Abstract:

The past century, the twentieth was declared by the foremost African American thinker, W.E.B. Du Bois as a century that will notably wrestle with the predicament of colour. The twenty-first century, our time will define the frontier of Global Caste. Caste and race have remerged as two most contested concepts of social divisions. The differences and similarities between the two have strengthened the discourse on society and capitalism that was originated in the Iberian archives of castas. Over the years, there have been overlaps in the debates between caste and race studies. However, they rely heavily on past studies and thinly on the new dimensions in comparative caste cultural studies that remains a purveyor to the formation of modern identities of Dalit and Black. This talk will examine the variations, debates, and conversations in the development of caste and race debates in the past century in America and India.

Suraj Yengde is one of India’s leading scholars and public intellectuals. He is the author of the bestseller "Caste Matters" and co-editor of award winning anthology "The Radical in Ambedkar." "Caste Matters" was featured in the prestigious "Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade" list by The Hindu and is being translated in seven languages. Yendge is a Senior fellow at Harvard University and is also part of the founding team of Initiative for Institutional Anti-Racism and Accountability(IARA). He received his PhD at the University of Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and is an International Human Rights attorney by qualification from India and the UK. He has a prolific record of publications in the form of essays, articles, book reviews in English and Marathi. He is convener of the Dalit Film Festival and the India for Diversity movement. His forthcoming books are: "Caste: A New History of the World" by Allen Lane, 2022, and a biography of Dr. B R Ambedkar with Juggernaut Press, 2022.