Why should We Talk to People Who Do Not Want to Talk to Us? Inter‐Caste Dialogue as Response to Caste‐Based Marginalization

Abstract

Despite the common assumption that conflicts over value commitments are intractable, research on the narratives of activists associated with the Triratna Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana (TBMSG) challenges such assumptions in many significant ways. For Dalit (literally broken or downtrodden in Sanskrit) ex‐untouchables of the TBMSG, dialogue presents an important solution to such assumptions of intractability. Claiming that inter‐caste dialogue processes provide a unique opportunity and relatively untapped discursive space for Dalits to overcome the historical legacy of low‐caste marginalization, this article is aimed at integrating insights from ethnographic work with research on the psychodynamics of narrative creation of collective worldview (here understood as an interpretive framework through which people interact with the world). While one might assume that sensitive dialogue processes around caste should take place incrementally given the long and brutal history of caste discrimination in India, this article challenges this assumption by arguing that a measured approach to inter‐group interaction is laden with veiled identity threats and under‐attended worldview commitments which conspire to reify caste oppression rather than overcome it. Inter‐caste dialogue is the most viable means to both create social change for Dalits and ensure their stories of marginalization are heard alongside ongoing processes of neo‐Buddhist identity creation.