India's economic growth has brought opportunities for many but to what extent has it benefitted its ethnically-shaped underclass: the Dalits? Have Dalits fared better in a neoliberal India or have structural economic and social changes served to magnify Dalit disadvantage? This volume offers a varied picture of Dalit experience in different states in contemporary India. The essays draw on factual research in rural and urban areas by experts in the field. With case studies ranging from Dalit entrepreneurs in Bhopal to housewives in Tamil Nadu to ex-millworkers in Mumbai, the book contends that radically progressive change and advance is attended by discrimination and exclusion, as well as surprising new areas of stigma.

With contributions by political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, and economists, the volume will be key reading for scholars and students of Dalit and subaltern studies, sociology, political science, and economics.

'This volume takes a fresh look at one of the key debates on caste in contemporary India: whether Dalits are finally unshackling the stranglehold of economic marginalisation, discrimination and stigma, and straddling new opportunities for upward mobility, as the Indian economy liberalises.' - Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics '[A] book about the contemporary realities of caste, the dynamics of change and its persistence, the messy realities of prejudice, exclusion and deprivation along with positive stories of mobility, social movements and deepening democracy in today's India.' - Surinder S. Jodhka, Professor of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University 'Offers a wide-ranging and incisive analysis of the condition of India's Dalits ... thoughtful, rich, and beautifully observed - a wonderful resource for South Asianists and development scholars.' - Craig Jeffrey, Professor of Development Geography, University of Oxford