Phenomenology of Caste Violence in Education and Limitation of Empathy: A Vimukta Perspective

Abstract

This article is written from the author’s position as a Vimukta woman and an advocate of feminism. The article attempts to include the unique situatedness of Vimukta in the discourse on caste violence in education. In doing so, it critically revisits the decade-old ongoing debate over the question, can Savarna feminists write on the experience of Dalit, Adivasi, and Vimukta women? The article highlights the limitations of the claim that empathy makes the experiences of Dalit, Adivasi, and Vimukta women accessible to Savarna feminists. It engages with the writings on the website “Savari” in which women belonging to Dalit, Adivasi, Vimukta, and backward communities share their articulation about their situation in caste society and call out the violence in Savarna feminists’ academic endeavors.