A response to “The Impossibility of ‘Dalit Studies’” by Ankit Kawade (EPW, 23 November 2019) points out that the possibility of living the life of the mind can be realised in Dalit studies itself if experience is posited as the necessary condition for theorisation.
The necessity of theorisation in “Dalit studies” is slowly becoming the centre of focus in academia as against the earlier tendencies to reduce it into a sociological, historical or political discourse.
1 However, “Dalit studies” is still largely viewed as the study of exclusionary practices, which fosters “identity politics” rather than contributing to theory. Ankit Kawade’s article, “The Impossibility of ‘Dalit Studies’” (EPW, 23 November 2019) also shares this belief regarding the nature of