Industries develop in India in a particular form of exploitation of human, natural and social structures, where nature is industrialised and caste is naturalised. The division of labour in a factory interacts with caste hierarchy in society, where a dalit working body, physicality and social positions play an important role within the production process, under the control of capital. The environmental politics against pollution can create an industrial and social environment within which polluting industries and ‘impurity’ of dalit labourers’ bodies become synonymous with each other. Based on the analytic frameworks of Marx and B.R. Ambedkar and an extensive field study of an industrial area in Delhi, the article narrates how dalit labourers in stainless steel utensil factories move in and out of the industrial ecosystem and how they contest the repressive nature of their work and environment.

Rarely do Indian environmental discourses examine nature through the lens of caste. Whereas nature is considered as universal and inherent, caste is understood as a constructed historical and social entity. Mukul Sharma shows how caste and nature are intimately connected. He compares Dalit meanings of environment to ideas and practices of neo-Brahmanism and certain mainstreams of environmental thought. Showing how Dalit experiences of environment are ridden with metaphors of pollution, impurity, and dirt, the author is able to bring forth new dimensions on both environment and Dalits, without valourizing the latter’s standpoint. Rather than looking for a coherent understanding of their ecology, the book explores the diverse and rich intellectual resources of Dalits, such as movements, songs, myths, memories, and metaphors around nature. These reveal their quest to define themselves in caste-ridden nature and building a form of environmentalism free from the burdens of caste. The Dalits also pose a critical challenge to Indian environmentalism, which has, until now, marginalized such linkages between caste and nature.

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This series was created in 2003 to promote debate, disseminate information and analysis, and convey the excitement and complexity of the most topical issues in economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank. The manuscripts chosen for publication represent the highest quality in each institution's research and activity output and have been selected for their relevance to the academic community, policy makers, researchers, and interested readers.

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