Outcaste Bombay : city making and the politics of the poor /

This interesting book presents a socioeconomic and political history of poor people in the city of Bombay (today, Mumbai), covering 1896 to 1984. Drawing on archives, interviews, and regional Marathi literary sources, Shaikh (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz) explores the relationship between industrial capitalism, caste, class, gender, the built environment, and urban poverty. He focuses on Dalits (untouchables), a segment of the population that has been segregated and exploited by the upper castes for centuries, arguing that caste was seminal to the production of urban space, and urbanity was central to the making of Dalit cultural politics in Bombay. The analysis deals with Dalit industrial labor and Dalit exploitation, the lives of sex workers in slums, and the impact of Marxist ideology on the regional Dalit literature and how it stimulated Dalit revolutionary movements. Shaikh argues that urban planning was a limited response to the Dalit political movement in the city. Highlighting the nexus among caste, class, language, urban space, and the tensions within these categories, as well as how caste and class shaped the urban environment, this remarkable book contributes significantly to social/labor history and urban studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Dan A. Chekki, emeritus, University of Winnipeg