CASTE, GENDER, AND LABOUR: NARRATING WAGE INEQUALITY IN BAMA’S SANGATI

Abstract

Caste in India acts not merely as a system of social stratification but as an economic structure that predetermines labour allocation and distributes poverty through graded exclusion. In Bama’s Sangati, the lived realities of Dalit women uncover how wage discrimination emerges from the interlinked forces of caste-based occupational entrapment and patriarchal failure to recognise women’s work. Rather than reviewing text through the lens of identity or resistance, this work analyses labour as a central analytical category to examine the material foundations of inequality. Talking about Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s concept of caste as a system of graded inequality alongside materialist feminist theory, the paper argues that the diverse labour performed by Dalit women in Sangati is subjected to both intense economic exploitation and social degradation. The narrative illustrates how caste-based hierarchies confine individuals to menial occupations, while patriarchal norms ensure lower wages and intensified labour burdens. Persistent wage disparities result in wealth deprivation, debt cycles, and intergenerational poverty that solidify structural inequalities. This study repositions Sangati within economic justice debates, redirecting critical attention towards menial conditions rather than mere representation. Wage inequality in this text is not rooted, but intersectional within caste patriarchy, making economic injustice a core component of Dalit women's lived realities.