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Hugo Gorringe University of Edinburgh; H.Gorringe@ed.ac.uk

‘Show me a better party & I’ll join it’: Dalits, Disillusionment, Disunity & the Durability of Dreams. Hugo Gorringe University of Edinburgh; H.Gorringe@ed.ac.uk. Dalit Politics in TN. Dravidian Context Successive Challenges Disregard of Dalit Issues 1999 Third Front From Movement to Party.

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Hugo Gorringe University of Edinburgh; H.Gorringe@ed.ac.uk

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  1. ‘Show me a better party & I’ll join it’: Dalits, Disillusionment, Disunity & the Durability of Dreams Hugo Gorringe University of Edinburgh; H.Gorringe@ed.ac.uk

  2. Dalit Politics in TN • Dravidian Context • Successive Challenges • Disregard of Dalit Issues • 1999 Third Front • From Movement to Party

  3. Disillusionment: The Poverty of Panther Politics • Supping with the Devil? • Broad-basing Support • Big Man Politics • ‘Thirumangalam Formula’ • Downplaying Dalit Identity?

  4. Disunity: The myth of vote bank Politics? ‘Even when the PMK and DPI were in alliance why were they not able to win a single seat and Vijayakant could? … It means that the people were unhappy about something. The Dalit people rejected the Dalit parties.’ • Can’t Win Alone • The Primacy of Caste? • The Wrong Candidate? • The Wrong Alliance? • Dalit Politics, but Caste Parties

  5. Dreams: Strength of Symbols Why the residual attachment? • Caste • Dreams: The Leader and the Legacy • Failure of Others • Not *just* symbolic The Strength of Symbolism

  6. Show me a better party … • Cong & BJP • Dravidian Parties • CPI(M): TNUEF • BSP • Alternate Front?

  7. Discussion • Vernacularisation of Institutionalisation • Revisiting Caste Vote-Banks • Re-assessing ‘symbolic politics’

  8. Conclusion ‘It’s a blessing we lost [the 2011 elections] … The party would have disintegrated had we won. 10 MLAs enriching themselves? The party would have been ruined. Now at least we can rethink and restructure’. • Professionalisation … in local politics • Alternative Party not Alternative Politics • More of the Same ≠ Dalit Liberation

  9. Recent Online Papers (2012) • ‘Party Political Panthers: Hegemonic Tamil Politics and the Dalit Challenge’, SAMAJ (South Asia Multi-disciplinary Academic Journal): <samaj.revues.org/pdf/3224> • ‘Caste and Politics in Tamil Nadu’, Seminar633, May (Special Issue: Caste Matters) • ‘From Non-Brahmin to Non-Dalit: Dalit Politics in Dravida Land’, Centre Right India: 11 July 2012. <http://centreright.in/2012/07/from-non-brahmin-to-non-dalit-caste-politics-in-dravidian-land/>

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