Overview

Dhobis of Delhi: An Urban Ethnography from the Margins, 1974DS2023 is a saga covering more than four decades of interactions with an 'untouchable' caste--the Dhobis (washermen and washerwomen), who are among Delhi's oldest inhabitants. It describes their ways of life, economy, livelihood, struggles, and adaptation to the city's changing demographic, cultural, and politico-economic profile. Utilizing an experiential perspective and a gendered and feminist approach, the author elaborates on the Dhobi identity, which is focused on their community (biradari), and discusses their struggles to be identified as skilled professionals at par with others, rejecting at the same time the political identity of being Dalit. Discarding their earlier subjugated sense of the self, the Dhobis are developing an emerging consciousness as democratic citizens, nurturing ambitions of a future where they will find acceptance as a community. To that end, the book also analyses how their marginalized caste-based occupation and skills ensure for them a livelihood and viability within the market economy. Highlighting the community's strategies and tactics of survival and resilience against all odds, Dhobis of Delhi is thus the story of a city viewed through the eyes of those who live on the lowest rung of its social hierarchy but whose contribution to the life of the city is essential, albeit invisible.

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9780198926207

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Reviews

An illuminating contribution to the study of cities and margins worldwide, the anthropology of South Asia, caste, or class, this book is an eye-opening exploration of choices people make to identify themselves with particular social movements, advocacy groups, and political ideologies. The product of many years of ethnographic engagement, this work is both about Delhi and a small community in the city--a group of 'untouchables' who have chosen not to join the Dalit movement or identify as Dalit. How the modern city affects the Dhobi becomes clear in Channa's work, something both engrossing and humanistic. I can think of no one as knowledgeable and insightful as she is in this book. * Virginia R. Dominguez, Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Consulting Director and Co-Founder, International Forum for U.S. Studies * This book stands as an exemplary model of ethnography, showcasing breadth, depth, and a richness of prisms that delve into various faces of the lives and social structures of Dhobis in Delhi. Channa's profound rapport with and insightful observation of the people over several decades have enabled the portrayal of Dhobis not merely as victims of the caste system, but as active agents who adeptly navigate their lives and assert their identities, striving for equality in the larger society. This book offers valuable insights not only for those seeking a better understanding of the contemporary life of Dalits in India but also for those interested in conducting fieldwork, holistic community observation, and coherent yet multi-perspective and nuanced ethnography. * Yasuko Takezawa, Professor, Intercultural Research Institute, Kansai Gaidai University; Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University * Channa's book is a much-needed contribution to the resurging debate on caste. Whether as an analogy for racial oppression or as an axis of discrimination and counter-discrimination in South Asia and diasporic contexts, there is need for nuanced perspectives on community life, identities, and strategies for navigating the complex urban environment. This ethnography deconstructs the embodied experiences, practices, and meanings of caste, especially from the vantage of the particular urban sites that the Dhobis navigate. The book illuminates a heterogeneous field where untouchables' collective identities and strategies of resilience do not all align with the politics and subjectivities of the Dalit movement and offers a cogent explanation as to why. * Faye V. Harrison, Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign * In a world where third-world cities are louder than ever, Channa's diachronic study of a marginal group that has made silence part of its survival strategies is hugely welcome. Her eyes elicit changes in the urban space that only her wit combined with forty years of field experience allow her to see, such as the 'air conditioning' of (poor) homes or the growing commodification of small liminal neighbourhood spaces where people could wander around doing nothing. Tragically, in this city, especially for such groups of poor, physical intra- or extra-group socialization is becoming less accessible, even as digital socialization within and between groups offers new horizons. Channa´s circumscribed and detailed Delhi story provides many insights into urban anthropology, making this book of universal value. * Livio Sansone, Professor of Anthropology, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil * Understanding how a community defines and locates itself through its experiential realities in a layered and diverse context is challenging. Unheard voices and invisible realities create a disconnect between the researcher and the research. In this commendable work, Channa, an eminent anthropologist, captures the community's lifeworld, aspirations, pain, and numerous explicit and implicit transitions with the changing city and how its embodiments in a self-reflective claim form a history. It delves deep to unravel the constructs ingrained in their collective memories and captures not just the voices but also the changes that have transpired. It is a must-read work to grasp how a community, with its resilience and viability against all odds, becomes a knowable entity in a larger framework of given space and time. * Badri Narayan, Director, G B Pant Social Science Institute *

Author Information

Subhadra Mitra Channa retired as Professor of Anthropology from the University of Delhi in 2016 and has been honoured with the University's Distinguished Teacher Award. The recipient of many international fellowships, she has been a Charles Wallace Fellow, Queen's University, Belfast, UK (2000); Visiting Professor, Maison de Sciences l'Homme, Paris, France (2002); Fulbright Visiting Lecturer, Auburn University, USA (2003); and Visiting Professor, University of South Carolina, USA (2008-09). She has published more than eighty scholarly papers and ten books, specializing in gender, religion, environment, and identity studies. Channa is the recipient of the S.C. Roy Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society for Lifetime Achievement and has been on the executive committees of several international organizations. Presently the editor of Reviews in Anthropology (Taylor & Francis), she has also served as the editor of Indian Anthropologist and on the editorial boards of international journals.

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