Course Glossary

Prejudice against people with disabilities, often embedded in institutional practices.

An umbrella term for the indigenous peoples of India, also referred to as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution. They have distinct cultures, languages, and traditions and often face displacement and socio-economic exclusion.

Discrimination or stereotyping based on a person's age.

involve various Technologies medical procedures to aid individuals to conceive. It helps to address various issues of infertility. It includes procedures like in vitro fertilisation, frozen embryo transfer, intrauterine insemination, surrogacy and many others. The treatment involves a man's sperm and a woman's egg.

Parallel to, and sometimes critically observing, the Research Centres establishment of university-linked centres, the late 1980s and 1990s witnessed the emergence of autonomous feminist research, documentation, and publishing initiatives. These often arose organically from the women's movement itself or from academics disillusioned with institutional constraints. They sought spaces less bound by university bureaucracy, funding conditionalities, and hierarchical structures, and more directly connected to activism, marginalized communities, and critical intellectual traditions.

Literally ‘brotherhood’, this can refer to different units of kin- ship defined by patrilineal descent in different contexts. Among the Jats, it is generally an intra-caste group of clans, all of equal status.

Women of African descent who experience intersecting oppressions based on race and gender. Historically and presently, Black women face systemic racism, sexism, and economic disenfranchisement, while also being key figures in resistance movements worldwide.

Brahminical Patriarchy is a term coined by Uma Chakravarti in 1993. It refers to intertwined relations between sexism and casteism. It points out the unique system to Hindu society where patriarchal structures and caste hierarchy are deeply intertwined. This arises from the need for controlling women’s sexuality to maintain caste purity and patriarchy. This system strengthens male dominance, women’s subjugation in the context of caste purity.

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.

A term used to describe communities formerly known as “untouchables” in the caste hierarchy.

Dalit consciousness is awareness of the shared experiences of Dalit oppression, shaping the collective voice in Dalit literature.

Dalit literature is the genre of Indian writings that expresses ‘dalit consciousness’. It gives voice to dalit experiences, lives, struggles and discrimination faced by the dalit individuals and community.

Women belonging to the Dalit community, historically considered "untouchable" under the caste system in Brahminical societies. Dalit women face intersecting forms of oppression—caste discrimination, gender-based violence, and economic exploitation—making them one of the most marginalized groups in society.

Communities that were labeled as "criminal tribes" by the British under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, and were later "de-notified" after independence. These communities still face intense social stigma and marginalization.

persons with physical disabilities are called Divyangjan in Indian policies.

A revered teacher in the Indian epic Mahabharata, known for training princes in archery and warfare. He is symbolic of caste bias due to his refusal to teach Ekalavya, a lower- caste boy.

A character from the Mahabharata, a tribal boy who self- learned archery by creating a statue of Dronacharya. He was later forced to cut off his thumb as Guru Dakshina (teacher’s offering), reflecting caste-based exclusion.

refers to traits and behaviours traditionally linked to being female. These may include gentleness, emotional expressiveness, nurturing, beauty, and submissiveness. Girls and women are often expected to be caring, polite, and focused on appearance or family responsibilities.