Shailaja Paik: The MacArthur ‘genius’ from India who shattered caste barriers

Paik’s second book The Vulgarity of Caste : Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India, published by Stanford University Press in 2022, looked at the social and intellectual history of Dalit performance of Tamasha, a popular form of travelling theatre in Maharashtra. The book won the American Historical Association’s John F. Richards Prize for “the most distinguished work of scholarship in English on South Asia”. The book also won the Association of Asian Studies Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy book prize.

With its significant Indian-American population, caste has become a growing conversation in the US even as India continues to reckon with it.

The historian said that to tackle discrimination, it was crucial for those enjoying advantages of the caste system to acknowledge its existence globally instead of shying away from it.

The discrimination most negatively affects people from “low castes and outcastes”, Paik said. “So, it is important to engage with those vulnerable and disadvantaged, stand with them in the struggle against discrimination on lines of caste, gender, and race.”

Scholars from marginalised castes face different kinds of roadblocks as they navigate the academic world, one of which is fluency in English language. “Many of them are educated in vernacular mediums and as they move up in the ladders of higher education, they have to work harder than their peers who are fluent in English.”

Such scholars also struggle to access enough financial resources and social networks to tap into resources and connect with renowned scholars. Here, Paik said, it is important for institutions to grant fellowships or have individuals who will fund and support intellectuals pursuing research.

“The picture has changed over the last decade and I am happy that many emerging scholars are aware of varied opportunities and using them to their advantage,” she said.

Paik hopes her MacArthur fellowship will strengthen the fight against racism, gender discrimination, and caste discrimination “for both Dalits and non-Dalits in South Asia and beyond”.

“I will use the fellowship to continue my research, writing and work with my cohort fellows in creating new opportunities to work for social justice,” she said.

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