The new Dalit identity and access to new economy careers : the case of urban employment in Kerala

Abstract

This research looks at the experience of Dalit graduates transitioning into new economy employment. Using narrative analysis, the researcher explores the complexities for Dalit candidates in curating employment- worthy self-brands. There is a literature gap in exploring the working of the creative economy vocational transition in developing countries. Also, researchers have not studied Dalit candidature from the perspective of self-branding and aesthetic labour. This thesis attempts to contextualise the literature on the creative economy from the developed world into the case of lower caste knowledge workers of Kerala. To do this, the researcher interviewed six Dalit graduates, two career advisors and an HR professional and analysed their narratives. The findings suggest that recruiters of Kerala reinvent new cultural boundaries of quality and revisit the stereotypical negative value judgements on Dalit communities. As a result, caste continues to operate in new economy recruitment, marginalising Dalit aspirants. This research exposes the connection between the sociocultural disadvantage of Dalits and their limited cultural literacy to cultivate, choose, and showoff attributes that have higher cultural value in self-branding. The resolutely modern Dalit selves conflict the aesthetic fluidity and high-culture expectations of postmodern self-brands. In the hide and seek game of self-branding, Dalit self-brands choose to hide their caste connections and traditional linkages to caste occupations. The study confirms the literature from the developed world that challenges the egalitarian promises of the creative class, and it concludes that the promises of multiculturalism fail lower castes.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English