The Vulgarity of Caste

The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in India

By Shailaja Paik | Navayana

₹799

Winner of the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize, The Vulgarity of Caste is the first full social and intellectual history of Tamasha, the popular travelling theatre of Maharashtra, and the Dalit women who performed in it. Drawing on previously untapped archives, ethnographic fieldwork, and vernacular print, film, and photography, Shailaja Paik — a MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient — traces how Tamasha performers were branded ashlil (vulgar) by a caste- and gender-hierarchical society, and how they fought to reclaim manuski (human dignity), transforming themselves from vulgar to assli (authentic) and fully human. The book moves beyond the Ambedkar-centered narrative that dominates Dalit studies to recover the everyday lives, labour, and resistance of Dalit women at the intersection of caste, gender, and sexuality.

Why You'll Love This Edition

• First-ever intellectual history of Tamasha and its Dalit women performers

• Written by a MacArthur Fellowship-winning historian

• Draws on rare archival, ethnographic, and cinematic sources

• Expands Dalit studies beyond a purely Ambedkar-centred lens

• A landmark addition to gender, caste, and performance studies from Namami Prakashan

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