31, January 2026

Caste Gender Intersectionality and the Limits of Indian Feminist Universalism: Toward a Caste-Anchored Feminist Literary Discourse.

VOLUME-10; ISSUE-1; JAN-2026

Author(s): Dr Devashish Kumar

Authors Affiliations:

PhD From Malwanchal University, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.

DOIs:10.2017/IJRCS/202601018     |     Paper ID: IJRCS202601018


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This paper critiques the limits of feminist universalism in India by arguing that feminist discourse is rendered ethically incoherent once gender is divorced from caste. While mainstream feminist frameworks frequently represent patriarchy as a common and invariant structure, Indian social reality makes women's oppression variably produced through caste hierarchies shaping labors, vulnerabilities, sexualities, and social visibilities. The study proposes a caste-anchored model of feminist literary discourse in which caste is not merely contextual but constitutive of gendered experience and subjectivity. Drawing on intersectional theory, Dalit feminist critique, and feminist narrative ethics, it examines how caste generates forms of violence that cannot be fully captured through universal categories of "womanhood." The paper also asserts dominant feminist representation can reproduce elite ethical assumptions by underwriting narratives of respectable victimhood, domestic oppression, and middle-class subject positions by marginally silencing caste-based humiliation, coerced labor, and intensified sexual vulnerability. By foregrounding Dalit feminist epistemologies, this study challenges liberal empowerment models within Indian feminist literary studies and insists that gender justice remains incomplete without caste justice.

Caste patriarchy, intersectionality, Dalit feminism, Feminist universalism, Indian feminist discourse, Representation, Feminist ethics.

Dr Devashish Kumar (2026); Caste Gender Intersectionality and the Limits of Indian Feminist Universalism: Toward a Caste-Anchored Feminist Literary Discourse., International Journal of Research Culture Society,    ISSN(O): 2456-6683,  Volume – 10,   Issue –  1,       Available on – https://ijrcs.org/

 

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