Challenges of using PAR to promote collective action with denotified tribes in India: Surfacing intersections and tensions between religious and other inequalities

Abstract

This paper explores how inequalities based on religion, caste and tribe are experienced by Denotified Tribes (DNTs) in India, using participatory action research. We analyse how the intersection of these inequalities impacts on people’s strategies to enhance their development capabilities. We employ an intersecting inequalities framework to explore the inequalities experienced in the everyday lives of DNTs and generate a clearer understanding of the entanglements and tensions between these inequalities and people’s agency, choices, and coping strategies. We draw on recent scholarship on intersectionality, inequalities, and collective action to inquire into the possibilities for DNTs to navigate these inequalities to enhance their development freedoms and enjoy full citizenship entitlements. The paper draws on findings generated through participatory research methodologies, including innovative ‘ground level panels’ and community-based peer research, undertaken with primarily Muslim-majority DNT groups in India. Theorising pathways to development for intersectionally marginalised groups as contingent on their capacities for collective agency, we find limited evidence of intersectional solidarity, but identify a case where mobilising around religious identity and concealing tribal identity has been pursued as a development strategy. The research demonstrates the potential of participatory methodologies to enable dialogue across difference that can contribute to intersectional solidarities and collective agency. It also highlights the need for development policies to avoid hierarchising and reinforcing inequalities.