S ocial E xclusion Social exclusion refers to ways in which individuals may become cut off from full involvement in the wider society. It focuses attention on a broad range of factors that prevent individuals or groups from having opportunities open to the majority of the population. In order to live a full and active life, individuals must not only be able to feed, clothe and house themselves, but should also have access to essential goods and services such as education, health, transportation, insurance, social security, banking and even access to the police or judiciary. Social exclusion is not accidental but systematic – it is the result of structural features of society.
India like most societies has been marked by acute practices of social discrimination and exclusion. At different periods of history protest movements arose against caste, gender and religious discrimination. Yet prejudices remain and often, new ones emerge. Thus, legislation alone is unable to transform society or produce lasting social change.
A constant social campaign to change awareness and sensitivity is required to break them. You have already read about the impact of colonialism on Indian society. What discrimination and exclusion mean was brought home to even the most privileged Indians at the hands of the British colonial state. Such experiences were, of course, common to the various socially discriminated groups such as women, dalits and other oppressed castes and tribes.
Faced with the humiliation of colonial rule and simultaneously exposed to ideas of democracy and justice, many Indians initiated and participated in a large number of social reform movements. In this chapter we focus on four such groups who have suffered from serious social inequality and exclusion, namely Dalits or the ex-untouchable castes; adivasis or communities refered to as ‘tribal’; women, and the differently abled. We attempt to look at each of their stories of struggles and achievements in the following sections. Apart from these four groups, there are two more groups included in this category like transgender and people of third gender group.
Information about these groups are given in Box .1a. Collect examples of prejudiced behaviour from films or novels. Discuss the examples you and your classmates have gathered. How are prejudices reflected in the manner a social group is depicted ?
How do we decide whether a certain kind of portrayal is prejudiced or not ? Can you distinguish between instances of prejudice that were intentional – i.e., the film maker or writer wanted to show it as prejudiced– and unintentional or unconscious prejudice ?