This book explores transnational and national debates around empowerment, adult literacy and education through the case study analysis of a cohort of rural Dalit (or ‘low caste') women in North India. These women were participants of a state-initiated programme for women’s education in feudal Uttar Pradesh in the 1980s. The author documents how labouring Dalit women value literacy for self-making, playing leadership roles in their families and communities, building institutions, seeking non-traditional employment, and to change gender and caste norms within private and public spheres. These aspirations transcend the ‘functional’ uses of literacy and in fact speak to the fairly radical nature of the feminist education project, in terms of providing the most marginalised with critical tools to navigate their worlds. In these nuanced life histories, a critical review of how social transformation works on the ground comes to light. At a time when the voices and perspectives of the subaltern and of research from the Global South has a new charge and relevance, this book looks closely at how centering these voices can dramatically shift our understanding of educational policy and literacy and gender discourses.
