CASTE SYSTEM
Hereditary social stratification
WATCH
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Article 15 — Anubhav Sinha, 2019 · Film · A police officer confronting caste discrimination in rural India; unflinching.
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Sairat — Nagraj Manjule, 2016 · Film · A love story destroyed by caste; Marathi cinema’s most powerful statement on discrimination.
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India Untouched — Stalin K., 2007 · Documentary · Untouchability documented across India’s regions and religions.
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Jai Bhim — T.J. Gnanavel, 2021 · Film · A lawyer fighting for a falsely imprisoned Dalit man; based on a true story.
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Masaan — Neeraj Ghaywan, 2015 · Film · Caste and grief along the Ganges; two stories of people trapped by social hierarchy.
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Fandry — Nagraj Manjule, 2013 · Film · A Dalit boy’s impossible love and the caste violence that answers his aspiration.
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The Argumentative Indian — Based on Amartya Sen’s work · India’s intellectual tradition and caste’s place within it.
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Annihilation of Caste — Based on B.R. Ambedkar’s speech · Animated and documentary adaptations of the foundational anti-caste text.
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Parasite — Bong Joon-ho, 2019 · Film · Korea’s class hierarchy as caste-like in its rigidity and violence.
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13th — Ava DuVernay, 2016 · Documentary · American racial hierarchy as caste; essential companion to Wilkerson’s Caste.
LISTEN
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The Ambedkar Age — Various · B.R. Ambedkar’s thought and the ongoing fight against caste in India.
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Dalit History Month Podcast — Various · Dalit history, culture, and resistance in their own voices.
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Equality Labs Podcast — Various · Caste discrimination in the South Asian diaspora in America.
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Code Switch: Caste in America — NPR · Isabel Wilkerson’s framework applied to American racial hierarchy.
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Hidden Brain: Social hierarchy — Shankar Vedantam · The psychology of ranked social systems and their impact.
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The Wire Talks: Caste — Various · Indian journalism and intellectual conversation on caste discrimination.
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South Asian Americans Leading Together — Various · Caste, race, and identity in the diaspora.
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Throughline: Caste — NPR · The deep history of caste systems globally.
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On Being: Social hierarchy — Krista Tippett · Spiritual and philosophical perspectives on human ranking systems.
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1619 Project — NYT · American racial caste through the lens of slavery’s long aftermath.
READ
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Caste — Isabel Wilkerson · The definitive framework for understanding America’s racial hierarchy as a caste system.
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Annihilation of Caste — B.R. Ambedkar · The foundational anti-caste text by India’s greatest Dalit thinker.
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The Doctor and the Saint — Arundhati Roy · A radical introduction to Ambedkar’s thought and its relevance today.
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Ants Among Elephants — Sujatha Gidla · A Dalit woman’s family history; untouchability from the inside.
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Manu and the Marginalized — Various · How ancient Hindu texts codified caste hierarchy.
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Becoming Dalits — Anand Teltumbde · Contemporary Dalit struggle and its relationship to global anti-racism.
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The Broken Scales — Chandrachud · Caste and the Indian legal system; justice deferred.
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A People’s History of Heaven — Mathangi Subramanian · Dalit women and girls fighting gentrification; caste and development.
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers — Katherine Boo · Caste, poverty, and aspiration in a Mumbai slum.
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Joothan — Omprakash Valmiki · A Dalit autobiography; the daily texture of untouchability in rural India.
