The Monster in Your Path

The Private Life of Caste in India

Sharika Thiranagama (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

324 Seiten

2026
University of California Press (Verlag)
978-0-520-42513-2 (ISBN)

Noch nicht erschienen (ca. April 2026)
Versandkostenfrei
Auch auf Rechnung

Artikel merken

The Monster in Your Path is an original and provocative look at why the global Left stumbles when dealing with historical structures of subordination like caste or race. Sharika Thiranagama examines rural communities in the South Indian state of Kerala, where decades of Communist Party rule has transformed life through land reform and social reorganization. Despite Marxist ideals, new forms of caste disparities have moved from “public” space to private spaces and private lives. Through an exquisitely crafted ethnography that centers Dalit women, the book explains how historical economies of humiliation and subordination continue to influence modern spaces like the private home. From histories of enslavement to an exploration of the houses and neighborhoods through which Dalit communities build dignity and self-worth, Thiranagama sets a new agenda for caste studies in India and beyond.

Sharika Thiranagama is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University and author of In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka.

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction: The Monster in Your Path

Part One. The Work of Inheritance
1. Enslaved Occupations
2. A Working Woman: Strong Bodies and Soft Hands
3. The Cultural Life of Communism: The Party and Its Downtrodden

Part Two. The Rural Modern
4. The Houses of the Past: Aesthetic Economies of Caste
5. Concrete Futures: New Houses and New Neighborhoods
6. Self-Improvement: Marriage and Inheriting a Future

Coda

Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	21.4.2026
Reihe/Serie	Atelier: Ethnographic Inquiry in the Twenty-First Century ; 21
Zusatzinfo	3 b-w figures, 2 maps
Verlagsort	Berkerley
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	0-520-42513-8 / 0520425138
ISBN-13	978-0-520-42513-2 / 9780520425132
Zustand	Neuware