Social justice
A country of cultural diversity - and hierarchies
India is a country of pluralism and diversity. People with different belief systems, political ideas and perspectives live together in this vast country. India is a country of mosques, temples and churches. Of yoga masters and entrepreneurs. Of radical social movements and a multiparty system. It is a country for some of the richest people on the planet as well as millions of poor in the countryside and urban slums.
India is sometimes called the world’s biggest democracy and has a remarkable economic growth - it is striving to become a super power. India is, however, also a hierarchical society where a person’s sex, caste, class, functionality and sexual identity decide the position in society.
Who you ask will decide the answer you get
Obviously there are millions of different aspects and perspectives on life in India. Most important to remember is that who you talk to will decide what kind of information you get. Or to put it in another way: a rich, upper caste, urban, man’s India is different from a poor, Dalit, rural, woman’s India.
Click on the following links to read more:
Brahmin or Dalit? - The caste system
Adivasis – the original inhabitants of India
The situation of people with disabilities