1971)

In Guyana and Trinidad class can be divided as such:

An upper class of large businessmen and large planters. An upper middle class of professionals, owners of medium-sized businesses, college levels educators, corporate managers, and senior bureaucrats in the public sector and leaders of voluntary organizations. A lower middle class of small businessmen, primary and secondary school teachers, white collar workers (in private business, in civil administration, and in the parastatals), skilled workers, and owners of medium-sized farms. A rural lower class of small peasants, agricultural laborers, seasonal and short-term migrant laborers and the rural unemployed. An urban lower class of unskilled and semi-skilled urban laborers and the substantial number of urban unemployed. Few Whites, Mulattos and the majority, East Indians make up the more successful upper half The lower shared by blacks. (Hintzen 1989)

Guyana and Trinidad are countries small in size and population and thus their economies are mostly based on exports and producing a small amount of products. This results in a limitation on the efforts of economic control. What make them differ from the more industrialized nations? The answer to this question explains much of their current economic woes. All countries, small and big are subject to the effects of outside economic fluctuations. The difference is that the larger more industrialized countries have the ability to manage or attempt to manage any economic fluctuations.

Small countries like Guyana and Trinidad are dependent on limited exports, mostly agricultural and small products. In Guyana and Trinidad the existence race based politics and poor economic policies led to the breakdown of economic system. Guyana is just after Haiti on the list of poorest countries in the Caribbean, with high levels of unemployment, and double-digit inflation. Trinidad is by no means a wealthy country but it has faired better than Guyana due to its oil deposits, tourism appeal and it’s automobile manufacturing. In Trinidad under the PNM government the beneficiaries ofjobs, services, facilities, loans and housing were the African masses who supported the party, the same policy the PNC practiced in Guyana.

Nevertheless, the masses still suffer in both countries. This is a reason for the mass exodus of immigrants from both countries to the United States and Europe. Here one again effects the other; this has lead to the lack of manpower and brainpower to facilitate any kind of resurgence in the economies of two countries. A survey conducted by a graduate student of Black and Indian school teachers and other educational personnel in Guyana and Trinidad produced the following conclusion:

Most Indians want a state in which cultural pluralism will be an accepted norm, in which they can be both Guyanese or Triidadian and Indian. Africans tend to acknowledge only one cultural standard as congruent with Guyanese or Triidadian. Identity, and also do not accept the legitimacy of a continued uniquely Indian identity. The two groups share the same state, but have very different conceptions of the nation. (Baksh, 1999)

This can only give a poor outcast for the future of the two countries; solidarity is a far away dream. When I look in the mirror I ask myself, Guyanese, Indian what am I? I landed in Guyana by accident. Thinking of the question you posed to me in my outline, am I ethnocentric? I think my view is warped because of my life experiences in the United States, where it is no longer important what race I am, but essentially that I am not Caucasian. In comparison to others while most see themselves by race first, I see myself as simply, Guyanese. People both Indian and black in Guyana and Trinidad fail to acknowledge how similar they truly are and only focus on their differences and that is said. They share similar cultures, celebration of Carnival, foods, and customs.

In these young countries there is a great fear of cultural domination: each group wants to assert the benefits of their own culture. When public figures and public policy proceed to shape the national identity the result is who will control who and who the nation will belong to. While the historical struggle for political power is seen as the primary cause for the bad race relations, another cause should be examined, the lack of economic resources.

The eternal conflict over whom has everything and who doesn’t have anything. It would seem that if the economies of these countries could be rejuvenated and enough resources could be available so that all groups could be satisfied without favoring one group over the other, this ethnic conflict could possibly be improved. Groups should be left to intermingle and develop their own solutions to their own problems. Although the cultural structure of the Indian and African people might appear to be distinctive, there are more common values held between the two than appears at first sight. For instance, the both accept the British social system and most of its values, sadly they accept it as being superior to their own national cultural values. Race and ethnicity will infinitely continue to be central to the Caribbean definition of self. Ironically, nearly all the leaders of the new nations of the Caribbean came to power on platforms of social justice and condemnation of any 

form of racial discrimination.

Works Cited

Baksh, Ahamad. (1999). Education and Some National Goals in Guyana. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology. University of Essex.

Benn, Denis. (1987). The Growth and DeveloDment of Political Ideas in the Caribbean: 1974—1983. Institute of Social and Economic Studies University of the West Indies.

Gomes, Albert. (1974). Through a Maze of Colour. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: Key Caribbean Publications Limited.

Hintzen, Percy C. (1989). The Costs of Regime Survival. Racial Mobilization. Elite Domination andControl of the State in Guyana and Trinidad. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press.

Horowitz. Michael, M. (Ed.). (1971). Peoles and Cultures of the Caribbean. Michael, M. Horowitz.

Knight, Franklin W., and Palmer, Cohn A. (1989). The Modern Caribbean. North Carolina, USA: The University of North Carolina Press.

Maurer, Bill. (2000). Recharting the Caribbean: Land, Law and Citizenship in the British Virgin Islands. Ann Arbor, Ml: The University of Michigan Press.

Merrill, Tim. (Ed). (1993). Guyana and Belize: Country Studies. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: First Printing.

Moore, L. (1987). Race, Power and Social Segmentation in Colonial Society: Guyana After Slavery. Pennsylvania, USA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Payne, Anthony and Sutton, Paul. (1993). Modern Caribbean Politics. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

Szule, Tad. (Ed). (1971). United States and the Caribbean. New York, NY: The American Assembly, Columbia University.

The Crisis of National Unity.(1999) UMI Dissertation Service, A. Ben & Howell Company.

Dalit Women: Victims or Beneficiaries of Affirmative Action Policies in India - A Case Study

by Moses Seenarine
Paper presented at a Brown Bag Lecture held by the Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University, on April 10th, 1996.

1-1: Introduction:

This talk is based on my dissertation studies in the department of International Education Development at Teachers College, Columbia University, which I hope to conclude next year. The title of my thesis is Voices from the Subaltern: Education and Empowerment Among Rural Dalit Women and Girls.

In a way, my thesis represents a lifelong interest in learning about caste and gender issues. Growing up in the predominantly caste hindu guyanese society during the 60s and 70s, from an early age I was made to feel inferior, and lower caste, because of my family’s christian beliefs, dark skin color and lower class status. As I grew older, I was deeply influenced by the economic hardships and gender oppressions my grandmothers and mother faced in relations with their husbands and male relatives. An increasing awareness of the importance for understanding these issues led to my pursuing studies of gender and caste issues in the field of education.

In the beginning of my dissertation studies, I was interested in exploring problems related to rural dalit women’ and girls’ low educational status in India. In many rural areas, 90 to 99 percent of dalit females are functionally nonliterate. During fieldwork, I learned more about the triple oppressions rural dalit females face in class, caste and gender subordination, and I began to see how these issues interconnected at various levels to contribute to the low levels of literacy. Myself and Sushila Patil, a female colleague, lived in Bidar district, Karnataka, for five months and interacted with hundreds of dalit women and girls at the village level during this time.

Limitations:

In my dissertation fieldstudy, I did not set out to do an evaluation of affirmative action policies in India, from the critical perspective of a rural dalit woman, as such. However, the preliminary findings from collected data provides me with an understanding of the current status of rural dalit women and girls on the ground, which I will used in this talk to contextualize a discussion on the issue of affirmative action polices in India, and Karnataka state, with a focus on understanding how these policies and programs influence the lives of thirty-three (33) dalit female respondents and other females who were interviewed in dalit communities of Bidar district. This talk is based on a work in progress, and I haven’t done all the analysis of my data as yet. `I will be glad to discuss any of your questions after the talk.

There are three main points pursued in this talk:

(1) The first main point is that the experiences of poor, rural dalit females are different from those of other poor and rural groups, from other indian women, and from dalit males. Consequently, the vast majority of affirmative action policies and programs which are targeted towards the rural areas, the poor, women or dalits do not necessarily reach perhaps the most disadvantaged group - i.e., poor, rural dalit females.

(2) The second main point is that dalit females suffer from the interconnections of multiple oppressions of class, caste, gender, and cultural at all levels (household, village, district, state, national and global) by both men and women, from all castes and classes.

(3) The third point is really a consequence of the first two points, i.e., that affirmative action programs and policies should be designed specifically to improve the status of rural dalit females, and that such policies and programs need to take into account the specific nature of the interconnections of gender, caste and class oppressions at all levels, along with the need to incorporate dalit women and girls themselves into decision-making and leadership.

This talk consists of six sections. The first part (2-1) presents a brief outline of dalits’ social and economic status in india The second part (3-1, and 3-2) presents a short history and outline of affirmative action policies and programs in India, followed by (3-3) a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages that affirmative action programs may have for rural dalit females. This is then contextualized by (4-1) a short a brief discussion of my fieldwork and study design and (4-2) a discussion of the preliminary findings from my study regarding the present status of dalit women and girls in Bidar district, Karnataka, India. Finally, I will discuss my fieldwork findings on the problems rural dalit women and girls have regarding a specific aspect of affirmative action policy, i.e., access to educational facilities and programs (6-1).

1-2: Definitions:

In India, the traditional fourfold caste system, called varna, consists of brahmins (the priestly caste), kshatriyas (the warrior caste), and vaishyas (the trading caste) - all of whom are considered twice-born and are allowed to read the holy texts. The fourth group, shudras (the servile caste) are not allowed to read the holy books. Dalits were an even lower caste, the so called "outcaste" or "untouchable" groups, whose very shadow was considered polluting to caste hindus.

For example, the peshwas introduced especially limiting strictures on mahars dalits, such as carrying pots for their own spittle and brooms to erase their own footsteps from the road. Many untouchable groups could not draw water from the wells and tanks used by the caste hindus. They were denied the use of public roads and transport. Dalit women could not dress in the manner of other hindu women nor could they wear jewelry, and were also exploited sexually by upper caste men and as domestic labor by women of the upper caste.

Dalits may or may not be hindus; e.g., holiya and madiga are hindus; but so are former "untouchable" converts to buddhism, christianity, islam, sikhism and other religions. However, only "hindu" and sikh scheduled castes can claim the benefits of reservation The marathi word dalit, was chosen by the group itself and it means literally "ground," or "broken or reduced to pieces".

However, in a sense, the term dalit is an imposed category, for many "untouchable" and former "untouchable" groups do not identify themselves with the term, and furthermore, none of the women and girls in the study sample refered to here, identified themselves as such.

As an urban, american male member of the oppressor group, I do not claim to represent the experiences of "the other" as "subaltern female." Rather, in my academic work, I am simultaneously trying to do two things. One is to improve our understanding of the issues important to, and for, rural dalit women’ and girls’s improvement of status. The second is to act as an advocate in the cause of dalit women’s liberation. In both these efforts, it is my hope to create a space in which the voices of dalit women may be heard in academia and elsewhere. Some of the issues surrounding researcher bias and limitations of my fieldstudy will be discussed later.

Just as there is no single dalit female experience, dalit women are not a homogenous group. There are separated by language, customs, religion, sub-castes, etc. There are gradations and caste taboos among dalits themselves. There are also forms of class stratification among Dalits sub-groups.

2-1: A brief outline of dalits’ social and economic status in india

Dalits are commonly clustered together in segregated hamlets at the edge of a village. They are a small and vulnerable minority in any given region, making resistance to exploitation and violence very difficult. Dalits constitute over 16 percent of the total indian population. The 1991 Census estimates the total dalit population in india at 138 million, and in Karnataka state as seven and a half million (7.5), or 16% of the total state population.

Dalits are not only a socio-cultural group but often represent an economic class as well. The 1971 census figures show that over half of the dalit workforce were landless agricultural laborers, compared to 26 percent of the non-dalit workforce. A number of social studies have revealed that dalit women make up a large number of the professional sex workers. Studies reveal that 90 percent of those who die of starvation and attendant diseases are dalits. Their untouchability and poverty support each other - their untouchable status accentuates their economic exploitation and their poverty strengthen their polluting social status.

Untouchability was made a legal offence by the indian parliament in 1955. However, untouchability as a social institution was and is kept alive by the use of brutal force. The caste hindus insisted on enforcing the inferiority of the dalits in many ways, and if they tried to improve their standards of living they were cruelly persecuted. Perhaps the most effective weapon which helped in the perpetuation of the untouchability was the institutionalized bias and denial of access to educational resources.

Untouchability is related to the oppression of upper caste women as well, as it became an effective means of patriarchal/brahmanic control over high caste women’s sexuality which was essential for maintainence of caste privilege. At the same time, the potential threat to these systems of domination that the rape of upper caste females by lower caste males represented, was negated by defining offspring of such unions as untouchable. These same ideologies allowed upper caste men to violate low caste women’s sexuality with impunity and without consideration of issues around caste purity and female honor.

Even the process of sanskritization or approximation to upper castes’ code of conduct, did not help dalits to cross the barriers of untouchability. Dalits all over India have tried to change their lifestyles, marriage practices and caste names but to no effect.

Alarmingly, for the past several years, official indian figures on violent attacks against dalits have routinely exceeded 10,000 cases per year. Indian human rights workers report a far larger number go unrecorded, buried by collusion between police and local privilege. Justice is rare, even when charges are filed.

3-1: A short history of affirmative action policies in india

In justification of affirmative action programs, the following principles should be noted (1) compensatory principle - i.e., compensation for past injustices; (2) protective principle - protection of the weaker sections of the community as envisaged in Article 46 of the Constitution; (3) proportional equality; and (4) social justice, under which concepts of distributive justice and utility are included to a large measure, if not wholly. Due to limitations of time, a discussion of the salience of these issues was left out from this talk.

The vast machinery of protective discrimination for the Scheduled Caste was developed chiefly in the 1930s and ‘40s under the British. Services under the state became the focus of attention for historical and economic reasons.

The Constitution of India provides for "reservations" in favor of two disadvantaged groups - the scheduled castes (SCs) and the scheduled tribes (STs). These reservations exist: (1) in the state legislatures and the union legislature or parliament, (2) in services under the states, and (3) in educational instutions. In addition, some states have reservations in services under the state and in educational instutions in favor of other backward classes (OBCs). Reservations coupled with other welfare programs constitute the core of affirmative action for the uplift of these groups

Education. There has been a rise in educational access for dalits as a result of the post- independence educational programs. Apart from reservations in educational instutions, other major programs for their uplift include: (1) exemption from school fees, (2) provisions for stipends or scholarships, (3) provisions for facilities like book grants, and (4) maintenance of hostels, or assistance to hostels for SC students.

The central government sponsors: (1) college scholarships, (2) award of travel grants and (3) 7.5 percent reservation in favor of SCs in merit scholarships. The programs also provide for assistance by way of special coaching for SC students residing in hostels and preexamination coaching facilities for SC students appearing in competitive examinations.

Policies for dalit women focused on programs like gifts of money for marriages in which one partner is an untouchable, support for housing projects, and legal machinery for suits against discriminative practices, and so on.

3-3: Why, after 40 years of various affirmative action policies and programs, there remains very little improvement in the socio-economic status of dalit females?

(1) Corruption at all levels. Poor receive less than 10% of actual funding.

(2) There are caste, gender, class, urban and age bias in policies and programs.

(3) The fact of of dalit women’s experiences and multiple oppressions being different from other groups.

Due to caste and gender related privileges, dalit men from a few SC sub-caste groups are chief beneficiaries of affirmative action programs for SCs. Dalit women have limited access to caste benefits - as do the most disadvantaged caste groups, due to class stratification and priviledge among dalit sub-groups.

Affirmative action programs for the poor and other class-based benefits go mainly to men from a few urban, sub-class groups. Rural dalit females, as members of the most class disadvantaged group, are the one who receive the least in terms of these class-based programs.

Urban based male dalit children are the primary beneficiaries of programs for disadvantaged children. Although there are more urban dalit females working as child laborers, like rural dalit girls, they remain invisible.

Programs for the rural areas are biased towards men who own land and are from caste hindu groups. Rural dalit females seldom have access to land and other land-based schemes. This was the case of OBCs in Karnataka, where the issue of reservation as an issue and solution to persistent inequalities has been co-opted by the landed caste hindu, lingayat and vokkaliga groups, who now command half to the 50 percent reservation for OBCs in Karnataka state.

Affirmative action programs for women are dominated by upper caste hindu and biased towards their gender, religious, and cultural issues. In terms of other religious-based programs, like christian, sikh, and so on, each is bias to help dalits who may be converted to their religion. The majority of rural, hindu-dalit females are seldom benefited.

Education: Chitnis further refers to the following problems in dalits’ access to education: (1) reluctance of prestigious educational institutions to reserve admissions, (2) inability of students admitted under reservations to cope with academic requirements, (3) restrictions of admissions to the economic elite from among the scheduled castes, (4) a highly uneven representation of different SC groups in education, (5) cheating and misrepresentation in the use of the facility of reservations, and (6) a growing resentment against SCs on the part of the non-SC groups.

3-4: Victims of Affirmative Action policies:

Untouchability continues: Some aspects are discussed.

(1) past discrimination continues in more subtle ways into the present; (2) the rapid economic deterioration among the rural poor caused by the effects of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the increasingly repressive forms of caste and gender oppression on dalit females, (3) the continued economic basis of discrimination by middle class/caste control over low class Dalit women, etc., including dalit females’ economic exploitation of being paid even the starvation level minimum wage, absence of land reforms; and so on, (4) the existence of dalit partiarchy and upper and. (4) the existence of an ideological basis for discrimination as the root cause of the problem - legitimized by male brahmanical structures and so on, and finally (5) the silencing of dalit voices in cultural, political, historical, spiritual spheres. As a result of all of the above, the participation of Dalit women in organized sectors is considerably low or negligible.

Dalit women’s bodies have been the special targets of population control programs, in a bid to limit their family size and so provide them an ‘opportunity for development.’ Horror stories have been related by dalit women of how they and their sisters have been butchered in ‘family planning camps,’ often without their knowledge of what is being done to them. Injectable contraceptives and other hormone drugs are tested on these powerless, voiceless women by unscrupulous multi-national business

Zelliot (1992) argues that these measures inhibited the emergence of a new Mahatma decrying passionately against remaining injustices, or the development of a separatist dalit leader capable of building a movement outside the wall of government privilege and patronage. These privileges have also walled off the continuing problems of the dalits from the Indian consciousness

The are issues of social cleavages, both traditional ones and those stemming from protective discrimination policies, that have developed among dalit communities, and larger questions of the growing class stratification among dalits and its relation to reservations, as well as the reluctant efects on the dalit political movement. However, these issues are beyond thescope of this paper.

The caste hindu backlash against dalit women in Karnataka.

In Karnataka, of the atrocities that occur in the backlask against dalits females - rape, public humiliation and violence are used as coercive methods of control and forms of domestic terrorism. For example, on September 6th, 1988 in a village of Karnataka state, the powerful caste hindus went to a dalit household, beat-up the son, looted the house and dragged out the teenaged daughter Geeta, and raped in front of Dr. Ambedkar’s statue. The reason cited in the Indian Express newspaper was that the uppercaste hindus do not tolerate the prosperity of dalits.

4-1: Dissertation fieldstudy

Study Design:

As I said earlier, in this study, I was trying to explore the nature of dalit females’ access to education and its relation to their empowerment.To facilitate access to dalit women at the village level, I selected the Dutch funded Mahila Samakhya project which targets disadvantaged rural women in five states, and saught the premission of the national directors to interview dalit women involved with the program in Bidar district, Karnataka. I then had to obtain permission from the program’s state and district offices.

The specific research methods employed in data gathering are participant observation, interviews, and content analysis. Participant observation methods comprise of varying degrees of participation in my observation of Dalit women and girls and rural communities, stimulated by respondents and their activities. Interview methods consist of open-ended, structured interviews as well as informal discussions following a general topics guide. Content analysis encompass examination of the literature, documentation on socio-economic and cultural aspects of the district, program reports and newsletters, and so on, with an emphasis to understanding Dalit women’s condition in the district and the collective social and ideological images of Dalit women as they have been shaped by the society and with which the women being interviewed must deal..

Research Limitations

Gender issues presented major challenges to this study. The researcher lived at the field site for most part of a year with a female Indian-American middle class/caste graduate student who acted as collaborator; and worked closely with two local lower middle caste/class young women from Bidar who acted as interpreters. Working in conjunction with a female collaborator was vital in negotiating some of the limitations related to gender - for example, issues around female modesty and gaining access to translators, respondents, and so on. Care was taken to ensure that Dalit girls and women felt comfortable talking among other women and the male researcher about issues of common interests. Although I worked with three (3) females, there were class and caste differences, so every attempt was made to be respectful, empathetic, trustworthy and reciprocal in our negotiations and interactions with respondents regarding data collection.

Particular efforts were made to "de-caste" and "de-class" ourselves in dress, appearance, behavior, travel, and so on. For example, the researcher, collaborator, and interpreters wore simple clothes and jewelry in order to make respondents more comfortable in talking to us; we disregarded caste taboos against Dalits in personal contact and activities such as eating together and so on; we were modest in consumption habits, used buses and other economical forms of transportation to visit villages, and so on.

Language is an important weakness of this study. Recognizing that there are often variations in language use and meanings within districts, and across class and caste, the researcher was careful in the selection and training of local interpreters. Also multiple interpreters and transcribers, and cross-translation of taped interviews and documents, are used to make up for some of the constraints related to language.

Sample:

The study design contains two major data sources. This distinction in data sources is necessary to capture different perspectives on benefits and problems involved in Dalit women's and girls' education and empowerment. The major data sources are related to: 1) Dalit females and their families; and, 2) program staff and program documentation regarding Dalit women’s education and empowerment.

A purposeful, stratified sample of 33 Dalit women and girls was selected, out of a total of 7,000 female participants involved with the Mahila Samakhya program in the district, representative of different ages, and the communities and families from which they come. A sample of 10 program administrators and staff was also selected, representative of district, state and national levels of the program. Given the problem being investigated, field research and data collection focused on selected sub-themes and topics in two general categories related to:1) Dalit women's and girls' education and experiences; and, 2) selected socio-economic and cultural aspects of Dalit females.

4-2: Findings:

This section of the paper will try to communicate in broad strokes the emerging used in my data analysis, including information on dalit women and girls’ social status, socio-economic status of respondents’ family, gender status, caste status, education, and reasons for school dropout.

Social and Economic Status of Family:

The sample includes thirty-three (33) dalit women and girls from twenty (20) different villages. The age range of respondents vary from 10 years old to 54 years old, with average age of twenty-two (22) years.

The family size of respondents’ families range from three (3) members to eleven (11) members in a single household, with the average family size of respondents’ families being seven (7) members. There is an average of three (3) daughters and two (2) sons in respondents’ households. The implications are the use of dalit female bodies driven by dalit families’ own desire for sons and maximum number of children as economic and social resources.

In terms of economic status, data was gathered on land and livestock ownership, among respondents’ families. Nineteen (19) of the thirty-three (33) dalit females come from families who either own or sharecrop land. Sixteen (16) dalit females come from families who own land, while sixteen (16) females, or 50 percent of respondents come from families who are landless. Almost all the land holdings are marginal - the average size of land being less than four (4) acres among land owning families; with seven (7) acres being the most amount of land owned by any one dalit family.

Twenty (21) one dalit females, or 75 percent of respondents’ families own a small number of livestock (cows, buffaloes, goats and chickens), while seven (7) females, or 25 percent, are from families who do not own domestic animals.

Occupational data on respondents and their’ families reveal that most worked as coolies, or seasonal day wage laborers, although several had multiple occupations. Twenty-eight (24) dalit females, or over 90 percent of respondents worked as coolie laborers, one (1) as a farmer, and two (2) as outreach workers for the Mahila Samakhya program. In addition to coolie work, three (3) females worked, as daycare teachers and, five (5) as night school teachers for the Mahila Samakhya program in their village.

To understand historical continuties and changes among dalit females, interviews with respondents’ parents were conducted. Among respondents’ mothers, twenty (20), or over 90 percent worked as coolie laborers, two (2) as farmers and one (1) as a homemaker. Among respondents’ fathers, eleven (11), or 50 percent worked as coolie laborers, five (5) as farmers, four (4) as masons, one (1) as a cook, one (1) as a tailor, one (1) as a factory worker and union leader. Among the ten (10) married women, four (4), or 50 percent of husbands worked as coolie laborers, one (1) as a farmer, one (1) as a mason, one (1) as a driver, and one (1) as an electrician.

Interpretation:

One point that emerged in these interviews with parents is that dalit females often followed in their mother’s footsteps, in the sense that their mother’s legacy of exploitation and disadvantage remain unchainged.

Caste Status:

In terms of caste identity, Six (6) females identified themselves as dalit christians; three (3) as hindu-holiya; two (2) as hindu-madiga; and the rest as simply scheduled castes (Scs) or harijans. A few SC females come from families who are buddhists.The prevalence of residential segregation is suggested by respondents who all reside in the SC colony in the village.

Many respondents indicated that there was casteism and discrimination against dalits in the village related to environmental, economic and cultural resources. For exampe, in terms of access to environmental resources, one 14 year old girl said, "the high caste people will not allow us to go to their borewell for water."

In terms of access to economic resources, a sixteen (16) year old female indicated that female dalit agricultural laborers had to beg high caste landowners for their salary. One eighteen (18) year old young woman said, " we used to borrow money and the higher caste used to charge us more and more interest." As regards to casteism and socio-cultural segregation, an eighteen (18) year old said, "in the village, the high caste people never allow us into the Hanuman temple," while another woman indicated that dalit were not allowed into the upper caste community in the village. An older woman said that when she was a girl, "due to casteism there was no school for SCs in the village."

Several females said that, among other things, there are caste-related and other problems between dalit women themselves; between muslims, lingayats and dalits; and between dalit christians and hindu dalits. Several females said that all marriages occur within each dalit sub-caste and there are no inter-caste marriages among dalit sub-groups.

Gender Status:

Dalit women are themselves part of the process, systems, institutions and ideologies of Indian patriarchy and brahmanization which serve to keep ninety percent of dalit women nonliterate, socially oppressed and poor. However, dalit women and girls never were, and are not now, passive victims in this process of upper caste/class male hegemony, but are active resistors and victors in managing their own lives and their families’ survival.

In Bidar, I encountered dalit women and girls who are constantly resisting oppression as dalits, and as women, in a variety of individual and collective actions. Their struggle to gain access to education is, but one example, of their individual and collective agency and empowerment within the dalit family and village community. Due to limitations of time, etc., I will only focus on issues which emerged from the women and girls themselves, as regards to forms of dalit patriarchy and gender oppression.

Twenty three (23) of the thirty-three (33) females in the sample are single, and ten (10) women had child marriages ranging from seven (7) years old to sixteen (16) years old. Of the married women, two (2) women separated from their husbands and one (1) woman is widowed. Three (3) women said that they got married to a close relative, uncle or cousin; and two (2) occurances of polygamy was found, due to one wife’s inability to give birth to sons.

Growing up, almost all the women and girls spoke of having to do housework along with childcare and fieldwork in the hot sun. Many girls said that they were discriminated as a girl child in lack of free time to play and in limited access to education as compared to their brothers. Many girls and women mentioned their limited mobility and inability to travel outside the village alone and unaccompanied by husbands, and a few girls said they were not allowed outside of the house. A few girls indicated that they were discriminated as girls in terms of physical abuse, unequal nutrition and limited personal items. A few girls and women spoke of their fathers’ and husbands’ acoholism and related domestic violence.

Many of the married women indicated that early child marriage led to their husbands’ and in-laws’ control. These women spoke of the sexual division of labor in terms of women’s double burden, inside and outside of the home and unequal pay for equal work as coolie laborers and so on. Many of the unmarried girls suggested that other dalit village women were part of their gender oppression. In the words of one eighteen (18) year old young woman, "they will tease mother because of not doing marriage for us girls." Several women mentioned that having the responsibility of childcare during fieldwork prevents them from obtaining employment.

Many women and girls reported that dowry is a common practice among dalits. This leads to lower status in the family as females become an economic burden on families. A few respondents mentioned incidences of dowry related violence against dalit women and girls. Four (4) incidences of other dalit women’s "suicide" was mentioned by some respondents.

Education:

The sample of female dalit in my study is biased in the sense that all the women and girls were involved with the educational programs of the Mahila Samakhya program. Therefore, the educational data on respondents reveal that most had some access to lower primary school education. Twenty-three (23) females or 75 percent, of the respondents attended public school, with an average education level of 4th grade, while eight (8) females, or 25 percent are non-literate and never attended school.

In contrast to dalit respondents’ access to lower primary education, only three (3) of the respondents’ mothers attended school with an average education level of 5h grade education, while twenty-three (23) of the respondents’ mothers, or over 90 percent are nonliterate and never attended school. Educatonal data is incomplete regarding seven (7) respondents’ mothers.

Nine (9) respondents’ fathers attended school with an average education level of 5h grade, while eighteen (18) respondents’ fathers, or over 65 percent are nonliterate and never attended school. Educatonal data is incomplete regarding six (6) respondents’ fathers.

5-1: Dalit females suffer from the interconnections and variations of class, caste, gender, and cultural oppresion at all levels (household, village, district, state, national and global) by both men and women from all castes.

These issues will be examined in relation to Dropout:

School dropout for girls is due to a combination of inter-related factors, including those around schooling, age, class and gender. Corporal punishment by male teachers was suggested as a reason for dropout by a few girls. This school factor may be related to gender issues such as respondents’ fear of physical abuse, or violence aginst women, in school. A few girls cited personal health and illness as reasons for dropout. Due to these as well as other factors, a few girls said that they lost interest in schooling.

Two inter-related schooling factors referred to by many respondents as reasons for their dropout include the distance to school coupled with a lack of transportation to school. The distance to school for girls is a complicated issue related to several other factors besides the actual space and transportation - such as gender, age and caste. Several respondents noted dalit women’s and girls’ lack of mobility in terms of not being able to travel outside of the village alone after a certain age due to threat of violence or notions of purity and honor, etc. Problems with transportation to school include unpredictable bus schedule cited by some, and lack of fare and other class issues mentioned by a few others. One teacher noted that girls who lived even a short distance away in the same village were not allowed to walk home alone at night and so were unable to attend night school in the village.

The age related factors were important for all respondents in terms of girls not being allowed by parents, relatives and villagers to attend school after a certain age, usually after their first menstruation. This may be due to insecurity regarding pregnancy and the social stigma of sexual assult, and so on. A few girls who dropped out early but then wanted to continue afterwards revealed that were told that they were too old to sit with younger children.

Economic related factors were mentioned by a majority of respondents. Many girls said they had to go for wage work to their support family. Others said they had the responsibility of child care in the fields and at home to free their mother for wage work. A few women said that, as poor families, they lacked the money for school supplies like slates, pencils, writing books, clothing, and so on. Almost all respondents mentioned gender related factors such as domestic responsibilities of housework, childcare, etc. Their families’ lack of water, food, wood for fuel and other basic resources also prevent dalit girls from attending school.

The most common reasons for dropout given are gender related. Gender oppression such as child marriage interupted schooling for many dalit girls. All the females in the sample related in the words on one, "girls were not allowed to be educated." Literacy teachers in the sample all indicated that husbands scolded their wives and themselves for "trying to learn their wives something." Fathers, mothers, uncles and grandparents were against dalit girls education. Other village people were also against Dalit girls becoming educated.

Patriarchy in the dalit household. Girls education viewed as threat to patriarchy. Education for female considered a waste since it is customary form them to leave her family’s home and the family have to pay for her dowry, while benefits of daughter’s education go towards in-laws- household. Ont the other hand, sons supposedly remain and are viewed as investments.

Schooling issues.

In village public schools, dominated by caste hindu ideology, dalit girls are denied knowledge of their history, culture, arts, and so on.

Victims of affirmative action.

For example, the main beneficiaries of affirmative action in education for the scheduled castes in post-secondary education were dalit men- who may be adopting upper caste norms in demanding higher dowry from the girls’ family. However, the rise in education among dalit males at all levels, (primary, secondary, vocational and college) could be related to the rise in dowry deaths among dalit women. Also, educated dalit women find it hard to find a marriage partner as educated females are considered a threat by the in-law family.

Literacy as anti-women.

The purpose being family planning. Ignoring and suppressing women’s traditional modes of communication.

7-1: Conclusion:

The general trend to look to reservations in educational institutions and in jobs as the main plank of affirmative action has led to a tendency toward the neglect or lack of emphasis on the problems that affect the poorest of poor in these groups. Two problems come to mind in this context: first is the problem of women’s labor and status, and the second is the enforcement of the minimum wages in agriculture. The mention of these does not imply the underestimation of other problems, like making provision for drinking-water facilities in villages.

There are three main points pursued in this talk.

(1) The first main argument is that the experiences of poor, rural dalit females are different from those of other poor and rural groups, from other Indian women, and from dalit males.

(2) The second main argument is that dalit females suffer from the interconnections and variations of class, caste, gender, and cultural oppression at all levels (household, village, district, state, national and global).

(3) The third point is really a consequence of the first two arguments, i.e., that affirmative action programs and policies should be designed specifically to improve the status of rural dalit females, and that such policies and programs need to take into account the specific nature of the interconnections and variations of gender, caste and class oppressions at all levels.

By recognising the seriousness of women’s participation in politics, in the year 1987 the Janata Government in Karnataka announced 25 percent reservation for women in Zilla Parishad and Mandal Panchayat, as per Zilla Parishad Act 1932, with a special provision of 5:1 ratio reservation to dalit women in 25 percent women reservation, which is a very important and significant aspect. Due to this reservation a number of dalit women had an opportunity to take part in active politics. 19 dalit women against 211 upper caste women in Zilla Parishad and 2469 dalit women against 14025 upper caste women in Mandal Panchayats were elected. The participation of these representatives in active politics varies. A few women have really showed good performance in the participation. But with their social and economic background, low level of education and lack of political consciousness becomes self-defeating as the male dalit political representatives who are victimized and used as tokens.

Works cited

Moses Seenarine - Works & Works Cited

Books:

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- [MCC]2016. Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming. Xpyr Press.  http://amzn.to/2yn7XrC

- [VFS] 2004. Voices from the Subaltern: Education and Empowerment Among Dalit Untouchable Women in India. Mellen Press. http://tinyurl.com/z6r8yzy 

Articles:

- [RIW] 1996. recasting indian women in colonial guyana: gender, labor and caste in the lives of indentured and free laborers. Saxakali.com, Nov 1 http://tinyurl.com/gmce6ds

- [DWV] 1996. Dalit Women: Victims or Beneficiaries of Affirmative Action Policies in India - A Case Study. Paper presented at a Brown Bag Lecture held by the Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University, on April 10th. http://tinyurl.com/zueuntv

- [DFF] 1997. "Dalit Female Education and Empowerment." Published in Dalit International Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1, Feb. 

- [AFB] 1998. The anti-feminist brigade: women who hire domestic workers. Saxakali  http://tinyurl.com/gp75hnz

- [POC] 1999. The Persistence of Caste in India and the Diaspora. Saxakali.com, Sept 1  http://tinyurl.com/hsxn7s8

- [BAC] 2000. “Boundaries and Community: Indo-Caribbean Identities in the US.” Saxakali

Video:
[CI] 2009. Cultural Intifada in the USA: Palestinian and Jewish American Artists Defending the Homeland. Documentary. 67 mins. Distributed by National Film Network. http://tinyurl.com/jkeact7

(1) wiki entry on Demographics of Guyana http://tinyurl.com/q3pnzhm

(2) wiki entry on Pare women in Tanzania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pare_people

(3) POC reference in n.d. Metapedia on Caste System in India (Spanish)  http://tinyurl.com/ngq694z

(4) reference in Guida Jackson-Laufer. 1999. Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide. ABC-CLIO.  http://tinyurl.com/ospfc4q

(5) DWV reference in Uthaya Naidu. 1999. Aryan Invasions & Genocide of Negroes, Semites & Mongols. The Bible of Aryan Invasions, Vol. IV. Jabalpur, Sudrastan Books. http://tinyurl.com/hs46ohf

(6) POC reference in Staff. 2001. Caste Discrimination: A Global Concern. A Report by Human Rights Watch for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Rekated Intolerance. Durban, South Africa. Sept. http://tinyurl.com/lp9jatl and http://tinyurl.com/oae3bhn

(7) RIW reference in Piya Chatterjee. 2001. A Time for Tea: Women, Labor, and Post/Colonial Politics on an Indian Plantation. Duke University Press, Nov 29. http://tinyurl.com/mfzc39n

(8) RIW reference in Verene Shepherd. 2002. Maharani's Misery: Narratives of a Passage from India to the Caribbean. University of the West Indies Press. http://tinyurl.com/zmmj9nu

(9) BAC reference in Staff. 2002. Finding a Path to South Asian American Community Development, A repor to the Housing and Community Development Needs Assessment of South Asian Americans in New York City. Chhaya CDC http://tinyurl.com/mjlszqx

(10)DFF & DWV reference in Vinayak N Srivastava. 2002. India's Caste System under Attack: The Dalit Movement. In S. G. Benson, N. Matuszak, & M. A. O'Meara (Eds.) History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide (Vol. 4). Detroit: Gale. http://tinyurl.com/jkq5ltn

(11) DFF reference in Marika Vicziany. 2002. The Breakthrough Generation: Dalit Youth in Contemporary India. Harvard Asia Quarterly. Vol VI, no. 2 Spring. http://tinyurl.com/joabf4s

(12) RIW reference in O Heraldo. 2002. The Great Goan "Siddhi Controversy". Colaco, April 19.  http://tinyurl.com/m6379my

(13) BAC ending quote in Ashley W. Doane & Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Eds. 2003. White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism. Psychology Press  http://tinyurl.com/pvs72fq 

(14) reference in Mariam Pirbhai. 2003. A Question of Cultural Conviction...  in Sarah Lawson Welsh, Editor of Special Caribbean Issue of World Literature Written in English (now Journal of Postcolonial Writing) 39.1 http://tinyurl.com/o2wznbo

(15) AFB quote in Lin Chew. 2003. Programme Consultation Meeting on the Protection of Domestic Workers Against the Threat of Forced Labour and Trafficking. Anti-Slavery Int'l and ILO  http://tinyurl.com/k77ooqq

(16) quote on Rodney in Dave Renton. 2004. Dissident Marxism: Past Voices for Present Times. Zed Books.  http://tinyurl.com/qet432o

(17) DWV quote in Staff. 2004. UNESCO report Struggle Against Discrimination. Studies in Human Rights  http://tinyurl.com/kr2rpv2

(18) POC reference in Sadananda Sahoo, et al. 2004. Indian diaspora, 1974-2004: A select bibliography. Sage, Social Change, vol 34, issue 4  http://tinyurl.com/q63y5o5

(19) POC reference in Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, Ian Skoggard. 2004. Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer Science & Business Media. http://tinyurl.com/ken6s65 Hindu Diaspora in The United States http://tinyurl.com/ntkvraq

(20) paper reprinted in Kumar Mahabir. 2004. Trinidad & Tobago: Indian Arrival,vol 5, no. 1. May-Jun  http://tinyurl.com/myq84pg

(21) RIW quote: Shama Deonarine. 2005. Women Wise. Trinidadian Guardian, Jun 5  http://tinyurl.com/onqzcgf

(22) DWV & VFS quoted extensively in Yamicia Connor. 2005. Preferential Treatment Policies: A Perspective into Affirmative Action in India and the United States. MIT, SP.660: Gender and Race, Work, & Public Policy. Spring. http://tinyurl.com/z3z2zkw

(23) reference in Editorial. 2005. Quest for Justice and Equality: Dalits and Reservation. Fact Sheet, Quarterly Journal of Dalit Resource Center, VAK, Mumbai. http://vakindia.org/pdf/fs-jan2005.pdf

(24) reference in SISÄLTÖ. 2005. Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti AVAIN 2. (Finnish) http://tinyurl.com/pyskf58

(25) quote in Crespo Sebunya. 2006. Shaking Up the Diaspora, Boloji, Apr 2.  http://tinyurl.com/nels3cy

(26) quote: Africanus. 2006. Walter Rodney, African Socialist. Nigeria Village Square. Jun 25. http://tinyurl.com/jghetmq

(27) references in Preethy Sarah Samuel. 2006. Cultural Continuity Or Assimilation in the Familial Domain of the Indo-Guyanese. ProQuest. http://tinyurl.com/qbvfqpx

(28) quote in Rajan. 2006. Sikhs in Caribbean, Stabroek News, May 22.  http://tinyurl.com/ma9ejvt

(29) reference in Desmond George-Williams. 2006. 'Bite Not One Another' Selected Accounts of Nonviolent Struggle in Africa. UN University for Peace, Africa Programme. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia http://tinyurl.com/qg9w7cx

(30) reference in Mily Roy Anand and Mona Yadav. 2006. The inclusion of SC girls in education: A long path ahead. Sage Social Change, Dec 1 http://tinyurl.com/zfq9mf6

(31) reference in M A Schmid et al. 2006. Traditional food consumption and nutritional status of Dalit mothers in rural Andhra Pradesh, South India. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 60, 1277–1283. http://tinyurl.com/oopyncp

(32) quoted extensively in Preglathan G Padayachee. 2006. A study of affirmative action and employment equity in higher education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal. PhD thesis, Univ of South Africa. http://tinyurl.com/h86froe

(33) reference in Chulguen Yang, et al. 2006. A Cross-National Analysis of Affirmative Action: An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective. Managerial and Decision Economics, 27: 203-216. http://tinyurl.com/ljo67dc

(34) reference in Budd Hall, et. al. 2006. A Review of the State of the Field of Adult Learning: Social Movement Learning. Canadian Council on Learning, May.  http://tinyurl.com/m89qufo

(35) quote in Shivani Sivagurunathan. 2007. Coolie Cartography: Crossing Frontiers Through Coolitude. PhD thesis. University of Warwick, Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies. September http://tinyurl.com/pamxh8k

(36) quote in Gijsbert Oonk. 2007. Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Pres.s http://tinyurl.com/ly9fbwd

(37) reference in Janet Naidu. 2007. Retention and Transculturation of Hinduism in the Caribbean. Guyana Journal, March. http://tinyurl.com/kkg5xva

(38) references in Sarmistha Pal and Sugata Ghosh. 2007. Elite Dominance and Under-Investment in Mass Education: Disparity in the Social Development of the Indian States, 1960-92. The Institute for the Study of Labor. June  http://tinyurl.com/n4akbzg

(39) footnote in Sharon Harley. 2007. Women's Labor in the Global Economy: Speaking in Multiple Voices. Rutgers University Press, Jun 5 http://tinyurl.com/mfk8umh

(40) reference in Martina Schmid, et al. 2007. Intervention with traditional food as a major source of energy, protein, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A for rural Dalit mothers and young children in Andhra Pradesh, South India. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr; 16 (1) : 84-93 http://tinyurl.com/jynqqc4

(41) reference in Bournad Fatima. 2007. Dalit female fighting and challenging despair.  Imadr.net Dec .http://tinyurl.com/he5spf7 and (Japanese)  http://tinyurl.com/q6vfno9

(42) references in Palash Biswas. 2007. Re-allaince of Our Forces is a Must, Dalit Panchayat is the Base. Yahoo discussion group. http://tinyurl.com/k4687yo

(43) reference in Yakin Erturk. 2007. Political Economy of Violence Against Women in Asia Pacific, Summary Report of the ASIA Pacific NGO Consultation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences. Manila, Philippines, Sept 12-13. http://tinyurl.com/l7enorz

(44) reference in Ann Marie Bissessar. 2008. Female Participation in the Political Process in Trinidad and Tobago. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Governance and Institutional Re-engineering, pp. 184-202(19). http://tinyurl.com/nyr4hyt

(45) reference in Véronique Bragard. 2008. Transoceanic Dialogues: Coolitude in Caribbean and Indian Ocean Literatures, Peter Lang. http://tinyurl.com/klz3sxc

(46) footnote in Eleanor Ty & Christl Verduyn, Eds. 2008. Asian Canadian Writing Beyond Autoethnography. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. Aug 14 http://tinyurl.com/o4bxyp5

(47) source in Parbattie Ramsarran. 2008. The Indentured contract and its Impact on Labor Relationship and Community Reconstruction in British Guiana. International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, Vol. 1, No. 2, Dec 177-188. http://tinyurl.com/o2awnpz

(48) reference in Farah Persaud. 2008. Immigration and Women's Empowerment: IndoCaribbeans in New York City. Pace University, Pforzheimer Honors College, Honors College Theses. Paper 77. http://tinyurl.com/qau33l9

(49) reference in Larry Fiebert. 2008. Koreans and Asian Indians in the North Penn Area. Family Services, Needs Assessment Report. http://tinyurl.com/lent9y5

(50) reference in Preethy S. Samuel and Leon C. Wilson. 2008. Values and beliefs of Indo-Guyanese: An assessment of the assimilation hypothesis. Wayne State University.  http://tinyurl.com/kecar8b

(51) reference in Shanthini Rebecca Cowley-Sathiakumar. 2008. The Sri Lankan Tamils: A Comparative Analysis of the Experiences of the Second Generation in the UK and Sri Lanka. PhD Thesis, Univ of Leeds, School of Sociology and Social Policy.

August. http://tinyurl.com/lrbccsn

(52) quote in Oshun Auset. 2008. The effect of colonlialism on African women. African American, Feb 25 http://tinyurl.com/ko8vgs7

(53) reference in Smita Narula. 2008. Equal by Law, Unequal by Caste: The "Untouchable" Condition in Critical Race Perspective. Wisconsin Intl Law J, vol 26, no 2. http://tinyurl.com/hjmq8pq

(54) quotes in Theresa Ferry. 2008. Dalit Girls' Education in India. ProQuest.  http://tinyurl.com/kafscnq

(55) reference in FAO. 2009. Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems: the many dimensions of culture, diversity and environment for nutrition and health. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment  http://tinyurl.com/m4w8vra and http://tinyurl.com/kxnuq7s

(56) references in Mariam Pirbhai. 2009. Mythologies of Migration, Vocabularies of Indenture: Novels of the South Asian Diaspora in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. University of Toronto Press http://tinyurl.com/k89ohrt

(57) quotes in Ghan Shyam. 2009. Identity, Social Roots and Empowerment: A Study of the Low Castes Diaspora in the West Indies, in Diasporas: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press. http://tinyurl.com/k3g9der

(58) quote in Seodial Frank Hubert Deena. 2009. Situating Caribbean Literature and Criticism in Multicultural and Postcolonial Studies. Peter Lang. http://tinyurl.com/mrfh8ve

(59) quote in Janet A. Naidu. 2009. Indian Women of Guyana: reflections of their existence, survival and representation. Guyana Journal, Vol. 14 No. 6, June http://tinyurl.com/opsuxz9

(60) reference in Joel Kuortti. 2009. Writing Imagined Diasporas: South Asian Women Reshaping North American Identity. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, May 5. 

(61) article listed as suggested reading in Guida M Jackson. 2009. Women Leaders of Europe and the Western Hemisphere:  A Biographical Reference. Xlibris Corporation, Aug 11 http://tinyurl.com/nlsu28m

(62) reference in Bibi H Khanam & Raymond S Chickrie. 2009. 170th Anniversary of the Arrival of the First Hindustani Muslims from India to British Guiana. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol 29, no. 2, June.  http://tinyurl.com/m7znhjs

(63) book included as part of exhibition. 2009. Caste, Ambedkar, and Contemporary India. Columbia University. Oct 16th and 17th http://tinyurl.com/pg6lgd5

(64) reference in Klára Suchá. 2009. Woman Status after Marriage in Banda Area, India . Thesis, Univerzita Pardubice. http://tinyurl.com/m6h6m6n
 http://tinyurl.com/jjjsx4m

(65) reference in Malin Søderberg-Nanda. 2009. "I'm A Dalit, But I Would Like to Be a Human Being First and Foremost": Reservation, Politics and Scheduled Caste Identity in Higher Education. MA thesis in South Asia Studies, University of Oslo, Asian and African Studies Program, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages.  http://tinyurl.com/kwd8x6n

(66) book recommended: Project SHAKTI. 2009. Project SHAKTI was one of 100 Projects for Peace. http://tinyurl.com/mwxhcqp

(67) reference in T Deane. 2009. A Commentary on the Positive Discrimination Policy of India. NZ: PER/PELJ, Vol 12, No 1. http://tinyurl.com/pqln96o

(68) reference in Steven B. Mertens, Vincent A. Anfara, Kathleen Roney. 2009. An International Look at Educating Young Adolescents. IAP.  http://tinyurl.com/l67xxjh

(69) part of a reading list: CJ Jackson. 2010. Intro to Caribbean Studies. Portland State Univ., Black Studies Dept. http://tinyurl.com/n4cknz2

(70) part of 2010. The Book List of Empire and Overseas Literature Project. Taiwan: National Tsing Hua University. http://tinyurl.com/ldxjtnt

(71) reference in Hong Yun Park. 2010. Indian Representative Bureaucracy and Affirmative Action. Administration Journal (Article 48 No. 3 (Korean).  http://tinyurl.com/pr5rltx and http://tinyurl.com/k7unvj4

(72) reference in Nandini Gunewardena. 2010. "Bitter Cane: Gendered Fields of Power in Sri Lanka’s Sugar Economy." Signs. Vol. 35, No. 2 (Winter), pp. 371-396 http://tinyurl.com/pdvh4rh

(73) reference in Clarinda Still. 2011. Spoiled Brides and the Fear of Education: Honour and Social Mobility among Dalits in South India. Modern Asian Studies, Volume 45, Issue 5 September 2011, pp. 1119-1146. http://tinyurl.com/jo89fzz

(74) reference in Sabrina Baksh-Riches. 2011. A History of Indo Guyanese Identity from India To Guyana to Richmond Hill, New York. Masters Thesis, University of Utah (UT). May. http://tinyurl.com/ztkdwvw

(75) reference in Nandini Gunewardena. 2011. “Sugar coating”: the gender of structural violence in Sri Lanka’s sugarcane industry. In Du grain à moudre. Genre, développement rural et alimentation. (Dir.) C. Verschuur. 315-329. Actes des colloques genre et développement. Berne: DDC-Commission nationale suisse pour l’UNESCO;Genève: IHEID. http://tinyurl.com/n6e23uo

(76) reference in Cyra Akila Choudhury. 2011. Exporting Subjects: Globalizing Family Law Progress through International Human Rights. Michigan Journal of International Law, Volume 32, Issue 2. http://tinyurl.com/krzsl4g

(77) reference in 2011. Challenges In The Caribbean. Jan 4. http://tinyurl.com/kedst9l

(78) reference in A Irudayam, et al. 2011. Dalit Women Speak Out: Caste, Class and Gender Violence in India. Zubaan Books http://tinyurl.com/okmsmsm

(79) reference in S Shantilin. 2011. Empowerment of Women Through Education: A Case Study of Puducherry Union Territory. PhD Thesis, Dept. of Ed, Manonmaniam Sundaranar Univ, Tamil Nadu. June. http://tinyurl.com/nf8oskg

(80) Cultural Intifada documentary reviewed and listed in Marvin Wingfield. 2011. Palestine in Film. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). http://tinyurl.com/hvsfe6w

(81) reference in Vijayalakshmi Teelock, et al. 2012. "Archaeological Insights of the ‘Indenture Experience’: The Case of Trianon Barracks," in Angajē The Impact of Indenture Explorations into the history, society and culture of indentured immigrants and their descendants in Mauritius, Vol. 2. Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund, Mauritius, pp.121-138 http://tinyurl.com/olqdzt3

(82) reference in Nasima Carrim. 2012. “Who am I?” - South African Indian women managers’ struggle for identity : escaping the ubiquitous cage. Thesis (PhD), University of Pretoria. http://tinyurl.com/qf92jjc and http://tinyurl.com/ne99lh9

(83) reference in Ezra Chitando and Sophie Chirongoma, eds. 2012. REDEMPTIVE MASCULINITIES: Men, HIV and Religion. World Council of Churches. EHAIA series http://tinyurl.com/n6vwzwo

(84) Cultural Intifada screening: 2012. Oklahoma City University Film Institute’s 14th Annual Documentary SeriesAftermath. Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature, Oklahoma City U. Aug 27. http://tinyurl.com/gop5lc8

(85) Cultural Intifada screening: 2012. Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Nov 29. http://tinyurl.com/q6co3zd 

(86) article listed in Monika Bisht, Rakesh Ranjan & Sadananda Sahoo. 2013. Bibliography: A Hand-book on Diaspora and Transnationalism. Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism http://tinyurl.com/q4t6rtd

(87) footnote in Gaiutra Bahadur. 2013. Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture. University of Chicago Press, Nov 1 http://tinyurl.com/n4qe98z

(88) reference in WHN Reporter. 2013. Retention and Transculturation of Hinduism in the Caribbean. WHN, Nov 2. http://tinyurl.com/q5mtrfa

(89) reference in Suman K Kasturi. 2013. Adapting Communication to Empower Dalit Women: A Case Study of Dalit Sthree Sakthi. Intl J of Soc Sci & Interdisciplinary Research, USSIR Vol 2(10) http://tinyurl.com/krhynlp

(90) Review: Staff. 2013. Cultural Intifada? Hip-Hop, Poetry Slam and activism for Palestine (Hungarian) 

(91) list: Staff. 2013. Artist Roster. Artists Against Apartheid. March.  http://tinyurl.com/grhwkdz

(92) reference in Shireen Keyl. 2014.Subaltern Pedagogy: Education, Empowerment and Activism among African Domestic Workers in Beirut, Lebanon. PhD Thesis, University of Arizona. http://tinyurl.com/hkay45m

(93) reference in Margaret Fitzpatrick. 2014. Globalizing Teacher Labor for the Knowledge Economy: The Case of New York City's Caribbean Teachers. PhD Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://tinyurl.com/orvkut5

(94) reference in Samson Ovichegan. 2014. ‘Being a Dalit Female' : Exploring the experiences of students at one elite Indian university. Univ of London, King's College, Centre for Public Policy Research Working Papers Series, Paper No: 7 http://tinyurl.com/hsrbctj

(95) footnote in Papiya Ghosh. 2014. Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinent. Routledge, Mar 21 http://tinyurl.com/lwcevj5

(96) reference in Clarinda Still. 2015. Dalits in Neoliberal India: Mobility or Marginalisation? Routledge, Jul 17 http://tinyurl.com/h77ngbu

(97) Exhibition: 12 posters. 2015. Art Makes Change – VisionLA ’15 Fine Art Exhibit, Los Angeles, Dec 1st - 10th, Bergamot Station. http://tinyurl.com/obblwpt

(98) reference in Maurits Hassankhan, Goolam Vahed, Lomarsh Roopnarine. 2016. Indentured Muslims in the Diaspora: Identity and Belonging of Minority Groups in Plural Societies. Routledge, Nov 10 http://tinyurl.com/jgfo39p

(99) reference in Estherine Adams and Shammane J Jackson. 2016. Partition or Perish: Eusi Kwayana's Peculiar Solution to Guyana's Race Problem - 50 Years Later. Golden Jubilee Symposium Series, University of Guyana. http://tinyurl.com/jfqpqgg 

(100) references/quotes in Mary Grey. 2016. A Cry for Dignity: Religion, Violence and the Struggle of Dalit Women in India. Routledge, Jun 16. http://tinyurl.com/jmfmuq9

(101) reference in S. Kavita. 2016 "Land Distribution and Status of Dalits," IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), Volume 21, Issue 2, Ver. VII (Feb) PP 16-20 http://tinyurl.com/zdu46og

(102) Kirkus Reviews. 2016. Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming by Moses Seenarine. Jun 2 http://tinyurl.com/hy9ah7z

(103) MCC reference in Paul G Harris. 2016. Global Ethics and Climate Change: Learning Guide. A Companion to Global Ethics and Climate Change, 2nd Ed. Edingburg Studies in Global Ethics. http://tinyurl.com/j33xfbs

(104) MCC book review: Marc Bekoff. 2016. "Psychological and Environmental Aspects of Who We Eat: A new book explores how our meal plans are ruining earth and remedies for change." Psychology Today, Aug 26 http://tinyurl.com/gt427wl

(105) Transcript: 2016 "Meat Climate Change" interview with Caryn Hartglass on Responsible Eating. PRN.FM, Oct 20 https://tinyurl.com/z2afpoh

(106) Video: 2016. "Intersection of Climate and Food" Talk via Skype, VegfestUK London Pro-Intersectional Vegan Conference, Oct 23 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtLxVyVUfpg

(107) MCC review: Robert McLean. 2016. "Vegan choice is brave and bold," Press Reader, Jul 26

(108) CVEG/author listed as one of only 14 current and past scholars on Modern Matriarchal Studies http://mmstudies.com/scholars/moses/

UnDated:

(1) reference in João Feres Júnior. n.d. Comparing Justifications for Policies of Affirmative Action: USA and Brazil. (Portuguese) http://tinyurl.com/pfzt9nf

(2) reference in C. Umamaheswara Rao. n.d. Land Revenue Administration: A Historical Look. http://tinyurl.com/zg578wp

(3) references in Meleisa Ono-George. n.d. '“Coolies”, Containment, and Resistance: The Indentured System in British Guiana.' CA: UVIC http://tinyurl.com/z8v6cr9

(4) reference in MM Ninan. n.d. Aryan Invasion & Expansion in India. Talent Share. http://tinyurl.com/pmzschc

(5) quote in Course Materials. n.d. Diaspora and Transnational Communities. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), School of Social Sciences, Intl Relations. http://tinyurl.com/kyjrptd

(6) reference in n.d. Magic in the Real: Caribbean Magical Realism and the Acquisition of Female Sexual Agency in Buxton Spice and Cereus Blooms at Night . Thesis, UMass Amherst, College of Humanities and Fine Arts http://tinyurl.com/oatafnn

(7) article: n.d. Latin American Network Information Center, Women and Gender Studies List of Regional Resources http://tinyurl.com/lu3h4fc

(8) reference n.d. Indian thesis on migration from Punjab. http://tinyurl.com/puan653

(9) source: n.d. Certificate Course in Women Empowerment Through SHGs, Paper II: Strategic Approach for Women Empowerment, Periyar University. http://tinyurl.com/hlnegxk

(10) references in n.d. Dalit Women article http://tinyurl.com/m73gqj9

(11) Video:  mentioned in The Caribbean East Indians @ 10:25 mins