Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer
Analyze the term ‘dalit’ and the evolution of the related concept as a reflection of the changing consciousness and self-assertion of the dalit community.
Naming is an act of power: who names a group, and what the name asserts, measures its position. The terms applied to India's ex-untouchable castes — Depressed Classes, Exterior Castes, Harijan, Scheduled Caste, Dalit, Dalit-Bahujan — are not synonyms but a record of the locus of definition migrating from outside the community to inside it.
You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.
What the full answer covers
- Names conferred from outside
- The administrative category
- 'Dalit': the name taken, not given
- Widening, and contesting, the concept
- Conclusion
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