Overview

The book "Mapping Human Rights and Subalterns in Modern India" attempts to trace the dynamics of human rights discourse and the rights of subalterns in modern India. It critically evaluates the notion of exclusion of subalterns in modern India from the mainstream social system and the present development model. The world we live in is rapidly witnessing modernity, post-modernity, and globalization and has become a global village. In contrast to this, there has also been a steep rise in discrimination based on caste, class, race, gender, region, religion, ethnicity, and so on. The book argues that it is not merely Indian social inequities but also globalization and the current development model have equally deprived the rights of Dalits, women, tribals, minorities, and so on. Therefore, the rights of marginalized sections which are enumerated in India's Constitution are under a serious threat.

The book further focuses on the plight of slum dwellers in metropolitan cities and migration of the poor from the backward regions to metropolitan cities, which describes the violation of fundamental rights of subalterns in modern India. It lays emphasis on the importance of vernacular literature and writings from the grassroots level resisting social inequalities and against the current development model. The book deals with the vitality of vernacular languages in India in the era of globalization and their impact on subalterns.

Acouple of research papers discuss the politics of human rights in India and its trends and challenges. In other words, the volume raises very fundamental questions "Who's development & for whom? Who benefits and who pays the price for the development?"