Published in 2015
532 pages
Sharmila Rege is a Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Pune. She has worked for several years with the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Womens Studies Centre, University of Pune. She has written and published on sociology of gender, Dalit feminism and Dalitbahajun public culture in Maharashtra. Her present work concerns the documentation of music and print cultures of the Ambedkarite counterpublics in contemporary Maharashtra.
What is this book about?
The women tell it like it is… So riveting is the narration that it is difficult to put down the book until their stories are finished. For a non-fiction academic work this is no small feat.’ — The Hindu Sharmila Rege’s path breaking study of Dalit women’s writings and lives offers a powerful counter-narrative to the mainstream assumptions about the development of feminism in India in the 20th century. Extensive extracts from eight Dalit women’s writings cover issues such as food and hunger, community, caste, labour, education, violence, resistance and collective struggle. The voices that resound throughout the book, reveal that Dalit feminism, far from being ‘silent’ as so often presumed, is rich, powerful, layered – and highly articulate.
