More than a reference to corporal punishment, the chhadi (stick) in this article denotes the psychologically crippling and inerasable experiences of Dalit girls in formal institutions of education. A Dalit girl's journey to the citadel of dnyan (knowledge) to gain an education is strewn with many social and cultural obstacles. I argue that power relationships in the wider society have a strong bearing on both access to education and the quality of the education that Dalit girls receive. Dalit girls are subjected to the discipline, control, regulation and surveillance of not only state services in the education system but also of their parents. Thus, they face double discrimination along lines of both caste and gender.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Apple, Michael
. 1995. Education and Power.
N ew York: Routledge
.
2.
Apple, Michael
. 2004. Ideology and Curriculum.
New York: Routledge
.
3.
Allman, Paula
. 1999. Revolutionary Social Transformation.
Westport: Bergin and Garvey
.
4.
Atkinson, Richard
. 1998. The Life Story Interview.
London: Sage Publications
.
5.
Bama
. 2000. Karukku (translated from Tamil by
Lakshmi Holmstrom
).
New Delhi: Macmillan India Limited
.
6.
Bhave, Sumitra
. 1988. Pan on Fire: Eight Dalit Women Tell Their Story (translated by
Gauri Deshpande
).
New Delhi: Indian Social Institute
.
7.
Bourdieu, P.
and
J.C. Passeron
. 1977. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture.
London: Sage Publications
.
8.
Bourdieu, Pierre
. 1999. The Weight of the World: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society.
Stanford: Stanford University Press
.
9.
Chakravarti, Uma
. 2003. Gendering Caste.
Calcutta: Stree
.
10.
Freire, Paulo
. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (translated by
Myra Bergman Ramos
).
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
.
11.
Freire, Paulo
. 1974. Education for Critical Consciousness.
London: Sheen and Ward
.
12.
Giroux, Henry
. 1997. Pedagogy and the Politics of Hope: Theory, Cultures and Schooling: A Critical Reader.
Boulder, CO: Westview Press
.
13.
Gramsci, Antonio
. 1971. Selections from the Prison Notebooks (edited and translated by
Quinten Hoare
and
G. Nowell Smith
)
London: Lawrence and Wishart
.
14.
Hardiman, David
. 1987. The Coming of the Devi: Adivasi Assertion in Western India.
Delhi and New York: Oxford University Press
.
15.
Hardiman, David
. 1995. ‘
Community, Patriarchy, Honour: Raghu Bhangare's Revolt
’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 23(1):
88–130
.
16.
Hardiman, David
. 1996. Feeding the Baniya: Peasants and Usurers in Western India.
Delhi and New York: Oxford University Press
.
17.
Ilaiah, Kancha
. 2002. Why I am Not a Hindu: A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy.
Calcutta: Samya
.
18.
Karlekar, Malavika
. 1982. Poverty and Women's Work: A Study of Sweeper Women in Delhi.
New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd
.
19.
Karlekar, Malavika
. 1983. ‘Education and Inequality’, in
A. Beteille
(ed.), Equality and Inequality: Theory and Practice, pp. 182–242.
Delhi: Oxford University Press
.
20.
Khan, S.R.1993. ‘South Asia’, in
E. King
and
A. Hill
(eds), Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies, pp. 211–28.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press
.
21.
Lalita, K.
,
Vasantha Kannabiran
,
Rama Melkote
,
M. Uma
,
Susie Tharu
and
Veena Shatrugha
. 1989. We Were Making History.
New Delhi: Kali for Women
.
22.
Massey, James
(ed.). 1994. Indigenous People, Dalits, Dalit Issues in Today's Theological Debate, pp. 4–6.
Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
.
23.
Mohanty, Chandra T.1994. On Race and Voice: Challenges for Liberal Education in the 1990s' in
Henry Giroux
and
Peter McLaren
(eds.), Beyond Borders: Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies, pp. 147–66.
New York and London: Routledge
.
24.
Muralidharan, V.1997. Education Priorities and Dalit Society.
New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers
.
25.
Nambissan, Geeta
. 2000. ‘
Dealing with Deprivation
’, Seminar, 493, http://www.india-seminar.com/semsearch.htm, accessed 14 April 2004.
26.
Omvedt, Gail
. 1980. We Will Smash this Prison: Indian Women in Struggle.
London: Zed Press
.
27.
Portelli, Alessandro
. 1990. The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History.
Albany State University of New York Press
.
28.
Portelli, Alessandro
. 1997. The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue.
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press
.
29.
Ramanamma, A.
and
Usha Bambawale
. 1978. ‘
Sociological Implications of School Drop-outs in Maharashtra
’, Social Change, 8(2), as cited in Malavika Karlekar. 1983. ‘Education and Inequality’, in A. Beteille (ed.), Equality and Inequality: Theory and Practice, pp. 182–242. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Rosenthal, R.
and
L. Jacobson
. 1993. Pygmalion in the School.
New York: Irvington Publishers Inc
.
32.
Sachidananda
. 1977. The Harijan Elite: A Study of Their Status, Networks, Mobility and Role in Social Transformation.
Haryana: Thomson Press
.
33.
Sarawade, K.V.1996. ‘I, We, and Our Social Responsibility’, in
V. Wagh
(ed.), Sugava Ank: Deepavali Special Ank, pp. 13–15, November–December (translated by
Shailaja Paik
).
Pune: Sugava
.
34.
Srinivas, M.N.2002. Collected Essays.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press
.
35.
Steedman, Carolyn
. 1986. Landscapes for a Good Woman: A Story of Two Lives.
London: Virago
.
36.
Swartz, David
. 1997. Culture and Power: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
.
37.
Talib, Mohammed
. 1998. ‘Educating the Oppressed: Observations from a School in a Working Class Settlement in Delhi’, in
S. Shukla
and
R. Kaul
(eds), Education, Development and Under-development, pp. 199–209.
New Delhi: Sage Publications
.
38.
Torrey, Jane
. 1973. ‘Illiteracy in the Ghetto’, in
Nell Keddie
(ed.), Tinker, Tailor … The Myth of Cultural Deprivation, pp. 67–74.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
.
39.
Thompson, Jane
. 2000. Women, Class and Education: Introduction, Among Many Others.
London: Routledge
.
40.
Thompson, Paul
. 1978. The Voice of the Past: Oral History.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
.
41.
Willis, Paul
. 1977. Learning to Labour: How Working-class Kids Get Working Class Jobs.
Farnborough, England: Saxon House
.
42.
Mrs Lalita Randhir, Masters in Commerce, a bank officer, interviewed on 13 January 2001.
43.
Mrs Snehlata Kasbe, B.A., a senior administrative officer, interviewed on 15 June 2001.
44.
Mrs Jyotsna Rokade, Commerce graduate, a senior officer with the Sales Tax Office, interviewed on 8 and 15 August 2004.
45.
Miss Bharati Kale, Masters in Marathi literature, a telephone operator, interviewed on 18 June 2002.
46.
Mrs Champabai Bhalerao, housewife, Class 7, interviewed on 20 May 2002.
47.
Mrs Sadhana Kharat, Diploma in Education, teacher, interviewed on 11 April 2002.
48.
Miss Monica Tapase, Student, Masters in Social work, interviewed on 13 February 2000.
49.
Mrs Meena Mahajan, housewife, Class 12, interviewed on 29 April 2002.
50.
Mrs Poonam Rokade, engineer, Bachelor in Engineering, interviewed on 15 August 2004.
51.
Mrs Sandhya Meshram, social worker, Masters in Social Work, interviewed on 11 September 2004.
52.
Malavika Pawar, researcher, Masters in Education and Manini Pawar, Bachelor of Science, interviewed from 5 to 6 September 2004.
