Spatial Inequality and Untouchability: Ambedkar’s Gaze on Caste and Space in Hindu Villages

Abstract

Forced exclusion and historical injustices based on caste and space are perpetuated throughout Indian history. Although, a great deal of literature on the caste system of India and village communities is available, very little attention has been paid to its socio-spatial dimensions, and, here comes Ambedkar. Drawing, mainly, from the writings of Dr Ambedkar, the article focusses on the territorial segmentation and cosmological codes of social conduct, resulting in the worst forms of inequality and untouchability in Hindu villages. The aim of the article is to trace the trajectory of socio-spatial segregation between untouchables and caste Hindus in the contours of socio-religious settings that resulted in the worst forms of exploitation and oppression. The main argument of the article involves Dr Ambedkar’s critique of caste-based inequality, foregrounding the socio-spatial segregational patterns and social interactions in the Hindu villages. It establishes that there is an involuntary and forced socio-spatial compartmentalisation and ‘ghettoisation’ of lower strata functioning through the institution of caste, which derives authority from the Hindu religion and religious texts. It is argued that for Dr Ambedkar, space (segmented territories) played a critical role in both the perpetuation and evanescence of untouchability, and that in socio-spatial context, disadvantages of caste discrimination are internalised and articulated in the formal–informal structures of Hindu villages.