Abstract
The study examined how Christians of Dalit origin describe the experience of social dominance while engaging with socio-religious and school milieus, using a qualitative phenomenological enquiry. I purposively selected 30 Dalit Christians for in-depth interviews, from ‘Thachoor’ village in Tamil Nadu with history of violence against Dalit Christians in the recent past. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed in Tamil and later translated into English. Data were analyzed using narrative thematic analysis. Findings reveal that interactional milieu (viz., social, religious and school milieus) characterized through social dominance of the higher castes. Dalit Christians’ responses included social dominance acceptance, dominance neutral and dominance challenge. High castes strategize social dominance through social distance, conflicts and deprivation of Dalits from help to maintain fear in collective Dalit memory. Collective internalizations of fear seemed to relate with psychosocial disability and social exclusion. The study concludes that high castes considerably exercise social dominance that substantially contribute to compromised agency and increased social exclusion.
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