Course Glossary

An economic system based on private ownership of production, profit-making, and market competition. Capitalism often exacerbates social inequalities by prioritizing wealth accumulation over workers' rights, leading to exploitative labour conditions, particularly for marginalized groups.

A rigid social hierarchy, particularly in South Asia, spread all over the glob, known as Jati system, that divides people into hereditary groups based on birth into a particular social group. Caste discrimination enforces systemic inequality that keeps Dalits (ex-untouchables) at the receiving end of oppression.

The term panchayat literally means a council of five persons. A caste panchayat refers to a group of elders from a particular dominant or high-caste community in India who position themselves as custodians of caste purity and hierarchy. They often intervene in cases of inter-caste marriages, declaring such unions invalid and imposing penalties on the families involved. In many instances, caste panchayats go beyond social and economic sanctions and resort to violent measures to prevent or punish inter-caste marriages, reinforcing rigid caste boundaries and patriarchal control.

Chosen family or found family is the family that is ‘chosen’ by individuals, especially queer community which acts as a support system and is based on strong supportive and loving relationships. It is not a biological family.

frequently abbreviated as "cis," refers to people whose gender identity corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth. A person is cisgender if they identify as female and were assigned female at birth. A person is cisgender if they identify as a man and were assigned male at birth.

A system of social stratification based on economic status, wealth, and labour relations. Class divisions create disparities in power, privilege, and access to resources, often intersecting with race, gender, and caste.

Kali For Women.pp. 108-113. 4. Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https:// doi.org/10.2307/1229039 5. Hill Collins, P (1990) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge Consciouseness and the

Culture is the shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects that constitute a way of life for a particular group of people. It encompasses everything from language, customs, and traditions to art, music, and labour among many other things. Culture is learned, acquired, shared, symbolic, integrated, adaptive and dynamic. Culture is political by nature as certain cultural forms and expressions are stigmatized, placed in a hierarchy and form the basis of discrimination and exploitation within the society. Therefore we need to critically analyse not only what is represented as culture but also who is being represented and how does the representation take place within different cultural forms.

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