Representation of weaker sections in Indian knowledge system The view point of C. Parvathamma, the First Dalit woman sociologist in India (The Contribution of C. Parvathamma to Indian knowledge system )

Representation of weaker sections in Indian knowledge system The view point of C. Parvathamma, the First Dalit woman sociologist in India (The Contribution of C. Parvathamma to Indian knowledge system )

Researcher

Namita Premkumar Thorat

Ph.D Researcher

Dept. of Sociology (Humanities)

RTMNU Autonomous University, Nagpur

Supervisor

Dr. Dhananjay K. Sontakke

Prof. & Head Department of Sociology

Priyadarshini Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra

RTMNU Autonomous University, Nagpur

February 2026

Abstract :

C. Parvathamma, the first Dalit Woman sociologist in India, made pioneering contributions to the Indian knowledge system through her ethnographic studies on caste dynamics, rural societies, and subaltern perspectives, challenging Brahmanical dominance in academia.

            Parvathamma authored 11 books & 70 research articles focusing on scheduled castes, Tribes & south Indian village structures Critiquing Brahminical misrepresentations of caste & Highlighting oppression by landowning communities. Her PhD from Victoria  University under Max Gluckman informed works like those on Lingayat beliefs & Veerasaivism as anti-Brahmanical Movements, emphasizing power relations & Dalit lived realities over narratives.

            Parvathamma’s oeuvre expanded Indian sociology by centering marginalized voices, critiquing contemporaries like M.N srinivas & festering understanding of anti-caste movements, thus enriching, the epistemological  logical pluralism of the Indian Knowledge system.

In this research the light has been thrown on the contribution of Dr. C. Parvathamma to the Indian knowledge system and the issues raised by her about caste and gender in the domain of sociology.

DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/2601S01V14P109

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