Abstract
Globalisation processes have led to visible changes in the Indian cities and particularly in the capital city of Delhi, with its high per capita income and its location in the politics and economics of the country. It has often been pointed out how it is flush with global brands, flooded markets, international schools, booming new residential areas, call centres and “increased opportunities for youth”. This paper, based on ethnographic field notes in a vast working class settlement, explores the matrix of education within which Dalit, secondary school educated youth, grow in the ‘globalisation’ era. The area covered in the paper includes the changes emerging in the school, the educational and occupational aspirations, the gender differential and their experience in the world of work. The paper looks at the way job markets are changing and how the character of the school transforms along with the larger socio-economic changes. Consequently, an asymmetry is created between the education attained and its validity in the job market, leaving the youth, Dalits and poor disheartened and discontented.
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