Dalit Capitalism for Dalit Emancipation: A Mirage

Abstract

In recent times “Dalit Capitalism” has been advocated as a route for Dalit emancipation. Instead of protesting against the exclusion that neoliberal policies of globalization and liberalization have been unleashing, the argument runs, it is time for Dalits to shun the mentality of victims and avail the opportunities that the economic reforms seem to offer. The new stance is symptomatic of a paradigm shift in Dalit politics whereby making truce with the enemy appears far more feasible for pragmatic reasons. The paper
while developing an internal critique of the idea of Dalit Capitalism, attempts to argue
that promotion of Dalit entrepreneurship is part and parcel of the strategy of the liberalizing Indian State to expand the support base for the liberalization agenda. Analysing the
market and institutional reforms undertaken to encourage Dalit entrepreneurship, the
paper argues that state needs Dalit entrepreneurs as much as they need the state and this
symbiotic relationship between the elite section among Dalits and State not only does not
augur well for Dalits at the lower end of the ladder.