Transformative Collective Action: A Socio-Legal Exploration of Dalit-Led Activism in the US
(2022) SOLM02 20221Department of Sociology of Law
- Abstract
- This thesis focuses on Dalits' lives and experiences in the South Asian diaspora in the United States of America. I explore stories of the Dalit struggle for equality that today transcends national borders as globalisation continues to pave paths for migration. Specifically looking within the vast South Asian diaspora in the US for stories of Dalit-led activism, this thesis begins by bringing to the centre stage the distinct life experiences of Dalit migrants outside the homogenous category of South Asians. More specifically, the area of concern that my thesis stems from is the Dalit migrants' quest to find legal recognition of caste as a protected category of discrimination within the anti-discrimination legislation of the host country.... (More)
- This thesis focuses on Dalits' lives and experiences in the South Asian diaspora in the United States of America. I explore stories of the Dalit struggle for equality that today transcends national borders as globalisation continues to pave paths for migration. Specifically looking within the vast South Asian diaspora in the US for stories of Dalit-led activism, this thesis begins by bringing to the centre stage the distinct life experiences of Dalit migrants outside the homogenous category of South Asians. More specifically, the area of concern that my thesis stems from is the Dalit migrants' quest to find legal recognition of caste as a protected category of discrimination within the anti-discrimination legislation of the host country. An explorative account accumulated by interviewing four members of a Dalit-led civil society organisation called the Equality Labs; the everyday lives of Dalit activists and their social relations vis a vis the collective action and legal mobilisation led by the interviewed activist are presented for analysis. How Dalit- led activism and collective action for legal recognition of caste as a protected category within the American legal system contributes to transforming the contemporary understanding of legal categories of discrimination in the host country is the central question my thesis aims to explore. My thesis uses topic-centred in-depth expert interviews as a qualitative data collection, sampling and interpretation method. The interview questions are designed to gather data primarily concerning Dalit activists' everyday experiences in the host country and their role as Dalit-led advocacy groups in transforming the existing legal categories of caste in the US through legal mobilisation, among other aspects of their activism. Over 6 months, I conducted a total of 8 semi-structured interviews (including follow-ups with 4 participants, the unit of analysis following the categorical-content approach to narrative analysis. The LR performed as a pilot study independently and integrated within my thesis has played a vital role in moving confidently towards selecting the structural and peripheral concepts that bind the theoretical framework of this thesis. On a foundational level, this thesis is built upon Ehrlich’s Living Law as the basis of the theoretical framework. In contrast, concepts of legal pluralism, as discussed by Tamanaha, Nelken’s usage of legal culture, and the theory of legal mobilisation by Micheal McCann supplement the primary theoretical standpoint taken. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9103901
- author
- K C, Aastha LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOLM02 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Dalit Activism, Dalit Diaspora, Everyday Life Experiences and Social Relations, Living Law, Theory of Social Association, Collective Action, Theory of Legal Mobilisation
- language
- English
- id
- 9103901
- date added to LUP
- 2023-01-18 08:42:31
- date last changed
- 2023-01-18 08:42:31
@misc{9103901,
abstract = {{This thesis focuses on Dalits' lives and experiences in the South Asian diaspora in the United States of America. I explore stories of the Dalit struggle for equality that today transcends national borders as globalisation continues to pave paths for migration. Specifically looking within the vast South Asian diaspora in the US for stories of Dalit-led activism, this thesis begins by bringing to the centre stage the distinct life experiences of Dalit migrants outside the homogenous category of South Asians. More specifically, the area of concern that my thesis stems from is the Dalit migrants' quest to find legal recognition of caste as a protected category of discrimination within the anti-discrimination legislation of the host country. An explorative account accumulated by interviewing four members of a Dalit-led civil society organisation called the Equality Labs; the everyday lives of Dalit activists and their social relations vis a vis the collective action and legal mobilisation led by the interviewed activist are presented for analysis. How Dalit- led activism and collective action for legal recognition of caste as a protected category within the American legal system contributes to transforming the contemporary understanding of legal categories of discrimination in the host country is the central question my thesis aims to explore. My thesis uses topic-centred in-depth expert interviews as a qualitative data collection, sampling and interpretation method. The interview questions are designed to gather data primarily concerning Dalit activists' everyday experiences in the host country and their role as Dalit-led advocacy groups in transforming the existing legal categories of caste in the US through legal mobilisation, among other aspects of their activism. Over 6 months, I conducted a total of 8 semi-structured interviews (including follow-ups with 4 participants, the unit of analysis following the categorical-content approach to narrative analysis. The LR performed as a pilot study independently and integrated within my thesis has played a vital role in moving confidently towards selecting the structural and peripheral concepts that bind the theoretical framework of this thesis. On a foundational level, this thesis is built upon Ehrlich’s Living Law as the basis of the theoretical framework. In contrast, concepts of legal pluralism, as discussed by Tamanaha, Nelken’s usage of legal culture, and the theory of legal mobilisation by Micheal McCann supplement the primary theoretical standpoint taken.}},
author = {{K C, Aastha}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Transformative Collective Action: A Socio-Legal Exploration of Dalit-Led Activism in the US}},
year = {{2022}},
}