Conceal or Not? Management of Dehumanized Work Identity among Lower Caste Domestic Workers and Non-domestic Scavenging Workers

Abstract

The current study explored a social identity approach to understand the role of caste identity in the domestic labour market in India. Domestic and other non-domestic scavenging workers form an important human resource of the informal job market system. Earlier research in the context of these workers in India did not link with the critical social psychological viewpoints leading to macro-level interpretations only. Domestic work in India in itself is a low-status job having many psychological repercussions such as stigmatization and dehumanization. The focused group discussion is done with a group of domestic workers and non-domestic scavenging workers who are from lower caste background in order to understand the management of their dehumanized identity.