Thesis--University of Pennsylvania. / Photocopy of typescript. Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, 1974. -- 21 cm. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves x-xlv).

Dissertation--Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Statistik--München--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 1994. / Bibliogr. p. 247-264.

Thesis--University of Pennsylvania. / Photocopy of typescript. Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, 1974. -- 21 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves x-xlv). Also issued in print.

La première éd. était un texte remanié de: Doct.-Thesis--Philos.--Aurangabad--Marathwada university. / Bibliogr. p. 258-264. Index.

Civil society has come to dominate the discourses of development and social change for the last few decades. This thesis is a critical engagement with the liberal ideas of civil society; it specifically explores the politics that surfaces in the civic sphere in the context of caste inequalities through the study of Dalit socio-political organisations that occupy the margins of civil society in India. This ethnography of Dalit politics interrogates the intersections of caste and civil society in current globalised times and spaces through exploration into post-Panther phase of Dalit politics in rural Maharashtra. The focus is on two socio-political movements; one is Manavi Hakk Abhiyan (MHA), a grassroots Dalit organisation with international networks and the other is Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) a national Dalit political party. This study offers insights into the dynamic nature of caste and its vitality in constructing localised form/s of civil society in India. A common running theme in the thesis is Dalit politics of resistance and their struggle to access justice through the state despite the continued denial of justice to Dalits through fragmented institutions of the state. The study, thus, observes how the participation of Dalit movements in claiming democratic citizenship through party politics occurs alongside the marginalisation of Dalit assertion in electoral politics. Looking beyond the state, the thesis charts the relationships between Dalits and the external relational fields within which they operate: it details the vernacular modes of communication in the civic sphere where protests and violence are important modes; the innovative uses of caste and cultural repertoires by Dalit movements in challenging caste hierarchy and forming collective identities of protest; and finally, the context of global associational revolution and engagement of NGOs and INGOs as new associations in Dalit politics of resistance. This thesis contributes to the larger debates on the makings of caste and civil society in India and argues that caste and Dalit movements have a key role in constructing localised forms of civility and civil society that challenge the dynamic hierarchies and exclusions of caste.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the philosophical implications of Ambedkar’s approach to Buddhism. This approach created a new social philosophy based on Buddhist ideas and a political commitment to social justice, particularly for the Dalits of India. What was the purpose of this social philosophy? To transform Buddhist philosophy? Or rather, to oppose Brahmanism and empower the lower castes? After a twenty-year-long study of Indian society and history, and Indian philosophical and religious traditions, Ambedkar came to the conclusion that Buddhism could have the power to transform the situation of the Untouchables. Why did he think that Buddhism would have this radical transformative impact not only for Dalits, but for Indian society as a whole? In 1956, in what became a historical event, he led a movement of conversion of more than five hundred thousand Untouchables from Hinduism to Buddhism. Ambekdar saw Buddhism as a way and as a tool to empower the lower castes of India. But what type of Buddhism did he envision? In 1956, in that historical event, Ambedkar founded what he called Navayana Buddhism. He used the word Navayana to refer to the birth of a new school. Nava means “new,” Yana means “vehicle”. Was he indeed creating a new yana, or new vehicle? What type of Buddhist school was this? What innovations did he introduce? Is the result still Buddhism, given Ambedkar's vision? This thesis aims to address all these questions.

During the 1950’s the Dalit leader Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar managed to revive Buddhism in India as a protest against, what he considered to be, injustices towards low-caste people that were said to be caused by Hinduism. This study was done to investigate the presence of Ambedkar Buddhism in the holy city of Hinduism Varanasi. By interviewing people and field studies it was possible to see how Ambedkar Buddhism has been transferred to contemporary Varanasi, how the religion is being practices and whether it is a religious or political movement. The results that were found were that Ambedkar Buddhism has existed ever since 1956 when Ambedkar held mass conversions in Maharashtra and that the religion has been kept and transferred within families to today’s generations of Varanasi and also partially because of academics associated with Banaras Hindu University who have move to the city for work and studies. Ambedkar Buddhists practice their religion like most Buddhists with the exception of not having a tradition of monasticism. The movement is both religious and political as it was started as a protest against Hinduism, which is also both religious and political according to Ambedkar. The movement has prospered because it seems that Buddhism is a beneficial way for Dalits to gain power and success.

Vi ville undersöka den hinduiska samhällsordningen, som benämns som kastsystemet, samt de oberörbaras uppror mot kastsystemet från 1850-talet och framåt. Vi ville analysera det befintliga materialet genom att pröva religionsvetenskapliga teorier som en potentiell förklaring till existensen av ett sådant fenomen som kastsystemet. Enligt indisk lag är diskriminering av kasttillhörighet förbjudet och praktiserandet av kastsystemet avskaffades officiellt 1950. Trots detta praktiseras denna hinduiska samhällsordning och än idag förekommer det en social, ekonomisk och politisk ojämställdhet, på grund av kastsystemet, i det indiska samhället. De som är sämst ställda i denna samhällsordning och som drabbas mest av den ojämställdhet som råder i det indiska samhället är de oberörbara. De drabbas än idag av våld och människorättsövergrepp. Med vår uppsats vill vi ge en potentiell förklaring av kastsystemets existens samt de oberörbaras uppror mot denna samhällsordning efter 1850-talet fram till 2000-talet. Detta vill vi göra genom att pröva tre utvalda religionsvetenskapliga teorier. De religionsvetenskapliga teorier vi valt är skapade från bland annat Meredith B. McGuire och Pierre Bourdieu. Vi har funnit att deras religionsvetenskapliga teorier kan ge en förklaring till både kastsystemets existens och de oberörbaras uppror mot kastsystemet genom historiens förlopp.

This thesis analyzes the history of caste system and explains the theories of the birth of caste in Indian civilization. After defining the caste system in historical and cultural manner. examines the birth of and spreading of Dalit movement or low caste mass movement during the 19th and 20th century with the influence of British rule.

Thèse de doctorat--Sciences religieuses--Université de Lausanne, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 331-369.